Summary
Increased bounce rates specifically from Apple Mail can arise from various factors. 'Unclassified' bounces need investigation to uncover specific bounce codes. Apple's Mail Privacy Protection can inflate open rates and skew engagement metrics. Damaged sender reputation, stemming from poor sending practices, spam triggers, or invalid addresses, is a key contributor. Authentication issues (SPF, DKIM, DMARC), stricter DMARC policies, and sending to old or unengaged lists are also significant causes. Email content, sending infrastructure for transactional emails, and use of custom domain all play a role. Monitoring bounce codes, practicing list hygiene, email testing, and following best practices are essential for resolution.
Key findings
- Unclassified Bounces: 'Unclassified' bounces indicate a need to investigate specific bounce codes from your provider.
- Privacy Protection Skew: Apple's Mail Privacy Protection inflates open rates, leading to inaccurate engagement metrics.
- Reputation Damage: Poor sending practices damage sender reputation and trigger spam filters.
- Authentication Failures: Authentication issues (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) increase the chances of emails being marked as fraudulent.
- List Quality Matters: Old, unengaged or invalid email lists increase bounce rates.
- Aggressive Filtering: Apple Mail’s filtering combined with privacy features may misclassify emails.
- DMARC Policies: Apple Mail has stricter DMARC policies.
- Spam Filters: Apple Mail has more aggressive spam filtering settings.
Key considerations
- Obtain Bounce Codes: Investigate unclassified bounces from Apple Mail through your provider.
- Segment Engagement: Pay attention to skewed open rates and adjust segmentation strategies accordingly.
- Improve Sending: Review and follow sending practices to improve sender reputation.
- Set up Authentication: Ensure SPF, DKIM, and DMARC are correctly set up.
- Clean Your List: Focus on regularly cleaning your email list by removing unengaged addresses.
- Review content: Review your email campaigns for spam triggers.
- Test Your Emails: Test your email campaigns to check for deliverability issues.
- Post Master Feedback: Contact Apple Postmaster support for feedback.
- Custom Domain: Use a custom domain for better deliverability.
What email marketers say
13 marketer opinions
Increased bounce rates specifically from Apple Mail can stem from a variety of factors. Unclassified bounces should be investigated with your email provider to obtain specific bounce codes. Apple's Mail Privacy Protection can inflate open rates, skewing engagement metrics. General issues include poor sender reputation, spam triggers in content, and incorrect authentication. More specific reasons include stricter DMARC policies, and issues with sending infrastructure causing transactional emails being flagged as spam. Not using a custom domain can also contribute.
Key opinions
- Unclassified Bounces: Investigate 'Unclassified' bounce messages with your email provider for specific codes.
- Mail Privacy Protection: Apple's Mail Privacy Protection can inflate open rates, leading to inaccurate engagement metrics and affecting segmentation.
- Sender Reputation: Poor sender reputation due to low engagement, spam complaints, or invalid addresses can lead to stricter filtering by Apple.
- Authentication Issues: Incorrectly configured email authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) can cause emails to be flagged as fraudulent.
- Stricter DMARC Policies: Apple Mail may have stricter DMARC policies, causing rejection of emails failing DMARC authentication.
- Spam Triggers: Apple Mail may be more sensitive to spam triggers like certain keywords or excessive images.
- Transactional Email Issues: Bounces in transactional emails could indicate problems with sending infrastructure.
- Custom Domain: Not using a custom domain can increase the likelihood of being flagged as spam.
Key considerations
- Monitor Bounce Codes: Pay attention to specific bounce codes from Apple Mail to understand the cause of delivery failures.
- List Hygiene: Regularly clean your email list to remove unengaged subscribers and invalid addresses.
- Email Testing: Utilize email testing tools to identify deliverability issues before sending campaigns to Apple Mail.
- Authentication Setup: Ensure proper configuration of SPF, DKIM, and DMARC to authenticate your emails.
- Content Review: Review email content for potential spam triggers and optimize accordingly.
