Question

Topic: E-Marketing

Bad Email Response Message

Posted by Anonymous on 3/10/2004 at 5:33 AM ET 125 Points
how will I know if my bad email response is comming from a bad email account, bounced because of email box is full or block?
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  • Posted by Blaine Wilkerson on 3/10/2004 at 10:17 AM Member
    The best way to find out is to contact the mail administor of the ISP. They can tell you if the account exists, is full etc.

    Usually, bounced back messages will state the reason why. However, some firewalls and spam filters will automatically kick back messages. This is especially the case with sending attachments or HTML emails to a corporate network email address. Most will allow text only.

    I hope that helps!

    Good Luck!
  • Posted by jdojc on 3/11/2004 at 5:18 PM Member
    If you're using your regular email program such as Outlook, it's not easy to tell why the bounce occurred. If you're using a 3rd party program, they'll usually give you a reason or at least a server message that may help.

    "Sender was rejected" could mean that the recipients spam filter didn't let you in. "User unknown" generally means the part after the @ symbol is right but the part before is mis-spelled or no longer exists. Also you should distinguish between "hard" and "soft" bounces. Hard bounces means the email isn't getting through at all unless either you or the recipient make some changes. A "soft" bounce means the email might still go through on a subsequent attempt.
  • Posted by Pepper Blue on 3/11/2004 at 6:19 PM Accepted
    It is very hard and time consuming to do this on a per sender basis using a program like Outlook. In fact, it is not really even a practical solution if you are sending a significant number. With bounceback rates in some cases approaching 15% that is one whole lot of analzying time on your part.

    However it can be easily done if you engage the services of a third-party service that specializes in email delivery and subscriber database hosting.

    Another option, even less time consuming is to use a professional marketing services firm to manage in part or full the entire campaign for you. (Disclaimer: This is what we specialize in).

    This way you can focus on your operation and not worry about your email marketing which is not only about the undeliverables but the sleep-depriving worry of being CAN-SPAM compliant.

    When you use the third-party/professional services they will provide you this complete statistical feedback, which is available within minutes of sending- after every email campaign you deliver.

    Very valuable stuff.

    For example with bouncebacks you will now know if it was due to:

    A Non-existent mailbox - i.e. Hotmail account that has gone inactive

    Undeliverable: Outgoing and incoming mail servers couldn't connect

    Mailbox Full: Subscriber out of town, emailbox can't hold anymore.

    Other: Undeterminable, but one of the above (not many of these.

    Blocked: Even more importantly they will tell you which ones where blocked by corporate or ISP filters.

    The reason it is important to know exactly what is happening by each of the above categories is that each one takes a different strategy to act on.

    For example with non-existents if it happens a couple of campaigns in a row you are better off removing them because you risk raising a red flag to the ISP's and getting a block put on you (and you DON'T want this to happen).

    If you want an example of what a report would look like I can send you one, this will make it much clearer what the value of doing it like this could be for you.

    Hope that helps.

  • Posted by Pepper Blue on 3/21/2004 at 10:30 AM Member
    reginaldob,

    I will do that tomorrow, Monday.

    Email me directly at tpepper@pepperblue.com if you need additional information.

    Thanks,


    Pepper Blue
  • Posted by Pepper Blue on 3/21/2004 at 10:34 AM Member
    reginaldob

    I don't have your email, please send it to me at

    tpepper@pepperblue.com

    Thanks
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