Bounce rate
Bounce rate is a fundamental metric that gauges the effectiveness of an email campaign by measuring the proportion of email messages that are undeliverable to recipients’ inboxes. This metric serves as a vital indicator of the health and performance of an email list and the overall deliverability of email campaigns.
A bounce occurs when an email message cannot be successfully delivered to the intended recipient. There are generally two categories of email bounces:
- Soft Bounce: This type of bounce is typically caused by temporary issues that prevent the email from being delivered, such as a full inbox, a temporary problem with the recipient’s mail server, or a message that exceeds size limits. Soft bounces may result in the email being reattempted for delivery in subsequent sending attempts.
- Hard Bounce: A hard bounce signifies a permanent issue preventing the email from being delivered, such as an invalid or non-existent email address, a domain that does not exist, or a blocked email address. Hard bounces are definitive indications that the email address is unlikely to ever receive messages successfully.
Monitoring the bounce rate is essential for email marketers to maintain a clean and engaged subscriber list, as high bounce rates can signal underlying issues that need to be addressed. High bounce rates not only diminish the effectiveness of email campaigns but can also lead to repercussions such as decreased deliverability, increased spam complaints, and potential damage to sender reputation. By regularly monitoring bounce rates, email marketers can identify problematic email addresses, improve list hygiene practices, and optimize email campaigns for better deliverability and engagement.
If you would like to learn more about this topic, you can read our blog post about essential aspects of email analytics and the GetResponse benchmarks.
