Hard bounces, soft bounces, technical bounces, OH MY! Maneuvering your way through the world of bounces and why each occurs can be intimidating and confusing, but have no fear. I'm here to help.
So what is a bounce? Bounces are messages that ISPs send back to ExactTarget to explain why they can't deliver your email to the email address you sent it to. In other words, your subscriber can't receive your email. When an email can't be successfully delivered, ExactTarget labels the subscriber as Bounced.
But there are multiple types of bounces and various reasons each bounce occurs. Check it out:
While bounces can be inconvenient and annoying, they can also help you maintain your lists. ExactTarget allows you view bounce data in the Tracking Workspace.
You can click on the number to view which subscribers received bounces. Once you know who received bounces, you can determine whether these subscribers need to be removed from the list or whether you should follow-up to see if they're having problems on their end.
To learn more about how ExactTarget handles bounces, see our Bounce Mail Management System Guide. Or to get email marketing tips download our Email Permission and Deliverability Guide.
As always, we'd love to hear your feedback on our documentation. Leave a comment below.
So what is a bounce? Bounces are messages that ISPs send back to ExactTarget to explain why they can't deliver your email to the email address you sent it to. In other words, your subscriber can't receive your email. When an email can't be successfully delivered, ExactTarget labels the subscriber as Bounced.
But there are multiple types of bounces and various reasons each bounce occurs. Check it out:
Soft Bounce: A soft bounce may be one of the most common bounce types and occurs when the email server rejects the email due to a seemingly temporary condition, such as a full inbox. When that happens, the application will retry sending the email to the subscriber eight more times over 72 hours.
Hard Bounce: A hard bounce occurs when the email server rejects the email due to permanent conditions (this typically results when "user unknown" or "domain not found" errors occur). When this happens, a variety of scenarios can play out. See the Hard Bounce documentation for more information.
Block Bounce: A block bounce occurs when the email server rejects the email due to filter issues, such as URL blocks, lack of proper authentication, or the domain or IP address is found on a blacklist utilized by the receiving domain. A subscriber who receives a block bounce will be re-tried in the next email send.
Technical Bounce: A technical bounce occurs when the email server rejects the email due to technical errors, such as a data format or network error. When a subscriber experiences a technical bounce they will be re-tried in the next email send.
While bounces can be inconvenient and annoying, they can also help you maintain your lists. ExactTarget allows you view bounce data in the Tracking Workspace.
You can click on the number to view which subscribers received bounces. Once you know who received bounces, you can determine whether these subscribers need to be removed from the list or whether you should follow-up to see if they're having problems on their end.
To learn more about how ExactTarget handles bounces, see our Bounce Mail Management System Guide. Or to get email marketing tips download our Email Permission and Deliverability Guide.
As always, we'd love to hear your feedback on our documentation. Leave a comment below.
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