Constant Tips: Managing and Removing Email Bounces Effectively

[Nick_S]

 Every Tuesday we'll share tips, tricks, and insights on using Constant Contact, online marketing, and using the Community

Email marketing is a powerful tool, but it comes with its own set of challenges, one of which is managing bounced emails. Understanding the different types of email bounces and knowing which ones to remove can significantly enhance your email campaign's effectiveness. Here’s a breakdown of the bounce types and tips on handling them.

Types of Email Bounces

• Non-Existent Bounces
  • What It Means: The email address doesn't exist.
  • Action: Verify the email for typos. If it continues to bounce, remove it from your list.

• Undeliverable Bounces
  • What It Means: The email couldn't be delivered temporarily.
  • Action: Attempt to resend the email. If repeated attempts fail, remove the address.

• Suspended Addresses
  • What It Means: The email address has consistently bounced as non-existent.
  • Action: Remove these from your list to maintain list health and deliverability.

• Blocked
  • What It Means: The email was blocked by the recipient's ISP.
  • Action: Ensure you’re using a professional domain for your emails. If blocked, contact support or the recipient to resolve the issue.

• Mailbox Full
  • What It Means: The recipient's email inbox is full.
  • Action: Contact the recipient to notify them or wait and resend at a later time. If it persists, consider removal.

• Vacation/Auto-Reply
  • What It Means: The recipient is temporarily unavailable.
  • Action: No action needed as these are not true bounces.

• Other

• What It Means: The bounce doesn't fit other categories, often due to unclear messages from the ISP.
• Action: Contact support for assistance with these unclear bounces.

Recommended Actions for Email Bounces

• Review Regularly: Regularly check your email campaign reports for bounces and categorize them accordingly.
• Clean Your List: Promptly remove email addresses that are categorized under non-existent, undeliverable, and suspended to improve your deliverability.
• Engage and Update: For categories like mailbox full or blocked, try to engage the recipient to resolve the issue or update their information.

Maintaining a clean email list is crucial for effective email marketing. Regular monitoring and prompt action on bounces not only improve your deliverability rates but also enhance the overall engagement of your campaigns. Remember, a well-maintained email list is a responsive and productive one!

[DavidFischerSolutionsForGrowth]

Great answer Nick! We follow your recommended actions. We also find Constant Contact's feature that identifies emails that are “Recommended for Removal" is very helpful. These are the suspended, non-existent and undeliverable bounce types that should be removed because they are unlikely to become active emails again. We usually see only a small number of emails that are identified as such but it helps us to clean our client’s list. If we see an unusually high bounce rate for our clients, we often look further into the reasons why and work with Constant Contact’s deliverability team who are very helpful.