Bounce rate

• What It Is: The percentage of your total emails sent that could not be successfully delivered to the recipient’s inbox.
• How to Calculate It: (Total number of bounced emails ÷ Number of emails sent) * 100
• Example: 75 bounced emails ÷ 10,000 total emails sent * 100 = 0.75% bounce rate

There are two kinds of bounces to track: “hard” bounces and “soft” bounces.

Soft bounces are the result of a temporary problem with a valid email address, such as a full inbox or a problem with the recipient’s server. The recipient’s server may hold these emails for delivery once the problem clears up, or you may try re-sending your email message to soft bounces.

Hard bounces are the result of an invalid, closed, or non-existent email address, and these emails will never be successfully delivered. You should immediately remove hard bounce addresses from your email list, because internet service providers (ISPs) use bounce rates as one of the key factors to determine an email sender’s reputation. 

How valuable is a bounce rate?

While a bounce rate doesn’t directly link to your goals, you should still look at it to make sure there are no deep issues with your emails. Having too many hard bounces can make your company look like a spammer in the eyes of an ISP.