That Bounce Ain't So Soft

Published on February 23, 2009

Tags: Email Deliverability, Email Marketing, Metrics

"Most email marketers do not view soft bounces as being a major cause for concern," says Dela Quist in the UK DMA Email Marketing Council newsletter, "so rarely, if ever, have any specific strategies been in place for dealing with them."

According to Quist, this erroneous belief is based on outdated assumptions—namely, that soft bounces are caused by busy servers or full inboxes. The catch: Neither of these is a pressing issue in 2009. "Gmail currently offers 7GB of storage!" Quist says. "I don't know anyone who has exceeded their Gmail—or for that matter, [their] Yahoo or Hotmail storage limit—and even if there are such people, they are hardly representative of the average consumer."

Because of this, concludes Quist, a soft bounce is most likely caused by temporary ISP blocking, an action often triggered by:

A lack of authentication
A poor IP reputation
Fluctuations in volume
Spam complaints

Whatever the reason, it probably isn't good, but can be addressed in coordination with your ESP.

The Po!nt: Heads up! Handle soft bounces with the same attention you give to hard ones. They might not be as harmless as you think: they can, in fact, be a sign of a far more serious situation.

→ end article preview
Read the Full Article

Membership is required to access this how-to marketing article ... don't worry though, it's FREE!

WANT TO READ MORE?
SIGN UP TODAY ... IT'S FREE!

Your email :

We will never sell or rent your email address to anyone. We value your privacy. (We hate spam as much as you do.) See our privacy policy.

Sign in with your existing account. Simply click your preferred account below!

Connect with MarketingProfs on Facebook

NOTE: MarketingProfs does not allow its content to be lifted wholesale and republished elsewhere without a licensing agreement. For more information on copyright and licensing, see here.