A bounce means your email didn't get delivered. Some bounces are permanent. Some fix themselves. Too many of them hurt your ability to reach everyone else.
The two kinds
- Hard bounce. The address doesn't exist, or the domain is gone. It will never work. Amplify marks it invalid and stops emailing it.
- Soft bounce. A temporary problem, like a full inbox or a server that's down. Amplify retries automatically. An address that keeps soft-bouncing is probably dead too.
Some business email systems also block messages with strict spam filters. Those count as failed deliveries even though the address is real.
Why bounces matter
Email providers watch your bounce rate. A lot of bounces tells them you're mailing a stale list, and they start sending your emails to spam, even for good addresses. Bad enough, and email sending can get paused.
How to keep bounces low
- Import clean lists. Old lists from years ago are full of dead addresses. See Preparing and Importing Your Contact List.
- Never buy or scrape lists.
- Don't re-add bounced addresses. If a customer gives you a new email, update their contact.
- Ask us before a big send to an older list. We can warm it up slowly. See How to Send an Email in Drip Mode.
FAQ
Where do I see who bounced?
Open an email's results under Marketing, then Emails, and look at the bounced count. Bounced contacts are also marked on their contact record.
A customer says their address is fine, but it bounced.
Their company's spam filter may be blocking it. Ask them to add your sending address to their safe list, or reach them by text.
Will a bounced contact still get appointment reminders?
Email reminders may not reach them. Texts are a better bet for those contacts.