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How to lower bounce rate

by Content Commando
15 replies
Hey guys,

Recently started a campaign and noticed that the bounce rate was almost 7%

According to the analytics, 80% of them are "soft bounces" which I'm assuming means that the email addresses are good, but there is something else that's getting in the way.

I'm using plain text with a few words bolded or underlined here and there. I'm not adding a ton of links. If anyone has any suggestions, I'd love to hear it!
#bounce #lower #rate
  • Profile picture of the author Ben Holmes
    Are you including a text version as well? If you're using bolded and underline, that is HTML, not text.

    Also, the wording you use, and the titles you use are quite critical.

    As is the email address you're sending from... is it just a gmail, hotmail, yahoo account? Or are you using the more proper real email address... ie, name@yourwebsite.com?

    These are all reasons that ISP's can block your delivery. While 'mailbox full' might be one reason for a soft bounce, it can also be ISP's blocking you for suspected spam.
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  • Profile picture of the author Content Commando
    Hey Ben,

    Thanks a ton. For the first 3 or 4 emails I didn't include a text version. I caught on the other day and fixed the rest of the series. That's kind of what I assumed was holding me back.
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    • Profile picture of the author DoveBook
      If you have your own domain and server you might want to formulate an spf record.

      Sender Policy Framework - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

      Sender ID Framework SPF Record Wizard

      This record will have to be uploaded to the company that hosts your website if you have one.

      This is not a panacea but it is a start. Getting customers to opt in is a must and seems to be a principle that's hammered in on just about every advice forum and blog for email marketing.
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    • Profile picture of the author Ben Holmes
      Originally Posted by Content Commando View Post

      Hey Ben,

      Thanks a ton. For the first 3 or 4 emails I didn't include a text version. I caught on the other day and fixed the rest of the series. That's kind of what I assumed was holding me back.
      I recently moved from Aweber to GR... and although Aweber automatically creates a text version, GR makes you take an extra step.

      I've actually grown to appreciate the extra step - it forces me to look at the text version... but it can be a snag for people who don't understand the process.

      It's ironic that now that I've moved away from Aweber - they are now telling me that they'd be happy to set my API to single opt-in.

      Who knows? Someday I may go back... but I'm now on GR and am quite happy!

      But you have to watch out, and make sure you send both HTML and text...

      Another common problem is not using a real email address. Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, etc.. are not [u]real[/r] email addresses. You need to have something like yourname@yourwebsite.com in order to evade spam filters...
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  • Profile picture of the author ProducerK
    Originally Posted by Content Commando View Post

    Hey guys,

    Recently started a campaign and noticed that the bounce rate was almost 7%

    According to the analytics, 80% of them are "soft bounces" which I'm assuming means that the email addresses are good, but there is something else that's getting in the way.

    I'm using plain text with a few words bolded or underlined here and there. I'm not adding a ton of links. If anyone has any suggestions, I'd love to hear it!
    You might want to take a look at emailonacid as well to see how your emails are showing up in most of the popular email clients as well as the most common mobile clients. Incorrect formatting is going to kill your conversion rates as well. Just somthing else to check on top of what everyone else was mentioning on here.
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    • Profile picture of the author Content Commando
      Originally Posted by ProducerK View Post

      You might want to take a look at emailonacid as well to see how your emails are showing up in most of the popular email clients as well as the most common mobile clients. Incorrect formatting is going to kill your conversion rates as well. Just somthing else to check on top of what everyone else was mentioning on here.
      Thanks man, I'll check it out.
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      • Profile picture of the author bobby_shahzad
        Soft bounce can also be caused if IP address of your email service provider is Blocked by ISPs like gmail, yahoo aol.

        Do you see a particular domain bouncing more than others? Like mostly hotmail or yahoo?

        What ESP are you using ? you should also contact their support team
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        • Profile picture of the author littledan
          Originally Posted by bobby_shahzad View Post

          Soft bounce can also be caused if IP address of your email service provider is Blocked by ISPs like gmail, yahoo aol.

          Do you see a particular domain bouncing more than others? Like mostly hotmail or yahoo?

          What ESP are you using ? you should also contact their support team
          Yes I agree.

          Also a quick tip. don't touch bounces, but each month or two remove unopens. Any emails that have bounced will not have been opened and will get removed naturally. I do this because my opens vary dramatically for the same list, so if an email address is consistently not getting through you can remove it this way, and occasional soft bounces tend to stay in.
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  • Profile picture of the author Javisito
    I have a routine on this. Every week I remove subscribers who have not opened a single Email for more than 30 days. This way your list stays clean of dead emails and fake emails.
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  • Profile picture of the author Richelo Killian
    There seems to be a little confusion on soft bounces.

    Soft bounces are temporary errors. Things like mailbox full, MX error, and a few others.

    All ESP's will retry a soft bounce 3 times, and THEN mark it hard bounced, and remove it from your list.

    Talk to your ESP, and see if they can give you a full reason for the soft bounce.
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    • Profile picture of the author ProducerK
      Originally Posted by Richelo Killian View Post

      There seems to be a little confusion on soft bounces.

      Soft bounces are temporary errors. Things like mailbox full, MX error, and a few others.

      All ESP's will retry a soft bounce 3 times, and THEN mark it hard bounced, and remove it from your list.

      Talk to your ESP, and see if they can give you a full reason for the soft bounce.
      If he is using a self hosted platform and not an ESP, there could be a slew more reasons for the soft bounce as well, including domain reputation, send scores, ip reputation, as well as volume of emails going out per hour on a specific domain, no reverse dns setup, misconfigured mta, bad mx records, and the list goes on and on and on.
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  • Profile picture of the author razorz18
    Do clean your list.. I like the idea of DigitalMarkter. They contact unresponsive subscribers, and give them chance to stay or will be remove. Cleaning and segment your list is must to lower your bounce rate.
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  • Profile picture of the author jmk909er
    With GetResponse how do I make sure that it is sending a text version also?
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  • Profile picture of the author Trankuility
    When you create your newsletter click the little "text" button. Enter your text version there.
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  • Profile picture of the author jmk909er
    Thanks I have been looking around it GetResponse and found how to do it! BTW do you do RSS-to-email in GetResponse? It has the text button but it does not look like it converts to text with the content.
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    Joe Koppel,
    If you're new to email marketing and need some help I have some Very Helpful FREE YouTube Tutorials
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    FREE: Top 5 Reasons You Are Not Losing Weight

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