When is VERP implementation necessary for attributing bounces in email marketing?
Summary
What email marketers say12Marketer opinions
Marketer from Email Geeks suggests that if the customer has bounces that they can't match to recipients, then they likely need VERP.
Email marketer from Litmus states that a properly configured return path is crucial for handling bounces. With VERP, the return path contains unique information for each recipient, allowing easier automated bounce processing and improved data gathering.
Marketer from Email Geeks advises that at a volume of 400 million emails a month, the customer should definitely use VERP, have automatic bounce handling, and be subscribed to feedback loops.
Email marketer from Moosend says that it's necessary to use VERP for improved deliverability, it also adds extra info to the bounce address so users can process bounces automatically and keep their lists clean.
Email marketer from Reddit explains that if you are not using Feedback Loops, then VERP is essential. Even if you are using Feedback loops VERP provides an added level of granularity in bounce tracking, which can be particularly useful for diagnosing deliverability problems.
Marketer from Email Geeks explains that VERP is mostly useful for feedback loops, especially in the EU due to GDPR concerns. Bounces can be handled with an RFC 5321 address and variables in the header like MessageID.
Email marketer from Mailgun notes that VERP is useful for tracking bounces so you can determine which recipient should be removed from your mailing list. Using a unique address for each recipient allows you to automate your bounce processing.
Email marketer from SparkPost shares that when sending large email campaigns, VERP helps you to easily identify which emails bounced. This is crucial for maintaining a clean email list, improving sender reputation and email deliverability.
Email marketer from EmailOnAcid recommends VERP to properly categorize bounces and maintain a clean email list. By knowing which email address bounced, you can automatically remove the invalid address from your list, improving deliverability.
Email marketer from StackOverflow explains that if you need reliable bounce detection for list hygiene, VERP is essential. If you are sending enough volume, it is hard to ensure the email address the bounce refers to if you don't use VERP.
Email marketer from Mailjet explains that VERP is useful when you need to identify which recipient caused a bounce, especially when sending large volumes of email. Without VERP, it can be difficult to pinpoint the exact recipient who triggered the bounce, making cleanup and list maintenance more challenging.
Email marketer from SendGrid states that implementing VERP assists in differentiating between hard and soft bounces, ensuring your suppression list only contains hard bounces for optimal deliverability.
What the experts say2Expert opinions
Expert from Word to the Wise explains that the return path address in the email header is used to identify failed mail. Implementing VERP helps to track and correctly identify which mail bounced and the reason for the failure.
Expert from Spam Resource explains that VERP is extremely useful for automatically processing bounces. If you have a high volume of email it can be one of the only ways to process bounces in an efficient way.
What the documentation says4Technical articles
Documentation from RFC Editor specifies that the return path (MAIL FROM) should be set to allow for automated bounce processing. VERP is a technique that enhances this by encoding recipient-specific information in the return path to identify the original recipient of the bounced message.
Documentation from AWS explains that you can use VERP to determine which recipient an email was sent to when it bounces. Each recipient gets a unique return path, allowing easier bounce processing.
Documentation from Oracle states that using a variable envelope return path is key to determining the reason and destination for each bounce. When it's not possible to attribute bounces to individual recipients using standard methods, implementing VERP ensures each bounce is uniquely identifiable.
Documentation from MailerQ states that you can use VERP to process bounces. When a message bounces, the server will send an error to the address in the return path. Because each message has a different return path, you know exactly which message bounced.