Why are we seeing an increase in hard bounces from smaller domains?

Email marketer from Reddit shares that a sudden switch to a new email marketing provider can cause deliverability issues. Smaller domains may flag the new sending IP as suspicious, resulting in more hard bounces until the new IP establishes a reputation.

Marketer from Email Geeks shares that one of the issues being picked up is the discrepancy between the visible From email (news@marchofdimes.org) and the actual From email (noreply@emails.marchofdimes.org), leading to spam reports.

Email marketer from Mailjet explains that maintaining a clean email list is essential. Sending to inactive or invalid email addresses results in hard bounces. Smaller domains often have stricter spam filters, so even a small percentage of bad addresses can significantly impact deliverability.

Email marketer from Sendinblue shares that proper email authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) is critical for deliverability. Smaller domains are more likely to reject emails that fail authentication checks, leading to hard bounces. Implementing these protocols helps prove the sender's legitimacy.

Email marketer from Vertical Response explains that sudden changes in sending volume can negatively impact deliverability. Smaller domains may interpret a sudden increase in email volume as a sign of spam, resulting in higher hard bounce rates. Gradually increasing sending volume helps establish a consistent sending pattern.

Marketer from Email Geeks shares that he has reset a couple of other spammy signatures, which should lead to improvements in the coming days.

Email marketer from Gmass shares that not properly warming up an IP address can cause deliverability problems. Smaller ISPs are more likely to block emails from un-warmed IPs, and as such, causes an increase in bounces.

Email marketer from Neil Patel Blog explains that sender reputation plays a crucial role in email deliverability. Poor sender reputation, influenced by factors like spam complaints and low engagement, can lead to increased hard bounces, especially from smaller domains that are more sensitive to such issues.

Email marketer from Email Marketing Forum suggests that using certain keywords or phrases in email content can trigger spam filters. Smaller domains might be more sensitive to these triggers, leading to higher hard bounce rates. Regularly review and update email content to avoid spammy terms.

Marketer from Email Geeks reports experiencing the same hard bounce issues with domains like Opt-online and Cox.net, providing specific bounce messages received.

Email marketer from Litmus explains that being on a blocklist can cause an increase in bounces. Smaller ISPs can often use smaller blocklists and cause some issues.

Marketer from Email Geeks explains that the sending IP 192.28.145.56 has been hitting some limits on ratios of spam to ham across different time windows, likely causing issues at domains using Cloudmark Authority.

Email marketer from Constant Contact shares that high spam complaint rates significantly impact deliverability. Smaller domains often have stricter spam filters and are more likely to block senders with high complaint rates, leading to increased hard bounces.

Expert from Spamresource shares that new domains often experience deliverability challenges, including increased hard bounces. Smaller domains are likely to be wary of new senders. Domain age helps to establish trust, but new domains can build good sending reputations.

Expert from Word to the Wise explains that a damaged sender reputation is a primary cause of deliverability issues. Smaller domains might be more sensitive to reputation, resulting in increased hard bounces if sender reputation is poor due to low engagement or high complaint rates.

Documentation from SparkPost explains that engagement metrics, such as open rates and click-through rates, are crucial for deliverability. Low engagement rates can signal to ISPs that emails are unwanted, leading to increased filtering and hard bounces, particularly from smaller domains.

Documentation from Google explains that maintaining a good domain and IP reputation is critical for avoiding hard bounces. Google Postmaster Tools provides data on spam rate, IP reputation, and domain reputation, helping senders identify and address deliverability issues that can lead to bounces.

Documentation from Microsoft states that exceeding sending limits can result in temporary or permanent blocks. Smaller domains, particularly those using Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP), may have stricter sending limits, leading to hard bounces if limits are exceeded.

Documentation from RFC Editor specifies SMTP error codes. Hard bounces typically correspond to 5xx errors, indicating a permanent failure. These errors signify that the email address is invalid, the domain doesn't exist, or the recipient server is refusing to accept the email.