Email bounce rate is the percentage of emails that don’t reach recipients for a variety of reasons. These reasons include:
- Server issues
- Invalid email addresses
- Non-existent domains
- Flagged content
- Full inboxes
There are two types of bounces:
- Hard bounce: Emails that don’t reach your recipient’s inboxes for a permanent reason, such as non-existent or incorrect email addresses.
- Soft bounce: Emails that don’t reach your recipient’s inboxes due to a temporary issue, like full inboxes.
A high bounce rate can compromise your sender reputation and email deliverability. As a result, your email campaigns to your subscribers may see decreasing results. That’s why monitoring email bounce rates and intervening when they spike is crucial.
How to calculate your email bounce rate
(Number of bounces/Number of delivered emails) x 100.
If you send 2,000 emails and have 50 bounces, your bounce rate is 2.5%.
It’s best to keep your bounce rate at 2% or lower. Anything above that requires campaign reevaluation.
How to reduce bounce rates
- Clean your email lists: Update subscriber lists to remove inactive or non-responsive email addresses.
- Only email people who gave consent: And use double opt-in to confirm their subscription to your email campaigns and flows..
- Send emails on a regular cadence: Keep people engaged by making sure they haven’t forgotten about your brand. Their engagement will help to keep your sender reputation intact.
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