When an email fails to reach its intended recipient, that’s called a bounce. It can happen for many reasons, from the contact’s inbox being full to a server issue at their email provider. It’s important to detect email bounces and act on them to avoid poor deliverability rates and having your emails labeled as spam.

The best way to reduce email bounces is by maintaining good list hygiene and ensuring that your emails are sent to valid email addresses. This is the only way to guarantee that your campaigns will be delivered and will avoid a high bounce rate, which makes mailbox providers think that you’re a spammer (even if you aren’t).

In addition to standard codes such as “soft” or “hard,” email service providers can provide more specific explanations for why an email has bounced. It’s also important to note that different email service providers may classify bounces differently, so it’s best to monitor your bounce rates and take action if necessary.

Soft Bounces

This type of bounce indicates that the email address you tried to send to is invalid, mistyped, or currently nonexistent. This type of bounce should be corrected and removed from your contact list before resending the message.

A soft bounce can also indicate that the email you attempted to send was too large for the recipient’s mailbox or their server. You should reduce the size of your email messages to ensure that all recipients can receive them.