What is the definition and significance of the email bounce rate in digital marketing?

 

The success of any Email Marketing campaign depends on how effective it is at reaching its audience. 

 

There are a variety of metrics that you can use to evaluate if your emails are making an impact and if they're actually being opened by the people you're sending them to. 

 

One important metric that email marketers should be aware of is their email bounce rate - this statistic indicates whether your messages are successfully being delivered or not. 

 

In this blog post, we'll discuss what an email bounce rate is, why it's so important for marketing success, and the best ways to reduce email bounce rate quickly and easily.

 

 

What is the email bounce rate?

 

The email bounce rate is a metric that reflects how many emails sent to your list are not being delivered. Generally, this occurs when the recipient's mail server can't or won't accept the message, either because of full inbox capacity, an incorrect address, or some other issue. Every email you send out and don't receive a response for (whether it be a delivery receipt, open, or click) is counted as a bounce.

 

 

Bounce rate formula

 

Bounce rate = (number of errors / number of emails sent) * 100%

 

 

There are two types of bounce rates:

 

1. Hard bounce - when there is a constant delivery failure. It occurs when the recipient's address has ceased to exist or is misspelled. Also if your domain is blacklisted, like the one that sends spam.

 

 

You may be wondering - How to check IP reputation? IP blacklists and How to remove an IP from the blacklist.

 

 

2. Soft bounce is a temporary delivery failure. Occurs when the email size is too large or the recipient's server crashes. After solving these problems, your letters will be delivered.

 

Also, a soft bounce can be considered a situation when the recipient's mailbox is full. In theory, if the recipient cleans the mail, the letter will be delivered.

 

 

Why is the email bounce rate important?

 

Of course, it's not desirable to send emails that never reach their intended recipients. Additionally, having too high of an email bounce rate can negatively affect your sender reputation and hurt the deliverability of future emails. Moreover, inaccurate email addresses can result in lower engagement rates and fewer conversions.

 

 

What is average bounce rate for email campaigns?

 

The average bounce rate for email campaigns varies depending on several factors, including industry, email list quality, and the type of email sent. However, as a general rule, a bounce rate of less than 2% is considered good for email campaigns.

 

A bounce rate between 2 and 5% is considered average, while a bounce rate above 5% is considered a high email bounce rate and may indicate problems with the mailing list or email content.

 

It is important to remember that bounce rate should not be the only metric used to measure the success of an email campaign, and other factors such as open rate, click through rate, and conversion rate should also be considered.

 

 

Possible reasons for a high bounce rate

 

There are several possible reasons for a high bounce rate in email campaigns, including:

 

✅ Invalid email addresses: If the email list contains invalid or outdated email addresses, the emails will bounce back, resulting in a high bounce rate.

 

✅ Email server issues: If there are issues with the email server, such as being blocked by the recipient's email server or marked as spam, the emails will bounce back.

 

✅ Email content: If the email content is not engaging, relevant, or personalized to the recipient, they may mark the email as spam or delete it without reading it, resulting in a high bounce rate.

 

✅ Frequency: If the frequency of the email campaign is too high, recipients may become overwhelmed or annoyed, resulting in a high bounce rate.

 

✅ List quality: If the email list is purchased, outdated, or poorly targeted, it may contain invalid email addresses or recipients who are not interested in the content, resulting in a high bounce rate.

 

✅ Technical issues: If there are technical issues with the email campaign, such as broken links or images, the emails may bounce back or not be delivered at all.

 

 

How to reduce email bounce rate?

 

To reduce email bounce rate, you can follow these steps:

 

1. Verify email addresses: Regularly verify email addresses in your list to ensure they are valid and up-to-date. You can use email verification tools or services to check the validity of email addresses before sending the emails.

 

 

You may be interested - What is email verification and why is it important?

 

 

2. Maintain list hygiene: Remove inactive subscribers, and clean up bounced or invalid email addresses regularly from your email list.

 

3. Use confirmed opt-in: Use confirmed opt-in or double opt-in to ensure that the subscribers have confirmed their email addresses and want to receive emails from you.

 

4. Improve email content: Make sure that your email content is engaging, relevant, and personalized to the recipient to encourage them to engage with your emails.

 

5. Avoid spam triggers: Avoid using spam trigger words in your email subject lines and content that may trigger spam filters and result in your emails being marked as spam.

 

6. Use a reputable email service provider: Use a reputable email service provider that has a good reputation with email providers to ensure that your emails are delivered to the recipients' inbox.

 

7. Monitor the bounce rate: Regularly monitor the bounce rate of your email campaigns and address any issues promptly to ensure the success of your email campaign.

 

By following these steps, you can reduce your email bounce rate and ensure that your email campaigns are effective and reaching the intended audience.

 

 

Overall, maintaining a healthy email bounce rate is essential for achieving success with marketing campaigns as it is a key indicator of how effective your emails are at reaching their intended recipients.

 

By following the tips outlined in this post, you can reduce your bounce rate quickly and efficiently, helping to ensure that more of your emails make it into people's inboxes. 

 

If you need to improve email deliverability, don't forget to warm up your email with Warmy. Learn more - Warmy.io