We are sure you’ve heard the word before. Bounce rate is about the deliverability of your emails. In other words, it’s the term used when an email has not reached your recipients inbox. If you have a high bounce rate, this can affect your overall deliverability and give you a bad reputation. This itself can be the reason why your emails never reach its destination and there is a risk that your email ends up in the recipient’s Spam folder… and the spam folder we should avoid at all times. Okey?  

There are two different bounce rates which is hard bounce and soft bounce. 

Hard bounce means that the email will never reach the recipient because it’s a permanent failure. When you get a hard bounce it can mean that the recipients account is no longer used, it’s an invalid email address or they can’t access their email. 

Soft bounce is when an email temporarily fails because the recipient’s inbox might be full, or your emails might be too large. 

You’ll notice if you have a high bounce rate when the commitment from your customers is lower, you experience lower opening frequency and less sales.

Some of the reasons why your emails bounce: 

• The email address has been inactive or not used for a long time
• The receiver’s inbox is full
• The recipient’s servers blocks email from sources they are not familiar with
• The recipient no longer has access to their email
• The recipient has put you on their block list

What you can do to ensure that email reaches your recipients

Review your lists regularly

If you notice that there are many addresses that bounce, it can be up-to-the-minute to update your lists. Also check when the recipient last opened your email. Go through your lists and clear any contacts that no longer appear to be active.

Make sure that your emails are no reminiscent of spam

Avoid using trigger words such as “discount, make money, cash, bonus and free”. Words like “fantastic, opportunity and freedom” can also trigger the spam filter. Find out which are the most spammy phrases and be sure to avoid them.

Send at the right frequency. We know that it can be tempting to send a lot of emails if you have a lot of news and content to convey but do not send too many emails to your subscribers. This can lead to them choosing to spam you instead of simply unsubscribing – and the consequences are much greater if you receive a spam mark than someone unsubscribing.

Makes it easy to unsubscribe. Always have a unsubscribe button in your send outs. It should be clear and easy to use. Do not make it complicated for the recipient to unsubscribe in hope that they will stay. They probably won’t and this can cause irritation with the recipient and make them spam mark you instead.

Responsive content. Make sure your emails work to open on computer, mobile and tablet.

Have a good subject line. There are many senders (more than you might think) who end up in the spam inbox only because of their subject line. So be sure to write to attract engagement.

Always have honest and relevant content. Think for yourself – what makes you react whether an email is spam or not? Your content should deliver what your subject line promised.

Double opt-in

To ensure that the recipient has entered the correct email when registered, it may be a good idea to ask the subscriber to confirm their address. You can do this by automatically sending a confirmation email to the person filling out your registration form. This is also a good way to ensure that you do not get spambots signing up for your newsletter.

Segmentation

Segment your email lists according to the behavior of your subscribers. For example, you can create a list specifically for your subscribers that you notice shows great interest in your send outs. 

A sign of their interest is their engagement with the send outs, such as clicking on your CTA and opens the majority of your emails. With this group of subscribers, you can keep a closer contact.

Also create a separate list for your subscribers that shows lower interest so that you do not contact them as often.

Keep your subscribers updated

We have all been there when we’ve received emails from senders we do not recognize. Which makes you as a recipient question if you have ever even started subscribing to these newsletters or simply if it’s spam?

Keeping in touch with your subscribers is important. Don’t send at such large intervals that they forget about you. 

Unfortunately, there is no limit to how many emails you should send or how long you should wait as this depends on the behavior of your subscribers. 

Your emails may be sent digitally, but it’s still people behind the screen who opens them. Be humble and ask yourself, how would you have experienced it if the shoe was on the other foot?