How can I resolve high bounce rates and 'mailbox unavailable' errors for a specific domain?
Summary
What email marketers say8Marketer opinions
Email marketer from Reddit User u/EmailExpert responds to a question of what to do with hard bounces. They recommend immediately removing hard bounces as keeping them on your list indicates you are not keeping your list clean which will result in a worse reputation with the IPs. They further suggest sending a re-engagement email to confirm whether they still wish to be engaged.
Email marketer from Reddit User u/DeliverabilityGuru responds to a question of what to do with soft bounces. They suggest a soft bounce is a temporary issue and typically resolves itself. They advise waiting a few days before removing an email from your email list.
Email marketer from Sendinblue shares that high bounce rates negatively impact sender reputation. They recommend segmenting your email list, cleaning your list regularly, and using double opt-in to ensure valid email addresses.
Email marketer from Litmus shares that you can prevent bounces by obtaining explicit permission from subscribers (double opt-in) and implementing a preference center to allow subscribers to manage their communication preferences.
Email marketer from ActiveCampaign shares what is a good bounce rate by saying you should be aiming for less than 2% and it's extremely important to regularly clean your email lists.
Email marketer from EmailToolTester shares that you should use an email verification tool such as ZeroBounce or Neverbounce to ensure you are only sending email to real email addresses.
Email marketer from Mailjet shares that to improve email deliverability and reduce bounce rates, focusing on list hygiene is important. They recommend validating email addresses before sending and removing inactive subscribers.
Email marketer from HubSpot shares that if bounces are occurring specifically for one domain, you need to contact the IT department of that domain and ask them to unblock you. You should find out why you are blocked and remediate this.
What the experts say7Expert opinions
Expert from Word to the Wise explains that if a domain is completely unresponsive and bouncing all mail, it could indicate the domain no longer exists. They advise checking if the domain resolves in DNS and if not, removing all recipients with that domain from your mailing lists.
Expert from Email Geeks explains that a 'mailbox unavailable' error means the email address no longer exists and suggests that the client tried to bring over their bounces.
Expert from Email Geeks suggests that the issue smells like a bad list and recommends focusing on that angle first. If the addresses are legitimate, suggests reaching out to Mail.com.
Expert from Email Geeks asks if the client wants to risk their deliverability and revenue from valid email addresses for the invalid addresses and whether the old platform showed revenue from the emails attributed to those subscribers.
Expert from Email Geeks explains that they may have already lost those subscribers and the zero revenue they represent.
Expert from Email Geeks suggests stopping mailing to the problematic addresses.
Expert from Word to the Wise explains that when facing deliverability issues with a specific domain, investigate bounce messages, review sending practices, and consider contacting the domain's postmaster. If the issue persists, it may indicate a broader deliverability problem requiring further investigation.
What the documentation says5Technical articles
Documentation from Google Workspace Admin Help explains that to reduce bounce rates, you should remove invalid email addresses from your contact list. They recommend regularly cleaning your list by removing unsubscribed users and correcting typos.
Documentation from SparkPost explains that 'mailbox unavailable' errors (hard bounces) indicate a permanent delivery failure. They advise immediately removing these addresses from your list to prevent further damage to your sender reputation.
Documentation from RFC Editor explains that standardized bounce messages (Delivery Status Notifications) provide machine-readable information about delivery failures, enabling automated processing of bounces and identification of the failure reason.
Documentation from Microsoft explains that "mailbox unavailable" indicates the recipient's address doesn't exist. They advise verifying the address and removing it if the issue persists.
Documentation from AWS explains that bounce codes provide specific information about why an email was not delivered. Understanding these codes helps in diagnosing and addressing deliverability issues related to the specific domain.