How to Reduce High Bounce Rates in Email Marketing

The success of your email marketing campaign depends strongly on how well you understand and optimize your email bounce rate. To do this, you will first need to know what a good bounce rate actually is. 

Essentially, this metric calculates the percentage of the email you’ve sent that end up not reaching their intended recipients. This could happen because of technical issues or as the email address is no longer valid.

A high bounce rate affects a lot of things in your campaign. It impacts your ability to engage with your audience. It also has a direct effect on your sender reputation. With a high bounce rate, your future email communications may become substantially more complicated. 

In this article, we’ll dive deep into the intricacies of email bounce rates. Our goal is to explore the fine line between what is considered acceptable and what signals a need for immediate action. 

Understanding Bounce Rates

1. Hard bounce vs. soft bounce

Bounce rates show that your emails haven’t reached their destination. But not all bounce rates are created equal. In fact, there are two types of email bounce rates: a hard bounce and a soft bounce.

• A hard bounce occurs when the email is permanently rejected. This could be because the email address is invalid or the domain doesn’t exist. Hard bounces are critical red flags. They require immediate action: you will need to remove the affected addresses from your mailing list to protect your sender reputation.
• A soft bounce is a temporary delivery failure. It can happen for a variety of reasons. For instance,  the recipient’s mailbox may be full. Or, the email server could be temporarily unavailable. There is also a chance that your email message is simply too large. A soft bounce doesn’t always require immediate action. With that said, if your emails are consistently soft bouncing, you will need to address this.

2. Calculating bounce rates

To calculate a bounce rate, you will need to divide the number of bounced emails by the total number of emails you’ve sent. Next, you multiply the result by 100 to get a percentage. 

Take this example:

You’ve sent out 1,000 emails and 50 bounced. Your bounce rate is 5%. You will always want to have a lower bounce rate as this will translate into higher deliverability and engagement potential.

3. Industry benchmarks

Bounce rates vary significantly across different industries. This is because different industries have different email sending practices and audience engagement levels. 

Typically, a good bounce rate is considered to be under 2%. 

But keep in mind that fluctuating around this benchmark is normal. What you should do is aim to align your email performance with the average industry rate in your niche. 

Common Causes of High Bounce Rates

To deal with bounce rates, you will first need to understand why they happen.

1. Incorrect email addresses

Typos or errors in email addresses are some of the most common reasons for hard bounces. Be attentive when collecting email addresses. Confirm email inputs and  employ double opt-in strategies to reduce error.

2. Email account issues

Full inboxes, domain issues, or server problems lead to soft bounces. They are often out of the sender’s control. But it’s still important to keep an eye on these bounces to take timely corrective actions. For example, you could try re-sending the email at a later time or contacting the recipient in a different way. 

3. Low sender reputation

A low sender score indicates poor reputation with internet service providers (ISPs). It can result in even more of your emails being blocked or filtered into spam. Keep up a  healthy sending habit, respect user consent, and engage in regular list hygiene practices.

4. Email content and design issues

Emails may trigger spam filters with their  content, design, or even the use of certain words. This will lead to a high bounce rate. Make sure your emails are well-designed, with balanced text-to-image ratios. Avoid known spam trigger words.

How to Reduce a High Bounce Rate

For your message to reach your target audience, it’s essential to reduce high bounce rates. Here’s how you can do that effectively:

Before you send the email

1. Clean email list

Keeping a clean email list is the base for reducing bounce rates. Regularly go through your list and remove any invalid or inactive addresses. Be proactive and adopt a double opt-in process  – this will help you endure that the email addresses you use are valid from the outset. This process requires new subscribers to confirm their email address before you add it to your list. 

Pro tip: Use an email checker to validate your email list, ensuring that only active and valid addresses remain, which helps reduce bounce rates and enhances your sender reputation.

2. Sender reputation management

Your sender reputation is a score assigned by email service providers (ESPs). It influences  your emails’ deliverability. A high volume of emails sent in a short period or a history of high bounce rates can damage this reputation. To prevent this, try pacing your email campaigns and keep an eye on ESP feedback loops. These loops will give you information about spam complaints and bounces, and give you the opportunity to adjust your strategies accordingly.

During email campaign creation

1. Optimizing email content

The content and presentation of your emails play a critical role in keeping bounces low. Your emails need to be mobile-friendly – as most people read emails on their phones. An email that is well-structured and visually appealing will do better with readers. Writing clear and effective subject lines can reduce the likelihood of your emails being marked as spam and lower bounce rates.

2. Avoiding spam filters

Spam filters are sophisticated algorithms that assess various elements of your emails. If you want to navigate spam filters, you will need to avoid words known to trigger spam detection and stick to a balanced text-to-image ratio. Emails that are heavy on images and have little text can be flagged as spam. And this leads to delivery issues and potential bounces.

After sending emails

1. Post-campaign analysis is vital. 

Keep a close eye on bounce rates. Identify any patterns or spikes that could signal issues with your email list of content.

4. A/B testing can help.

When you test out different elements of your emails (such as subject lines or CTAs), you can get a better idea of what your readers want to receive.  You can then adjust your strategy effectively for better deliverability and lower bounces.

Tools and Resources

Email verification and list cleaning services

• ZeroBounce will help you identify and remove invalid email addresses. 
• NeverBounce offers real-time email verification and list cleaning services. 
• Hunter goes a bit beyond basic verification and can also help you. Hunter also find professional email addresses.

Email marketing platforms known for high deliverability rates

• Mailchimp is famous for its user-friendly interface. It boasts robust deliverability rates, thanks to their proactive management of sender reputation.
• Brevo  is praised for its sophisticated sending infrastructure that optimizes email delivery to the inbox.
• Constant Contact comes with  extensive email templates and a strong focus on deliverability.

Analytics and A/B testing tools for email campaigns

• Google Analytics: While not exclusively for emails, Google Analytics can track how recipients interact with your website after clicking links in your emails, providing valuable insights into user behavior.
• Optimizely: Offers advanced A/B testing tools that can be used to test different elements of your emails, from subject lines to content layouts, to see what performs best.
• Mailchimp (again): Besides being an email marketing platform, Mailchimp offers built-in analytics and A/B testing capabilities, making it a versatile tool for improving campaign performance.

To Sum Up

Reducing bounce rates is crucial for successful email marketing. It ensures your messages reach your audience and maintains your sender reputation. The tools mentioned help verify email addresses, optimize deliverability, and analyze results.

Remember, this is an ongoing process. Keep learning, experimenting, and adapting your strategies based on insights. With the right tools and a proactive approach, you’ll achieve email marketing success.