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Deliverability
Understanding email bounces - soft vs hard bounces
But what many people don’t realize is that there are two types of bounces: hard bounces and soft bounces.
In this article, we’ll explain what they are and why emails bounce.
Why bounces are bad
It’s quite simple:
If your email outreach produces many bounces, internet service providers think you’re a spammer.
Consequently, your email sender reputation gets dealt a blow and your deliverability decreases.
Now, you’re getting even more bounces, lowering your sender reputation even more.
It’s a snowball effect.
It’s not hard to see why you must avoid bounces as much as possible.
Why do emails bounce
Emails bounce due to deliverability problems.
As mentioned above, there are two types of bounces: soft and hard bounces.
The difference is that soft bounces are caused by temporary issues, and hard bounces by permanent ones.
What is a soft bounce
Soft bounces may occur when a mailbox is full, a server is experiencing temporary delivery issues, or when a recipient’s server is temporarily blocking the email due to suspected spam.
What is a hard bounce
Hard bounces, on the other hand, have permanent causes.
They may occur when sending emails to non-existing email addresses, when there are permanent domain or server issues, or when your emails trigger spam filters.
It’s important to note that a poor sender reputation can cause hard bounces.
How to reduce bounces 📉
Eliminating all bounces is close to impossible.
However, most of them can be avoided by following the three steps below.
1. Verify all emails
Never send to unverified emails.
Unverified emails could be emails that don’t exist or experience technical problems.
Ensure to verify the emails of your leads before contacting them.
With lemlist’s Email Finder & Verifier, you can easily verify the emails of all your leads to reduce your bounces dramatically.
Remember, your email list needs to be verified regularly to limit the amount of bounces you’ll get.
2. Tend to your sender reputation
Your sender reputation is your foot in the door, so make sure it doesn’t stink. ;-)
The obvious first step to improving or maintaining your reputation is not sending spammy emails. A good start is to avoid these spam trigger words.
But there’s more…
For new sending domains, it’s important to warm up your email.
Learn the key differences between the email authentication protocols SPF and DKIM. Understand how these essential DNS operate and how they can boost your open rates.
Improve your email open rates and deliverability with free email deliverability tests that can help your emails reach the inbox and maintain a strong sender reputation.
