Email Bounces: ?? Alert: Your message was not delivered [ACTION REQUIRED]

Bounced emails, or when emails can’t be delivered to someone’s inbox, can be super frustrating for your business. How will customers know to buy from you if they never get your marketing messages??

Don’t worry. Let’s go over email bounce rates and why they happen.?

First off, there are two types of email bounces: hard and soft. Hard bounces refer to emails that weren’t delivered for a permanent (often obvious) reason - such as the recipient’s email address doesn’t exist or they’ve blocked your messages from their inbox.?

Have you ever sent an email with a typo in the address? Chances are, you instantly received an email back saying your message couldn’t be delivered. This is a simple, everyday example of a hard email bounce. Most of the time, hard bounces in your email marketing aren’t a reason to panic.?

Soft bounces, however, can be a more difficult issue. Soft email bounces typically occur because of a temporary delivery problem. Many ESPs will show soft bounce rates on your campaign report. While soft bounces can happen for many reasons, we’ll focus on the ones that have the most impact (and you have control over).?

1. Anti-spam. The email has been flagged for spam by the recipient’s server.?Best practice/tip: Avoid triggering spam filters by allowing double email opt-ins, maintaining a reputable IP address, and steering clear of suspicious subject lines, words or phrases (e.g. ALL CAPS, “free”, or heavy exclamation marks!!!).?
2. Anti-virus. The email appears suspicious or does not meet antivirus requirements.?Best practice/tip: Avoid excessive or suspicious linking that could appear as phishing scams. In addition, limit the use of attachments - especially in instances where subscribers don’t have a track record of engagement with your emails (e.g. welcome flows, first-time subscriber discounts, etc.).
3. Failed authentication. The email fails DMARC requirements for authentication.?Best practice/tip: DMARC helps protect recipients from hackers or other attackers who could be using your address or server. Up your chances for authentication by using verified senders, blocking suspicious IP addresses using your domain, and keeping a solid email delivery rate.?
4. Blocked. The email has content that has been blocked. This often happens with images, graphics, and other visual content that is common with ecommerce marketing emails.?Best practice/tip: Have your subscribers indicate they trust your emails and consider them safe. This is done by asking recipients to whitelist your messages and add you as a safe sender. An example of email copy for this could be: “P.S. Add us to your contact list, so you never miss out on exclusive deals, promos, and offers in your inbox!)?

Still got questions? Leave your comments below! :)?