- Contact Apple Postmaster: If problems persist, contacting Apple's postmaster support may provide additional insights.
- Use a Custom Domain: Always use a custom domain for your email address to improve deliverability.
Marketer view
Email marketer from Litmus shares that Apple's Mail Privacy Protection can impact bounce rates by artificially inflating open rates, potentially leading to inaccurate engagement metrics and affecting segmentation strategies, thus indirectly contributing to deliverability issues and bounce rates if unengaged subscribers are not properly identified and removed.
17 Dec 2021 - Litmus
Marketer view
Email marketer from Campaign Monitor explains that if transactional emails (like password resets or order confirmations) are experiencing bounces on Apple Mail, it could indicate a problem with the sending infrastructure or a misconfiguration that's causing Apple to flag these essential messages as spam.
22 Sep 2022 - Campaign Monitor
What the experts say
2 expert opinions
Increased bounce rates with Apple Mail are often linked to damaged sender reputation due to practices violating best practices or triggering spam filters. Apple Mail's aggressive spam filtering and privacy features may misclassify legitimate emails as spam, particularly for domains with borderline authentication or engagement.
Key opinions
- Sender Reputation: Damaged sender reputation from poor sending practices is a key factor.
- Aggressive Filtering: Apple Mail's aggressive spam filtering may misclassify legitimate emails.
- Borderline Metrics: Domains with borderline authentication or engagement are particularly vulnerable.
Key considerations
- Review Sending Practices: Assess and correct sending practices to avoid triggering spam filters.
- Improve Authentication: Ensure robust email authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) to enhance legitimacy.
- Boost Engagement: Focus on improving engagement metrics to demonstrate positive sender behavior.
Expert view
Expert from Word to the Wise explains that deliverability issues, including increased bounce rates with Apple Mail, can often be traced back to a damaged sender reputation stemming from sending practices that violate best practices or trigger spam filters.
23 Aug 2023 - Word to the Wise
Expert view
Expert from Word to the Wise suggests that Apple Mail's more aggressive spam filtering, combined with their privacy features, might be misclassifying legitimate emails as spam, leading to increased bounce rates, especially if the sending domain has borderline authentication or engagement metrics.
18 Aug 2021 - Word to the Wise
What the documentation says
4 technical articles
High bounce rates are caused by sending to old or unengaged lists, including invalid addresses. Hard bounces from permanent delivery failures impact sender reputation. List hygiene, involving removing inactive subscribers and suppressing bounced addresses, is essential. Analyzing SMTP error codes, particularly those from Apple Mail, helps pinpoint specific delivery failures.
Key findings
- List Quality: Old, unengaged, or invalid email lists contribute to high bounce rates.
- Hard Bounces: Hard bounces negatively impact sender reputation and increase bounce rates.
- List Hygiene: Regular list cleaning and suppression are crucial for maintaining deliverability.
- SMTP Error Codes: Analyzing SMTP error codes from Apple Mail provides insights into delivery failures.
Key considerations
- List Maintenance: Consistently clean and update your email lists.
- Confirmed Opt-In: Implement confirmed opt-in processes to ensure valid subscriptions.
- Address Suppression: Suppress bounced addresses to prevent repeated delivery attempts.
- Error Code Analysis: Review SMTP error codes to identify and address specific delivery issues with Apple Mail.
Technical article
Documentation from Mailchimp explains that high bounce rates can be caused by sending to old or unengaged email lists, which can include invalid or mistyped addresses, as well as subscribers who have abandoned their accounts and that consistently cleaning your list of these contacts and using confirmed opt-in can help reduce bounces.
20 Nov 2022 - Mailchimp
Technical article
Documentation from SparkPost explains the importance of list hygiene, stating that regularly removing inactive or unengaged subscribers and suppressing bounced addresses helps maintain a healthy sender reputation and reduces the likelihood of future deliverability issues and bounce rate increases.
1 Feb 2022 - SparkPost
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