What's an Email Bounce?
An email bounce is simply when an email you send doesn't make it to its intended recipient. It's like getting a return-to-sender notification in the postal mail. You've probably seen some of these notifications pop up in your inbox before.
Two Main Types of Bounces: Hard and Soft
Email bounces can be broadly categorized into two:
1. Hard Bounce
This is the bad one. It's when the email address you've sent your message to either doesn't exist anymore or never did. Common reasons for hard bounces include:
Invalid Email Address: The email address doesn't exist or there was a typo when it was entered.
Domain Doesn't Exist: If the domain of the email address (e.g., example@nonexistentdomain.com) doesn't exist, then emails sent to any address at that domain will hard bounce.
Recipient Email Server Has Blocked Delivery: Some servers block emails from certain senders, especially if they've been identified as sources of spam.
2. Soft Bounce
These are a bit trickier. Your email is headed to a valid address, but some obstacle gets in the way. Here are some usual culprits:
Attachments causing trouble: Sometimes, spam filters just don't like attachments. Keep your emails simple, preferably plain text, to glide past these filters.
Spammy content: Watch out for words or phrases that scream 'spam'. Think phrases like "earn $", "FREE", or "credit card". Let's keep our emails genuine and avoid sounding like a midnight infomercial.
Overstuffed inboxes: If someone's inbox is overflowing, your email won't find a space. The solution? Wait a bit and try again later.
Low sender reputation: If you've ticked all the boxes and your emails are still bouncing back, it might be your sender reputation. If this is the case, consider giving your cold outreach a break and only sending to those who are expecting your emails (warmup) for a few weeks. After that, ease back into cold emailing, maybe at a reduced volume, and keep an eye on those bounces.
Email bounces can be a bummer, but with a bit of understanding and proactivity, you can significantly reduce their occurrence. Always remember: a cleaner email list and genuine content are your best buddies in the world of email outreach! 🚀📩