Summary
The best practice for cleaning up soft bounces in email marketing involves a multi-faceted approach. First, understand the nature of soft bounces: they are temporary delivery issues often due to full inboxes, server problems, or oversized messages. It is generally recommended to monitor these bounces and establish a threshold (e.g., 3-7 bounces) within a defined timeframe (e.g., 21-60 days) before taking action. However, not all soft bounces are equal; some may be related to IP reputation rather than the recipient's address. Implement bounce categorization to differentiate these. Remember that a high bounce rate negatively impacts sender reputation, so proactive list hygiene is crucial. Consider the specific characteristics of your audience and mail stream when determining how long to keep retrying delivery and whether successful deliveries should reset the bounce counter. Finally, leverage available automation features in your email marketing platform to streamline the soft bounce cleanup process and ensure compliance with email marketing regulations.
Key findings
- Soft Bounces Are Temporary: Soft bounces represent temporary delivery issues, such as full inboxes or server problems.
- Threshold for Removal: A common practice is to remove email addresses after a certain number of soft bounces (e.g., 3-7) within a defined timeframe (e.g., 21-60 days).
- Not All Soft Bounces Are Equal: Some soft bounces may be due to IP reputation issues and should be treated differently.
- Bounce Rate Impact: High bounce rates negatively impact sender reputation and deliverability.
- Proactive Hygiene: Proactive list hygiene, including monitoring and managing soft bounces, is crucial for maintaining a healthy email program.
- Automation Is Key: Automating the soft bounce cleanup process is essential for efficient list management.
Key considerations
- Define Threshold and Timeframe: Establish a clear threshold for the number of soft bounces and the timeframe for monitoring before taking action (e.g., suppression or removal).
- Categorize Bounces: Implement bounce categorization to differentiate between soft bounces caused by address-specific issues and those related to IP reputation.
- Audience and Mail Stream: Tailor your approach based on the characteristics of your audience and the type of emails you're sending.
- Retry Attempts: Determine how many retry attempts to make before considering an address a persistent soft bounce.
- Reset Counter?: Decide whether a successful delivery should reset the soft bounce counter.
- Compliance: Ensure your bounce handling practices comply with email marketing regulations and best practices.
- Monitor Performance: Continuously monitor the performance of your email program and adjust your soft bounce handling strategy as needed.
What email marketers say
15 marketer opinions
Best practices for cleaning up soft bounces in email marketing involve establishing a threshold for the number of soft bounces an email address receives before it's removed from the list. A common approach involves removing addresses after 3-7 soft bounces within a 21-60 day period. It's essential to differentiate between types of soft bounces, as some may indicate issues unrelated to the recipient's email address, such as IP reputation problems. Monitoring soft bounce reasons is crucial; addresses with persistent issues like full mailboxes should be suppressed. Maintaining good list hygiene by managing soft bounces is essential for sender reputation and deliverability. Automation can streamline this process.
Key opinions
- Soft Bounce Threshold: A threshold of 3-7 soft bounces within 21-60 days is a common trigger for suppression.
- Soft Bounce Reasons: Soft bounces can be caused by temporary issues like full mailboxes or server problems.
- Differentiate Bounce Types: Not all soft bounces are equal; some stem from IP reputation, not recipient addresses.
- Monitoring Importance: Monitoring soft bounce reasons helps identify persistent issues needing address removal.
- Deliverability Impact: High bounce rates negatively affect sender reputation and deliverability.
- Automation Efficiency: Automating the soft bounce cleanup process improves list hygiene.
Key considerations
- Consecutive vs. Total Bounces: Decide whether to trigger removal based on consecutive soft bounces or a total count over time.
- Timeframe for Monitoring: Establish a timeframe (e.g., 30-60 days) for tracking soft bounces before taking action.
- Bounce Categorization: Implement bounce categories to differentiate between address-related and IP-related soft bounces.
- Sender Reputation: Consider the impact of bounce rates on sender reputation and prioritize proactive list hygiene.
- Tools and Automation: Leverage email marketing platform features to automate soft bounce cleanup.
- Resetting the Counter: Determine if successful deliveries should reset the soft bounce counter.
Marketer view
Email marketer from Email Geeks explains that not all soft bounces are equal, as some may be due to IP spam reputation rather than the email address itself. Suggests some should not be counted in the "soft bounce counter".
