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Email Bounces
Email Bounces

What is the difference between soft and hard bounce emails and why do they occur?

Michael Stephenson avatar
Written by Michael Stephenson
Updated over a month ago

Overview

What is a Soft Bounce?

A soft bounce indicates an email was temporarily undeliverable despite reaching the recipient's server.

Common reasons for a soft bounce include:

  • The recipient's inbox is full (most common reason)

    • Also referred to as inbox quota

  • The recipient's email server is down

  • The recipient's email is not configured correctly

  • The recipient's mailbox is currently inactive

What is a Hard Bounce?

A hard bounce occurs when an email is permanently rejected either by the recipient’s email server or because the email address is invalid.

Common causes include:

  • The recipient has an invalid email address

  • The recipient has a non-existent domain

  • The recipient's email server has blocked your emails

Multiple Soft Bounces

If an email address records five soft bounces, it is given a hard bounce milestone. After reaching this threshold, the system will automatically cease sending marketing messages to this address.

Viewing Bounce Reason

Understanding why an email bounced can provide valuable insights into improving your email deliverability and maintaining a healthy sender reputation. Follow these steps to review the bounce reason for a specific email:

  1. View the Student’s Activity Feed

    • Navigate to the student's contact profile and open their activity feed.

  2. Narrow Down the Feed Using the “Email” Option

    • Use the filter to focus only on email-related activities.

  3. Locate a Bounced Email Activity

    • Look for entries labeled as bounced emails.

  4. Click the Eyeball Icon

    • Select the eyeball icon to view the details for that specific email.

  5. Review the Bounce Reason Field

    • In the details panel, locate the “Bounce Reason” field and review the reason for the bounce.

Bounce reasons can help you identify trends or recurring issues, such as full inboxes, server errors, or invalid email addresses. With this information, you can take proactive steps to address the problem, like contacting the recipient or removing invalid addresses.

Impact on Your Email Campaign

Email deliverability and bounce rates are critical metrics that affect the success of your marketing campaigns. High bounce rates can negatively impact your sender reputation, reducing the overall deliverability of your campaigns. To enhance your campaign's performance, regularly update your email lists and address issues promptly.

By understanding and managing both soft and hard bounces, you can significantly improve the effectiveness of your email marketing efforts.

The Campaigns Module is only available with the Element Ignite and Engage packages.

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