Summary
Managing soft bounces is crucial for maintaining a healthy email list and good deliverability. While immediate removal of hard bounces is universally recommended, a nuanced approach is advised for soft bounces. Experts caution against blanket suppression solely based on the 'soft bounce' label, emphasizing the importance of understanding the underlying error codes. Soft bounces can arise from temporary issues, reputation problems (like Yahoo rate limiting), or other deliverability challenges. Many suggest monitoring, segmenting, and retrying sends to soft bounces a limited number of times before suppression. Persistent soft bounces, if left unmanaged, can damage sender reputation and lead to deliverability issues. Proactive list management and addressing high mailbox full bounces are also emphasized. The general consensus is that analyzing error codes, understanding soft bounce reasons and considering ESP settings, and managing your list proactively will improve sender reputation.
Key findings
- Impact: High bounce rates (including persistent soft bounces) negatively impact sender reputation and email deliverability.
- Error Codes: Understanding the underlying error codes associated with soft bounces is crucial for effective management.
- Need for Strategy: A tailored approach is needed for managing soft bounces involving monitoring, segmentation, and selective suppression.
- Reputation Risk: Leaving soft bounces unmanaged poses a reputational risk for senders.
- ESPs: ESPs might handle soft bounces differently, and their settings should be considered.
Key considerations
- Type of Soft Bounce: Distinguish between different types of soft bounces (temporary issues, reputation problems, etc.) for targeted action.
- Retry Attempts: Decide on the number of retry attempts for soft bounces before considering suppression.
- List Health: Evaluate list health and engagement levels when handling high mailbox full bounces.
- Segmentation: Segment soft bounces based on reason for more targeted management.
- Suppression Threshold: Establish a clear threshold for persistent soft bounces before suppression.
What email marketers say
11 marketer opinions
The general consensus among email marketers is that managing soft bounces is crucial for maintaining a healthy email list and good deliverability. While hard bounces should be immediately removed, soft bounces require a more nuanced approach. Many suggest monitoring and segmenting soft bounces, retrying sends a limited number of times, and suppressing them if they persist. High bounce rates, including persistent soft bounces, can damage sender reputation, leading to deliverability issues. Proactive list management, including removing inactive contacts and addresses generating frequent soft bounces, improves deliverability and ensures emails reach engaged recipients.
Key opinions
- Negative Impact: High bounce rates (including soft bounces) negatively impact sender reputation and email deliverability.
- Suppression Improves Deliverability: Suppressing persistent soft bounces improves deliverability and campaign performance.
- Proactive List Management: Actively managing email lists and removing inactive or problematic addresses is essential.
- General recommendation: Most email marketers agree that you should suppress soft bounces to better your email score.
Key considerations
- Frequency of Bounces: Determine the threshold for soft bounces before suppression (e.g., after 3 attempts).
- Mailbox Full Issues: Investigate causes of high mailbox full bounces, considering list health and engagement.
- Engagement of Subscribers: Consider subscriber engagement levels when deciding whether to suppress soft bounces.
- ESPs: Different ESP's manage soft bounces differently and their settings should be configured.
Marketer view
Email marketer from Reddit shares that after three soft bounces, they would consider suppressing an address. They explain that repeatedly sending to addresses that soft bounce can negatively impact your sending reputation, making it more difficult to reach valid recipients.
15 Jun 2024 - Reddit
Marketer view
Email marketer from Email Marketing Forum explains that it is a best practice to suppress soft bounces after a few attempts. This prevents you from being seen as a spammer.
17 Aug 2021 - Email Marketing Forum
What the experts say
5 expert opinions
Experts emphasize a nuanced approach to managing soft bounces, cautioning against blanket suppression based solely on the 'soft bounce' designation. Understanding the underlying error codes is crucial, as soft bounces can stem from various reasons, including temporary issues, reputation problems, or rate limiting by providers like Yahoo. Blindly suppressing all soft bounces risks losing valid addresses. Some experts suggest that ESP's default settings are generally adequate. Distinguishing between consecutive vs lifetime soft bounces and identifying the root cause of the soft bounce is important. Some 'soft bounces' might be a symptom of deeper deliverability problems.
Key opinions
- Context Matters: The reason behind the soft bounce is more important than the label itself.
- Deeper Issues: Soft bounces can indicate underlying reputation or authentication problems.
- Yahoo Consideration: Yahoo soft bounces for reputation; suppressing them all can be detrimental.
- ESP Settings: ESPs might already handle soft bounces adequately through default settings.
Key considerations
- Error Codes: Analyze error codes to understand the nature of soft bounces (temporary, permanent, reputation-related).
- Consecutive vs. Lifetime: Distinguish between consecutive and lifetime soft bounces for a more accurate assessment.
- Temporary Failures: Consider temporarily withholding soft bounces and retrying later, as some issues may resolve.
- Risk of Oversuppression: Be cautious about suppressing all soft bounces, as this can lead to the loss of valid email addresses.
Expert view
Expert from Email Geeks warns that Yahoo may soft bounce for reputation reasons, and removing all contacts who soft bounce due to rate limiting could result in losing a significant portion of the list, even if the addresses are valid.
27 May 2024 - Email Geeks
Expert view
Expert from Email Geeks explains the importance of distinguishing between consecutive and lifetime bounces when managing lists. They suggest temporarily withholding soft bounces from mailings for a week and retrying later, as mailbox full issues may resolve.
12 Sep 2021 - Email Geeks
What the documentation says
4 technical articles
Email service documentation generally advises monitoring both hard and soft bounces. Hard bounces should be immediately suppressed due to permanent delivery failure. Soft bounces, being potentially temporary, require careful management. Persistent soft bounces should be suppressed as they can negatively impact sender reputation. Maintaining acceptable bounce rates is essential for avoiding deliverability issues.
Key findings
- Monitor Both: Both hard and soft bounces require monitoring.
- Hard Bounce Suppression: Hard bounces should be immediately suppressed.
- Persistent Soft Bounce Suppression: Persistent soft bounces should be suppressed.
- Impact on Reputation: Unmanaged bounces negatively impact sender reputation.
Key considerations
- Threshold for Persistence: Determine the number of attempts before suppressing soft bounces.
- Monitoring System: Implement a system to effectively monitor and track bounce rates.
- Reputation Management: Proactively manage bounces to maintain a positive sender reputation.
- Deliverability Impacts: Consider the potential deliverability impacts of not addressing soft bounces.
Technical article
Documentation from SendGrid explains that both hard and soft bounces should be monitored. Hard bounces should be immediately suppressed as they indicate permanent delivery failures. Soft bounces, while temporary, should be monitored and suppressed if they persist, as repeated soft bounces can also negatively impact sender reputation.
31 Jul 2021 - SendGrid
Technical article
Documentation from Mailchimp explains that cleaning your email list involves removing unsubscribed, inactive, and bounced email addresses. They explain that removing hard bounces immediately is important, and advise monitoring and potentially removing soft bounces after a certain number of attempts, to improve deliverability and engagement.
5 Jul 2024 - Mailchimp
Are email list cleaning services useful for improving email deliverability, and how do they work?
Can a hard bounced email address become deliverable again, and under what circumstances?
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