Bounce Rate
An effective email marketing strategy relies on the ability for your messages to successfully reach your intended recipient’s inbox. This is why understanding your email bounce rate is critical.
In this short glossary post, we will dive into the world of email bounce rates. Whether you’re a veteran email marketer or just starting out, understanding bounce rates is crucial for optimizing your campaigns and ensuring your messages reach your audience.
What is Email Bounce Rate
Bounce rate, in the world of email marketing, refers to the percentage of sent emails that are not successfully delivered to the recipient's inbox.
This metric serves as a vital health indicator for your email campaigns, shedding light on potential issues and areas of improvement in your email list and sending practices. A high bounce rate can tarnish your sender reputation, impede your deliverability, and ultimately hurt your campaign’s success.
Calculating Bounce Rate
Calculating the email bounce rate is relatively simple. Start by dividing the total number of bounced emails by the total number of emails sent. The result is then multiplied by 100 to get the bounce rate percentage.
To calculate the bounce rate, you need to first gather two pieces of information:
Total Emails Sent: The total number of emails you sent in a specific campaign or over a set time period.
Total Bounced Emails: The total number of emails that bounced back and were not delivered to the recipient's inbox.
Now, you use the following formula to calculate your bounce rate:
Email Bounce Rate (%) = (Total Bounced Emails / Total Emails Sent) x 100
Example: Let’s pretend you sent 1,000 emails in a recent campaign. 50 bounced or weren’t delivered. This would make your email bounce rate for this campaign 5%.
Email Bounce Rate (%) = (50 Bounced Emails / 1000 Total Sent Emails) * 100 = 5%
Simple!
What is a Hard Bounce?
A hard bounce is an email that has been returned to the sender due to a permanent issue. The intended recipient will not receive this email.
Read more about Hard Bounces and how you can address them.
What is a Soft Bounce?
A soft bounce is an email that has been returned to the sender due to a temporary issue, like a full inbox or an offline email server.
Read more about Soft Bounces and how you can address them.
Average Email Bounce Rate
An average or good email bounce rate is generally considered to be under 2%. A low bounce rate typically indicates that your email list is healthy, well-maintained, and comprised of valid email addresses.
However, it’s important to note that a 0% bounce rate is very rare (likely impossible as your list grows).
Improving Email Bounce Rate
Improving your email bounce rate involves a combination of good email list hygiene, regular monitoring, and following email marketing best practices.
Here are some best practices to improve your bounce rate:
Use double opt-in for new subscribers
Remove invalid email addresses
Automatically unsubscribe inactive users
Ensure SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records are properly setup
These aren’t guaranteed to reduce your bounce rates but they are definitely a good start and are considered table stakes for email marketers these days.
Key takeaways
An email bounce rate is the percentage of sent emails that are not successfully delivered to the recipient's inbox.
The average email bounce rate is generally considered to be under 2%.
A 0% email bounce rate is extremely rate if not impossible.
Monitor both hard and soft bounces for best results.
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An effective email marketing strategy relies on the ability for your messages to successfully reach your intended recipient’s inbox. This is why understanding your email bounce rate is critical.
In this short glossary post, we will dive into the world of email bounce rates. Whether you’re a veteran email marketer or just starting out, understanding bounce rates is crucial for optimizing your campaigns and ensuring your messages reach your audience.
What is Email Bounce Rate
Bounce rate, in the world of email marketing, refers to the percentage of sent emails that are not successfully delivered to the recipient's inbox.
This metric serves as a vital health indicator for your email campaigns, shedding light on potential issues and areas of improvement in your email list and sending practices. A high bounce rate can tarnish your sender reputation, impede your deliverability, and ultimately hurt your campaign’s success.
Calculating Bounce Rate
Calculating the email bounce rate is relatively simple. Start by dividing the total number of bounced emails by the total number of emails sent. The result is then multiplied by 100 to get the bounce rate percentage.
To calculate the bounce rate, you need to first gather two pieces of information:
Total Emails Sent: The total number of emails you sent in a specific campaign or over a set time period.
Total Bounced Emails: The total number of emails that bounced back and were not delivered to the recipient's inbox.
Now, you use the following formula to calculate your bounce rate:
Email Bounce Rate (%) = (Total Bounced Emails / Total Emails Sent) x 100
Example: Let’s pretend you sent 1,000 emails in a recent campaign. 50 bounced or weren’t delivered. This would make your email bounce rate for this campaign 5%.
Email Bounce Rate (%) = (50 Bounced Emails / 1000 Total Sent Emails) * 100 = 5%
Simple!
What is a Hard Bounce?
A hard bounce is an email that has been returned to the sender due to a permanent issue. The intended recipient will not receive this email.
Read more about Hard Bounces and how you can address them.
What is a Soft Bounce?
A soft bounce is an email that has been returned to the sender due to a temporary issue, like a full inbox or an offline email server.
Read more about Soft Bounces and how you can address them.
Average Email Bounce Rate
An average or good email bounce rate is generally considered to be under 2%. A low bounce rate typically indicates that your email list is healthy, well-maintained, and comprised of valid email addresses.
However, it’s important to note that a 0% bounce rate is very rare (likely impossible as your list grows).
Improving Email Bounce Rate
Improving your email bounce rate involves a combination of good email list hygiene, regular monitoring, and following email marketing best practices.
Here are some best practices to improve your bounce rate:
Use double opt-in for new subscribers
Remove invalid email addresses
Automatically unsubscribe inactive users
Ensure SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records are properly setup
These aren’t guaranteed to reduce your bounce rates but they are definitely a good start and are considered table stakes for email marketers these days.
Key takeaways
An email bounce rate is the percentage of sent emails that are not successfully delivered to the recipient's inbox.
The average email bounce rate is generally considered to be under 2%.
A 0% email bounce rate is extremely rate if not impossible.
Monitor both hard and soft bounces for best results.