1 Jan 2023 - Email Geeks
Marketer view
Email marketer from Email Geeks shares that they remove emails that soft bounce more than ~95% of the time in the last 3 months, especially those from garbage domains or consistently full mailboxes.
4 Apr 2025 - Email Geeks
What the experts say
3 expert opinions
Experts emphasize that cleaning up bounces, including soft bounces, is crucial for maintaining good email deliverability. A high bounce rate negatively impacts sender reputation, potentially leading to emails being marked as spam. The decision on how long to keep trying to deliver mail is up to the sender and depends on the mail stream and the customer. If tracking soft bounces as "we could not deliver to this address," choose a number of consecutive failures and reset the counter each time a message successfully delivers.
Key opinions
- Bounce Cleanup is Crucial: Cleaning up bounces, including soft bounces, is crucial for maintaining good email deliverability and sender reputation.
- High Bounce Rate = Bad Reputation: A high bounce rate negatively impacts sender reputation, potentially leading to emails being marked as spam.
- Sender's Decision on Retry: The decision on how long to keep trying to deliver mail is up to the sender, depending on the mail stream and the customer.
- Consecutive Failures and Reset: If tracking soft bounces as 'we could not deliver to this address,' choose a number of consecutive failures and reset the counter each time a message successfully delivers.
Key considerations
- Define 'Acceptable' Attempts: Determine the number of delivery attempts before ceasing to send to a specific address.
- Audience and Mail Stream: Tailor your approach based on the specific characteristics of your audience and mail stream.
- Success Resets the Counter: Decide whether or not a successful delivery should reset the soft bounce counter, giving the address a 'fresh start'.
- Monitoring is Essential: Implement a system to monitor both hard and soft bounces, taking prompt action to remove problematic addresses.
Expert view
Expert from Word to the Wise explains that when it comes to bounce processing, the decision about how long to keep trying is up to the sender. Senders need to decide how long it makes sense to keep trying to deliver mail. If the address never accepts mail, at some point it makes sense to stop trying. When to stop trying depends on the mail stream and the customer.
3 Dec 2021 - Word to the Wise
Expert view
Expert from Spam Resource emphasizes that cleaning up bounces is crucial for maintaining good deliverability. They explain that a high bounce rate signals to mailbox providers that you may not be practicing proper list hygiene, which can lead to your emails being filtered as spam. Monitoring and acting on both hard and soft bounces is therefore essential.
30 Nov 2021 - Spam Resource
What the documentation says
4 technical articles
Email delivery documentation consistently highlights the importance of understanding and managing both hard and soft bounces to maintain a good sender reputation. While email platforms often handle bounces automatically, administrators need to be aware of the different types of bounces and their implications. Soft bounces, which indicate temporary delivery issues like full mailboxes or server problems, require monitoring. If these issues persist, the affected subscribers should be investigated and potentially removed from the list. Understanding SMTP Enhanced Status Codes aids in diagnosing the underlying causes of soft bounces, enabling more informed decisions about list management.
Key findings
- Bounce Understanding: Understanding the difference between hard and soft bounces is crucial.
- Automatic Handling: Email platforms often automatically handle bounces, but administrator oversight is needed.
- Temporary Issues: Soft bounces indicate temporary delivery issues.
- Persistence is Key: Persistent soft bounces require investigation and potential removal.
- Status Codes: SMTP Enhanced Status Codes provide insights into the reasons behind soft bounces.
Key considerations
- Notification Setup: Set up bounce notifications to promptly identify and address delivery problems.
- Monitoring Strategy: Establish a strategy for monitoring soft bounces and identifying patterns.
- Removal Criteria: Define clear criteria for removing subscribers based on the frequency and nature of soft bounces.
- Code Interpretation: Familiarize yourself with SMTP Enhanced Status Codes to diagnose delivery failures effectively.
- Compliance: Ensure your bounce handling practices comply with email marketing regulations and best practices.
Technical article
Documentation from Amazon SES outlines how to set up bounce notifications and provides best practices for handling both hard and soft bounces to maintain a good sender reputation. SES recommends monitoring soft bounces and taking action if they become persistent.
28 Dec 2022 - Amazon Web Services
Technical article
Documentation from Mailchimp explains that Mailchimp automatically handles bounces, but it's important to understand the difference between hard and soft bounces. Soft bounces indicate a temporary delivery issue and Mailchimp recommends monitoring them and removing subscribers if they persist.
29 May 2024 - Mailchimp
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