5 Tips to Reduce Your Email Bounce Rates

Stop Bounce Back Emails With These 5 Tips

Business managers often discuss email list management once it’s too late.

It’s easy for teams to get so bogged down with nurturing their customers that they forget to monitor the overall health of their lists. So, they keep sending emails and only focus on their sales.

However, bounce rates are another important metric for managers. It represents whether your emails actually get delivered to your subscribers. High bounce rates mean you’re failing to reach your intended audience.

But no worries. You can take deliberate actions to fix this problem. Check out these five strategies to reduce your email bounce rates.

1. Avoid Purchasing Emails

In business, it’s tempting to take the easy route. We see a new tool that promises to deliver 100x results in two days, and our initial reaction is to try it. It’s only later that we learn about the negative effects.

This principle holds true for email marketing. There’s a lot of vendors guaranteeing email addresses of qualified leads. Don’t trust them.

You’ll soon realize that you bought incomplete and out-of-date information. You’ll be addressing someone in your email as Sam, only to realize the person’s real name is Mary. You ruin the potential customer relationship from the start.

Plus, most purchased emails won’t even make it to the subscriber’s inbox. You’ll lose lots of money for buying a fake list of leads.

Have you ever thought of purchasing an email list? While experts issue clear warnings to stay away, some businesses continue to try their luck. Below is a job posting on Upwork from a company seeking to buy an email list for a specific industry.

If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Consider the CAN-SPAM laws you might be violating. Your business is too valuable for a list of fake email subscribers.

 

2. Set Up an Opt-in Form

If you shouldn’t purchase a list, what is your alternative option? Here’s where the hard work begins for your team.

You have to roll up your sleeves and start engaging with your audience. To gain people’s trust, you must be open to giving away something of value.

This strategy involves responding to fans on Facebook, answering questions on live chat, and creating interesting content that offers useful information. It’s all about developing a genuine customer relationship.

After you establish that connection, you want to take the next step and ask customers for their email addresses. Asking for permission is ideal, as '77% of consumers prefer to receive permission-based marketing communications through email.'

Capture people’s email addresses by adding an opt-in form to your website. There are several types of opt-in forms, including overlays, widget bars, and scroll mats. Professional blogger Mary Fernandez offers this recommendation:

'With a lightbox popup, the rest of the screen becomes darker and the user’s eye automatically goes to read your message and view the email sign-up form. This makes it perfectly clear what the user should do next.'

With an opt-in form, you earn more qualified leads because subscribers willingly entered their contact details. For your business, this means a well-deserved drop in your bounce rates.

 

3. Get Your Own Domain

Professionalism matters in business. Your customers will judge every move you make. That’s why you want to build a good brand perception early.

In email marketing, the sender of the message determines whether someone will open and read your email. If the recipient doesn’t recognize the 'From' name, your email will remain unopened.

To increase your chances, you want to use a combination of your name or an employee’s name and the brand. For example, it’s likely a subscriber will open your email if it says: Tim from HostGator.

There’s another big issue hindering subscribers from seeing your emails. And that’s your 'From' email address. It’s vital that you avoid using free webmail accounts, like Gmail and Yahoo.

Most email service providers don’t give you the option. Email servers deem these free accounts as more suspicious, and email platforms prefer to maintain credible services.

So, what’s the solution?

Buy a custom domain. It pushes your business toward professionalism, and you get to dodge those high bounce rates.

Give your email recipients peace of mind that they’re receiving the right message from the right business. Still looking for the best domain name? Get one right now with HostGator.

 

4. Clean Your Email List

Around April of every year, people start removing their winter clothes from their closets to make room for the new season. Some folks even donate items and do an extra scrub of their homes. People refer to this annual routine as Spring cleaning.

Your business should do something similar. On a yearly or quarterly basis, your team should clean your email list.

Cleaning your list is the process of purging invalid email addresses and dormant subscribers and addressing any spam complaints. You want your list populated with only the most responsive subscribers. A quality list ensures you send messages to people who want to receive them.

But don’t press delete just yet. Pamela Vaughan, a principal marketing manager at HubSpot, suggests you give subscribers one last chance to show their interest:

'Before you remove subscribers, try a re-engagement campaign to regain their interest. You might offer a special incentive to recapture their attention. If that doesn’t work, simply ask them if they wish to remain on your list and include an easy way for them to opt out.'

It’s also recommended that you validate your email addresses. With Quick Email Verification, you can check your bounce rates before your next email campaign.

You don’t have to wait until Spring to clean your list. Take action right now to get your email marketing in tip-top shape.

 

5. Manage Your Account Reputation

Company reputation holds significance in every industry. A tainted brand image means less customers and less partners willing to do business with you. For that reason, you’ll see major businesses go to great lengths to protect their brands.

While email account reputation isn’t a highly publicized crisis, it still can affect your relationships with customers and your email service provider. In this case, a poor reputation impacts your email deliverability.

With a decrease in delivered messages, you can’t earn more sales from your products or advertisers. Your bottom line will take a nosedive and sponsors will seek ads with your competitors. The experts at AddThis agree:

'Sending emails to nonexistent addresses or to spam folders dings your IP reputation. It’s a vicious cycle: a lower reputation results in lowered deliverability, and even fewer emails actually reaching your customers.'

It’s also key to practice ethical marketing habits. If customers unsubscribe from your mailing list, honor their wishes. And stay away from spammy phrases, like 'no strings attached,' 'satisfaction guaranteed,' and 'no purchase necessary.'

 

Improve Your Email Marketing

There’s more to email than writing copy and adding cool designs to your messages. It’s also important to refine your email deliverability.

If no one is getting your emails, you’re not nurturing any leads. Experiment with different strategies, like opt-in forms and list cleaning, to ensure your emails get received.

Check your email bounce rates. It’ll improve your overall email marketing strategy.