How should bounce rate be measured to maintain a healthy email reputation?

Summary

Maintaining a healthy email reputation through bounce rate management involves a multifaceted approach. It's essential to calculate bounce rate as a percentage of bounced emails divided by the total number of emails sent and to analyze it not just globally, but also on a per-campaign basis and per Mailbox Provider (MBP). Monitoring bounce rate trends over time is crucial for identifying anomalies and potential deliverability problems. Distinguishing between hard (permanent) and soft (temporary) bounces is also vital; hard bounces should be removed immediately. Understanding SMTP error codes aids in diagnosing the reasons for bounces and implementing appropriate remediation strategies. Segmentation of email lists based on engagement and bounce history improves deliverability, and regular list cleaning removes invalid addresses. Double opt-in ensures valid subscribers, while warming up IP addresses establishes a positive sending reputation. Monitoring sender reputation scores and closely checking SMTP replies further supports deliverability efforts. Aim for bounce rates below 2%, ideally under 1%. These combined strategies ensure early detection and management of issues that may impact deliverability and sender reputation.

Key findings

  • Granular Analysis: Analyzing bounce rates per campaign and MBP offers targeted insights.
  • Trend Monitoring: Tracking bounce rate trends helps identify deliverability problems.
  • Calculation: Bounce rate is calculated as (bounced emails / total emails sent) * 100.
  • Bounce Types: Distinguishing between hard and soft bounces is crucial for list hygiene.
  • SMTP Codes: Understanding SMTP error codes aids in diagnosing bounce reasons.
  • Segmentation: Segmenting email lists improves deliverability.
  • List Hygiene: Regularly cleaning email lists removes invalid addresses.
  • Bounce Rate Threshold: Aim for a bounce rate below 2%, ideally below 1%.

Key considerations

  • Per Campaign Analysis: Evaluate bounce rates on a per-campaign basis.
  • Soft vs. Hard Bounces: Remove hard bounces immediately and investigate soft bounces.
  • SMTP Error Codes: Analyze SMTP error codes to identify the root cause of bounce issues.
  • Double Opt-in: Implement double opt-in to ensure only valid subscribers are added.
  • IP Warming: Warm up new IP addresses gradually to establish a positive sending reputation.
  • Monitoring: Monitor SMTP replies and Sender Score.

What email marketers say
13Marketer opinions

Maintaining a healthy email reputation through bounce rate management involves several key strategies. Analyzing bounce rates per campaign or Mailbox Provider (MBP) provides granular insights, while tracking trends over time helps identify potential issues. Segmenting email lists based on engagement and bounce history, coupled with regular list cleaning, minimizes the impact of bounces. Implementing double opt-in and warming up IP addresses can further reduce bounce rates. Checking SMTP replies and using proper bounce tracking mechanisms are also vital. Aim for bounce rates below 2%, ideally under 1%, and remember that high bounce rates can negatively impact deliverability and sender reputation.

Key opinions

  • Granular Analysis: Analyzing bounce rates per campaign and MBP offers targeted insights into specific issues.
  • Trend Monitoring: Tracking bounce rate trends over time helps identify anomalies and potential deliverability problems.
  • Segmentation: Segmenting email lists based on engagement and bounce history improves deliverability.
  • List Hygiene: Regularly cleaning email lists removes invalid addresses and prevents future bounces.
  • Bounce Rate Threshold: Aim for a bounce rate below 2%, ideally below 1%, to maintain a healthy sender reputation.
  • SMTP Replies: Monitoring SMTP replies provides insight into why emails bounced.

Key considerations

  • Per Campaign Analysis: Evaluate bounce rates not just globally, but on a per-campaign basis to identify specific problem areas.
  • Soft vs. Hard Bounces: Distinguish between soft and hard bounces. Remove hard bounces immediately, and investigate the causes of soft bounces.
  • Double Opt-in: Implement double opt-in to ensure only valid and interested subscribers are added to your list.
  • IP Warming: If using a new IP address, gradually warm it up to establish a positive sending reputation.
  • Bounce Tracking: Implement a robust bounce tracking mechanism to accurately identify and process bounced emails.
  • List Cleaning Frequency: Establish a regular schedule for cleaning your email lists to remove inactive or invalid addresses.
Marketer view

Email marketer from Litmus Blog shares that A/B testing email content and subject lines can improve engagement and reduce the likelihood of emails being marked as spam, which can indirectly lower bounce rates.

October 2022 - Litmus Blog
Marketer view

Marketer from Email Geeks shares that besides the bounce rates, also check the SMTP replies you get.

October 2023 - Email Geeks
Marketer view

Email marketer from Email Marketing Forum explains the importance of regular email list cleaning to remove invalid or inactive addresses. This prevents future bounces and maintains a healthy sender reputation.

June 2021 - Email Marketing Forum
Marketer view

Email marketer from Marketing Agency Website recommends using double opt-in to ensure that only valid and interested subscribers are added to the email list, minimizing the chance of bounces.

February 2022 - Marketing Agency Website
Marketer view

Marketer from Email Geeks explains that looking at bounce rate "per campaign" or "per campaign, after more than 24h" is a good way to tackle the question. Per MBP is also more relevant than globally, as it could highlight a problem on one in particular.

April 2023 - Email Geeks
Marketer view

Email marketer from Neil Patel's Blog suggests warming up IP addresses gradually. This involves slowly increasing the volume of emails sent from a new IP address to establish a positive sending history with ISPs.

