Disclaimer: Pay attention to the emails you send to your clients to make this communication channel productive.

Marketers employ a variety of strategies and tools to draw consumers to their goods and guide them step-by-step through the sales funnel. In one of our previous posts, we described the advantages of cold calls for the marketing strategy. We now go a step further and define email marketing as a lead-generation strategy. And the idea is that when used properly, any tool is effective.

What is the email bounce rate?

An email bounce rate is the percentage of emails that were not delivered to the recipients for some reason. This metric is crucial since it allows marketers to assess how much of their efforts were ineffective and see whether there is anything that can be done to enhance the indicator going forward.

How to calculate the email bounce rate?

To find your email bounce rate, you need to divide the number of bounced emails by the total number of emails sent and multiply that number by 100.

The result may differ depending on the industry you deal with.

What is the average email bounce rate?

It is obvious that at least some of the emails will bounce. Typically, a bounce rate of 2% or lower is considered okay. If your rate is more than 2%, action needs to be taken. However, every industry has its peculiarities. You may refer here to check the acceptable rates for various types of business.

“Hard Bounce” and “Soft Bounce” definitions

If the bounce rate seems high, the first step is to understand the reasons for that. Depending on the reason, hard and soft bounce rates are identified.

Inconsistent email addresses, out-of-date domains, and receiver servers that have blocked delivery are examples of hard bounces. As a result, you cannot alter the circumstances.

Soft bounce occurs as a result of various transient errors. For instance, there can be a problem with the recipient's server, a full inbox, or an excessively long email. Such circumstances can be dealt with and improved.

How to reduce your email bounce rate?

1. Keep your email lists clean.: It’s good when the list of your recipients includes only verified organic email addresses. You may be critical of other audience-building strategies and proud of your SEO work. However, the reality is different, and sometimes businesses have to buy email lists to find the first loyal customers. It may be the way out, but it should be taken seriously.

   Make sure you use an email cleaning service to identify the “spam trap” emails. If your message is sent to such an address, it will be marked as spam, and either your domain or even your IP address will be blacklisted.

   Another tip here is to regularly check the bounce rate. If there is a hard bounce, remove that email from the list. Also, get rid of the address from the list if you sent multiple emails to it and none of them were opened. Your resources are better spent elsewhere. There are online solutions that can cope with those tasks automatically.

2. Do not be a spammer: The result of sending a spammy-looking letter will be similar to the previous point; your address will be blocked and you will not ever reach a potential lead. Therefore, use various tools and programs to check the spam level of your messages.
3. Use a business domain: Sending emails from a domain like kitty83@gmail.com has several pretty obvious disadvantages. Even though your email may appear better than that, a company domain is always more professional and trustworthy. You can use the service from Google to quickly register your domain name and start sending letters from it. Besides, free email domains do not comply with the DMARK protocol, which means the emails sent are likely to experience a hard bounce.

4. Be polite, consistent, and demonstrate a personalized approach: Avoid being too formal in your letters and make them personal. Using templates for the newsletters is convenient. However, it kills the personal touch.

   Make sure to confirm that the recipients of your emails agree to receive them. Offering customers a selection of the letters—whether they be alerts, offers, instructions, etc.—is a fantastic idea. Even though it takes significantly longer than simply using a list of random emails, this strategy is unquestionably more successful. Your audience will feel valued and delighted to use your services in the future.

   Do not overload your followers with too many emails. At the same time, be regular with your messages so as not to let them forget who you are.

5. Monitor the results regularly: Keep an eye on your email bounce rate. Any activity needs attention and minor improvements. The more quickly you respond to any changes, the better your general marketing approach will perform.

Wrap up

Sending emails is another method of spreading the word about your product or service to the masses. It should be carefully used and combined with other tools for gaining high-quality leads and increasing conversions. Visit our blog for additional marketing advice and practical suggestions.