Understanding and managing email bounces on SleepPRO™

A bounce is an email which could not be delivered. Here is what bounces mean, the two kinds, and how to keep them low.

1. What is a bounce?

A bounce happens when the receiving mail server does not deliver your email. You can see which contacts did not receive it in your email statistics, or in each contact's email history.

Common reasons: an invalid or closed address (often a typo or an old list), a temporary problem such as an unavailable server, or the recipient's spam filters blocking the email.

A high bounce rate usually points to an outdated or unchecked list. Gmail and Outlook watch this closely. Sending to invalid addresses again and again makes you look like a risky sender, so more of your emails go to spam or get blocked. Keeping your list clean protects your reach.

2. Two kinds of bounces

In your statistics:

• An address in grey is a hard bounce. The email was not delivered and never will be.
• An address in blue, which you can click, is a soft bounce. A temporary failure. These contacts stay active, and later emails may arrive.

Soft bounce: the address is valid and the email reached the receiving server, but it was rejected before reaching the inbox. The contact is not marked as Bounced, because the rejection only applied to this email. Common reasons:

• The receiving server is temporarily unavailable.
• The mail server is not responding.
• A blocked IP address.
• A blacklisted domain.
• Content or links flagged as suspicious.

Hard bounce: the email was permanently rejected, because:

• The address is invalid.
• The address does not exist.
• The inbox is full.

SleepPRO™ handles hard bounces in two ways:

1. Contacts with a full inbox are marked as Bounced. No more emails are attempted, since they would not arrive. If you know the address works again, SleepPRO™ support can reactivate the contact.
2. Fake or closed addresses are removed from your list automatically.

Remove hard bounces from your list straight away. Sending to them keeps damaging your sender reputation.

3. How to lower your bounce rate

• Clean your list regularly. Remove invalid, inactive and unengaged addresses.
• Use double opt-in, so only real, interested parents join. See How to set up double opt-in.
• Add reCAPTCHA to your forms to keep bots out, even with double opt-in. See Secure your registration forms with reCAPTCHA.
• Personalize your emails using what you know, such as their child's age or what they bought. Relevant emails get more opens and clicks.
• Email regularly. After a long silence, some addresses may have closed, and parents may forget you and report you as spam.
• Segment your list by location, interests or behavior, and send each group what fits.
• Check your list with an email verification tool before sending, to catch invalid addresses.
• Avoid spammy habits: lots of capitals, big claims or emailing too often.
• Invite replies and clicks with clear, relevant calls to action. Engaged parents boost your reputation.