It is important to track your bounce rate to get a big-picture perspective on how your email campaigns are doing. However, addressing the causes of a high bounce rate is even more critical.
A high bounce rate can be caused by multiple factors, all of which can significantly impact the success of your future email marketing campaigns.
It can be helpful to try some of these strategies if you keep seeing a high number of bounces over time.
Authenticate your domain
Be sure to set up your authentication records, including SPF, DKIM, and DMARC. These email authentication protocols allow ISPs to verify whether emails coming from your domain are actually being sent by you. This way, ISPs can decide whether or not to place your message in your subscribers' inboxes.
Avoid free sender domains
A professional domain is essential before launching an email marketing campaign. Free domains offered by services like Gmail or Yahoo carry the burden of being associated with spam and other unwanted emails.
They are often abused by spammers and scammers, so emails from these free sender domains are more likely to trigger spam filters and generate spam complaints, which can hurt your email sender reputation and increase your email bounce rate.
Use a double opt-in
Use double opt-in to reduce the number of scams or fake signups. The double opt-in process requires your subscribers to acknowledge and confirm their email address was added to your list after completing your sign-up/lead capture form. This is usually done via a confirmation email.
By allowing your subscribers to verify their intentions during double opt-in, you can reduce bounce rates while also increasing open rates.
Update and clean your email list regularly
Keeping your email database healthy is one of the most effective ways to reduce email bounce rates. Cleaning up an email list is not just about removing unengaged and inactive email addresses, it is about making sure that every person on your list is someone who wants to receive messages from you.
You want to be sure that there are no duplicates or invalid addresses in your database, and that every person has given you permission to send them emails.
Write quality emails
When you are sending out an email marketing campaign, it is important to make sure that the content of your email does not include spam-like words. Otherwise, they might be automatically treated as spam by filters.
If you keep sending spam-triggered emails, you will lose your privilege to pass through the firewall. As a result, all future communication will automatically be filtered into the spam folder.
Regularly and consistently send emails
If you send regular emails to your subscribers, you will be less likely to lose them or have them unsubscribe from you.
When you send out regular email communications, your subscribers are more likely to open and read them than they would be otherwise. They are more engaged with your brand because they know what to expect from you. And even better? The more often they see your name in their inboxes, the higher their chances of being interested in what you have to say next!
All of this means fewer bounces (which is amazing) and more engagement with your brand overall.
