What is an acceptable bounce rate threshold and how does it affect sender reputation?
Summary
What email marketers say14Marketer opinions
Marketer from Email Geeks explains they look at bounce percentage as a signal for data quality, suggesting a rate below 2% generally indicates good data collection practices.
Email marketer from Constant Contact suggests that a clean email list reduces bounce rates, and will contribute to a solid sender reputation.
Email marketer from Mailchimp shares that a bounce rate consistently above 2% indicates potential list quality problems. They recommend regularly cleaning email lists to remove invalid addresses and maintain a healthy sending reputation.
Marketer from Email Geeks suggests focusing on the fact addresses are bouncing and ensuring you are not sending to them at all.
Email marketer from Campaign Monitor responds that bounce rates are a signal to providers about the quality of your list and can impact your reputation if too high.
Email marketer from Email on Acid emphasizes the importance of list hygiene to maintain acceptable bounce rates. Regularly cleaning lists and using double opt-in helps reduce the risk of hitting spam traps and damaging sender reputation.
Email marketer from Gmass shares that aiming for a bounce rate under 1% is a good start for maintaining a good sender reputation.
Email marketer from Sendinblue responds that bounce rates should ideally be under 2%. Higher rates damage your reputation and deliverability, requiring immediate attention to list hygiene practices.
Email marketer from Email Marketing Forum answers that they aim for a bounce rate below 0.5% and that anything higher than that suggests issues that should be quickly investigated.
Email marketer from Reddit User shares that they aim for a bounce rate below 1% to maintain a strong sending reputation. Higher rates require immediate action to clean the email list and identify the source of invalid addresses.
Email marketer from HubSpot says that bounce rates impact inbox placement and sender reputation, it is essential to minimize them to increase chances to be seen.
Email marketer from ActiveCampaign responds that bounce rates affect your ability to successfully deliver emails to subscribers and maintain a healthy sending reputation.
Email marketer from Litmus states regularly monitoring bounce rates is vital for assessing list health. A sudden spike in bounce rates signals a problem that needs prompt investigation and resolution to protect sender reputation.
Marketer from Email Geeks advises clients to keep total bounces under 2% and strongly recommends suppressing hard bounces after the first occurrence to prevent further deliverability issues.
What the experts say4Expert opinions
Expert from Email Geeks shares that clients should aim for delivery failures to non-existent addresses to be below 4% for the first send and below 1% for subsequent sends.
Expert from SpamResource responds that a high bounce rate is a sign of poor list hygiene and can severely damage your sender reputation, leading to deliverability issues. Maintaining a clean and engaged list is crucial.
Expert from Email Geeks explains that sending to non-existent addresses indicates a failure to adequately get permission and remove non-existent addresses. This signals a lack of regard for the recipient, impacting sender reputation.
Expert from Word to the Wise explains that a high bounce rate signals that you're sending to invalid or uninterested recipients, which damages your sender reputation and affects your ability to reach legitimate subscribers. Monitoring and addressing bounce rates proactively is essential.
What the documentation says4Technical articles
Documentation from Microsoft explains that monitoring bounce rates is essential for maintaining a good sender reputation with Outlook.com. High bounce rates can lead to emails being marked as spam.
Documentation from SparkPost defines hard bounces as permanent delivery failures, immediately harming reputation. Soft bounces are temporary issues, but repeated soft bounces can also negatively impact sender reputation over time.
Documentation from Google explains that high bounce rates negatively impact sender reputation. A sudden spike can lead to filtering or blocking. Maintaining a low bounce rate is crucial for reaching the inbox.
Documentation from AWS explains that using Amazon SES you need to handle bounces and complaints effectively to maintain a good sender reputation. High bounce and complaint rates can result in account suspension.