July 2022 - Neil Patel's Blog
Marketer view

Marketer from Email Geeks explains that the reason why "more than 24h" is mentioned, it's because the mta might keep some emails in queues for 24h, but sometimes more or less (depending on your settings), and those emails not sent after such delay would "bounce". Not because the MX server told you to go away, but because your queues were stalled or something like that. It's an important indicator for your deliverability or reputation.

December 2022 - Email Geeks
Marketer view

Email marketer from Sendinblue Blog suggests segmenting email lists based on engagement and bounce history. Sending to highly engaged segments can improve overall deliverability and reduce the impact of bounces.

February 2022 - Sendinblue Blog
Marketer view

Email marketer from Mailjet Blog shares that monitoring bounce rate trends over time is crucial. Spikes in bounce rates can indicate problems with list hygiene or sending practices, requiring immediate investigation.

January 2025 - Mailjet Blog
Marketer view

Email marketer from Reddit user r/emailmarketing shares that an acceptable bounce rate is generally below 2%. Aiming for a rate below 1% is ideal for maintaining a strong sender reputation.

July 2021 - Reddit
Marketer view

Marketer from Email Geeks shares that following the bounce rate per day is also interesting, but it really depends what you're trying to do, monitor or prove.

February 2023 - Email Geeks
Marketer view

Email marketer from Stack Overflow shares that Implementing proper bounce tracking mechanisms (e.g., using VERP) to accurately identify and process bounced emails.

November 2023 - Stack Overflow
Marketer view

Email marketer from Email Deliverability Blog emphasizes that bounce rate is a critical factor in determining email deliverability. High bounce rates can lead to blacklisting and reduced inbox placement.

March 2023 - Email Deliverability Blog

What the experts say
2Expert opinions

Maintaining a healthy email reputation necessitates careful monitoring of bounce rates, as they serve as a critical indicator of the overall health of an email program. It's essential to consider bounce rates in conjunction with other metrics like complaint rates and engagement levels to promptly identify and address deliverability issues. Furthermore, understanding the distinction between 'hard' bounces (permanent delivery failures due to non-existent or disabled mailboxes) and 'soft' bounces (temporary delivery failures) is crucial for effective email management.

Key opinions

  • Bounce Rate as Health Indicator: Bounce rate is a critical metric for assessing the health of an email program.
  • Holistic Monitoring: Monitor bounce rates in conjunction with complaint rates and engagement to identify deliverability issues.
  • Hard vs. Soft Bounces: High bounce rates are due to hard and soft bounces.

Key considerations

  • Combined Metric Analysis: Closely monitor bounce rates together with complaint rates and engagement metrics.
  • Distinguish Bounce Types: Differentiate between hard and soft bounces to appropriately address the underlying issues.
Expert view

Expert from Word to the Wise answers that high bounce rates are due to two different issues, those that are 'hard' bounces and will never be delivered because the mailbox doesn't exist or is disabled, and temporary delivery failures, or 'soft' bounces where the recipient server tells the sender that there's a temporary problem.

March 2023 - Word to the Wise
Expert view

Expert from Spam Resource explains that bounce rate is a critical measure of the health of your email program. Monitor it closely in combination with complaint rates and engagement to quickly catch any deliverability issues that may be impacting your reputation.

June 2024 - Spam Resource

What the documentation says
4Technical articles

To maintain a healthy email reputation, it's crucial to accurately measure and understand bounce rates. Calculate bounce rate as a percentage of bounced emails divided by total emails sent. Differentiate between hard bounces (permanent failures requiring immediate removal from your list) and soft bounces (temporary issues). Understanding SMTP error codes is essential for diagnosing bounce reasons and implementing fixes. Monitor your sender reputation using tools like Sender Score to ensure emails are delivered to the inbox and not bounced.

Key findings

  • Calculation: Bounce rate is calculated as (bounced emails / total emails sent) * 100.
  • Bounce Types: Distinguish between hard bounces (permanent) and soft bounces (temporary).
  • SMTP Codes: Understanding SMTP error codes helps diagnose the reasons for bounces.
  • Sender Reputation: Monitoring sender reputation is crucial for ensuring deliverability.

Key considerations

  • List Hygiene: Immediately remove hard bounces from your email list to protect your sender reputation.
  • Error Code Analysis: Analyze SMTP error codes to understand the root cause of bounce issues and implement appropriate solutions.
  • Reputation Monitoring: Regularly monitor your sender reputation score to identify and address any potential deliverability problems.
Technical article

Documentation from RFC standard states that understanding SMTP error codes (e.g., 550 for permanent failure, 450 for temporary failure) helps in diagnosing the reasons behind bounces and implementing appropriate remediation strategies.

August 2021 - RFC Standard
Technical article

Documentation from SparkPost Documentation distinguishes between hard and soft bounces, and their impact on email reputation. Hard bounces should be removed immediately from your list, whereas Soft bounces could be a temporary issue.

September 2022 - SparkPost Documentation
Technical article

Documentation from Microsoft explains that monitor your sender reputation using tools like Sender Score. A good sender reputation helps ensure that emails are delivered to the inbox and not bounced.

April 2024 - Microsoft Documentation
Technical article

Documentation from Google Workspace Admin Help explains that bounce rate can be calculated by dividing the total number of bounced emails by the total number of emails sent, and then multiplying by 100 to express it as a percentage.

June 2023 - Google Workspace Admin Help