Imagine putting in a ton of work crafting the perfect email campaign and sending it to your list of subscribers, only to find that your email bounce rate is sky-high. This scenario happens far too many times, and it’s never a good thing.
A low email bounce rate is an excellent thing because it means your subscribers are receiving your email marketing campaigns through their mail server. There are many reasons why an email bounce rate is high, ranging from wrong email address/domain name, IP address reputation, and spammy content.
While some of these factors are out of your control, there are ways to decrease your email bounce rate to ensure your subscribers receive your well-crafted emails.
Use Double Opt-Ins
One reason why you see a surged bounce rate is that you’re sending emails to fake signups or spam email accounts. If this is the case, a double opt-in may be the solution for you.
A double opt-in works like this: after someone signs up to join your list, your email service provider (ESP) will send an email to confirm their subscription. They will then have to click the confirmation button to be added to the list.
By doing this, your lists of subscribers will be legitimate, valid email addresses. The only disadvantage to double opt-ins is your lists may grow slowly over time, but the upside is your list will be full of subscribers who want to see your emails.
Clean Your Email Lists Often
As stated above, your increased bounce rate could be due to poor, fake, or spam email addresses that are repelling your emails. By performing periodic, regular cleanup of your email lists, you’ll see more accurate, positive results in your campaigns’ performance, which will also build a stronger sender reputation.
Most ESPs have email validation tools to help you clean your lists, and it’s a good idea to scrub your lists at least once a quarter.
Create Engaging Content
You could have guessed, but the content within your emails plays a big part in your campaigns’ success. Make sure to take the time needed to create engaging, read-worthy content. Email content doesn’t need to be long, but it does need to quickly get to the point.
If your content isn’t meeting your subscribers’ expectations, they will not open your emails anymore, unsubscribe from your lists, or even mark them as spam, which will hurt your overall campaign performance.
In short, create strong email campaigns no matter what.
Consider A/B Testing
What worked yesterday in email marketing may not work tomorrow. Because trends come and go, and people receive hundreds of emails a day, it’s important to test different pieces of your campaigns to make sure you’re sending the most effective message.
A/B testing your email campaigns will not only allow you to create open-worthy emails, but they will also help all of your metrics improve, including your bounce rate. If the issue with your bounce rate has to do with certain phrases you’re using in your subject line or content you always use in your body text. Ultimately, A/B testing could help surface any issues with your campaigns that cause a high bounce rate.
Avoid Using Free Sender Domains
If you are using a free email domain, such as “gmail.com” or “yahoo.com,” to send out your email campaigns in the “from” details, you could be getting flagged by email platforms as spam. To pass the Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance (DMARC) policy check, you should use a professional or business domain (like your website’s URL) to send emails.
By taking these steps, your future campaigns could see a decrease in your bounce rate, which will lead to a more successful email marketing effort!
To learn more about email marketing or for assistance with your high bounce rate, contact GreenMellen today!
