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How are email bounce rates calculated and what is considered a good bounce rate?

Summary

Email bounce rates are a critical metric for understanding your email deliverability, yet their calculation and what constitutes a good bounce rate often lead to confusion. This summary aims to clarify how bounce rates are typically calculated across the industry and provide context for interpreting these figures to ensure your email campaigns are as effective as possible.

What email marketers say

Email marketers often find industry bounce rate benchmarks to be a source of confusion and frustration, noting that reported figures often seem artificially low compared to their real-world experiences. This discrepancy typically stems from differing definitions of what constitutes a bounce, particularly concerning hard versus soft bounces.

Marketer view

Email marketer from Email Geeks explains that many industry benchmarks on bounce rates do not clearly differentiate between hard and soft bounces. This lack of distinction can make it difficult for marketers to understand whether the reported percentages align with their specific campaign outcomes and list health.

15 Apr 2020 - Email Geeks

Marketer view

Email marketer from Outfunnel suggests that a healthy email bounce rate benchmark is generally considered to be 2% or less. This figure typically indicates good list quality and effective email deliverability strategies, helping to maintain positive sender reputation over time.

15 Apr 2020 - Outfunnel

What the experts say

Experts in email deliverability emphasize that industry benchmarks for bounce rates can often be misleading due to inconsistencies in how different ESPs define and report bounces. They stress the importance of understanding the precise definitions of hard and soft bounces, as well as the underlying methodologies, to accurately assess email campaign performance and maintain a healthy sending reputation.

Expert view

Email expert from SpamResource suggests that the definition of a bounce is critical for accurate reporting and analysis. Without a consistent and clear understanding of what constitutes a hard versus a soft bounce, comparisons between different email campaigns or industry benchmarks can be misleading and unhelpful for optimizing deliverability.

15 Apr 2020 - SpamResource

Expert view

Email expert from WordToTheWise explains that simply achieving a low bounce rate is not enough; the true measure of success lies in whether emails actually reach the inbox and engage recipients. Focusing solely on bounce rates can overlook issues like spam folder placement or poor engagement, which also hinder email marketing effectiveness.

15 Apr 2020 - WordToTheWise

What the documentation says

Official documentation and technical standards define email bounces primarily based on SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) responses. These define whether an email could not be delivered temporarily (soft bounce) or permanently (hard bounce). The core principle remains consistent: a bounce occurs when the receiving mail server explicitly rejects or is unable to accept an email.

Technical article

Documentation from Segment explains that to calculate your email bounce rate, you should divide the number of bounces received by the total number of emails sent in a campaign, and then multiply this result by 100. This formula provides a straightforward way to quantify the proportion of undeliverable messages, serving as a fundamental metric for email campaign analysis.

15 Apr 2020 - Segment

Technical article

Documentation from AWS states that bounce rate calculation often uses representative volume, meaning it can span back in time depending on your sending rate. This approach allows for a more stable and accurate measure of bounce performance, especially for senders with fluctuating email volumes, providing a consistent view over a broader period.

15 Apr 2020 - Amazon Web Services, Inc.

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