Could there be anything more annoying than crafting a purposeful email to someone and then immediately getting a bounce message?
It can be frustrating, but it’s even more bothersome when you have an email list and a bunch of them bounce back or go nowhere. It’s also very bad for your email marketing. The more email bounces you get, the less of even the valid email addresses that go through.
Your email marketing plans are all about reaching people’s inboxes. If your email doesn’t land in the inbox, there’s almost no chance anybody will read it. We’re going to explore the 3 easy ways to prevent email bounces.
Clean your list
List cleaning is one of the cornerstones of email marketing and the best way to protect the valuable asset of your email list. Some marketers don’t realize what a victory it is when a customer gives you their email address. It conveys trust and support, so don’t take it lightly. Furthermore, maintain your email list! It’s no different than any other valuable thing. You take care of your vehicle, your house, and even your teeth because you care about these things and want to continue using them.
A good email verifier will identify and remove poor-quality addresses. The quality of every single email list will decline in time. Good email addresses become invalid and some were never worthwhile. In addition to invalid emails, there are catch-alls, role-based, spam traps, temporary, abuse emails – they can all spell disaster for your list. So, go ahead and weed them out.
It should be simple to upload your list to a reputable email verification platform. A good email verifier will allow you to easily identify and remove any bad email addresses and prevent email bounces.
Use an email verification API
An email verification API is almost as important as the bulk verifications mentioned above. It’s a very simple, but highly useful tool. What does it do? It verifies whether the people trying to subscribe to your list are entering valid, suitable emails. If they enter in a sub-par address (temporary, typo, or role-based), the API rejects that address automatically. If it’s a typo, it detects it and asks you to enter the correct email. This is great because it keeps all of these low-quality and invalid email addresses off of your valuable email list in the first place. Using an email verification API in conjunction with a bulk email verifier will have your list in a very good place with very minimal bounces.
Use a double opt-in subscription
Single opt-in is the easiest. It’s when someone enters an email address on a sign-up form and they’re on the list. However, what is easiest is not always best. The double opt-in method has an additional step. First, the subscriber signs up, but then they receive an “opt-in” confirmation email with a link that they must click. Then they’re added to the list along with some other information. Using the double opt-in method, you’ll not only prevent the addition of invalid emails but also lead to higher engagement rates. Anytime someone has to go through an extra step to prove they really want something, they’ll value it more. It’s human nature.
A low bounce rate is a worthy goal
If you follow these best practices, you will definitely prevent email bounces. Just remember that occasionally decreasing the number of people on your list is not necessarily a bad thing. Also, make it easy for people to unsubscribe. Every email should have a link making it easy to do so.
Then, don’t buy lists, practice permission marketing. The people getting your emails should want to get them and be of high-quality. If they don’t meet certain criteria, they can’t be on the list. Remember the goal is to reach receptive humans, not the disinterested and certainly not bots. Don’t forget, you belong in the inbox!
Author Profile
- Paul Leslie is a Content Writer for email validation company ZeroBounce. He has a rich background in content creation as a writer, researcher and interviewer. Paul has conducted more than 800 interviews distributed via radio and podcasts.
