Email bounces refer to emails that were not successfully delivered to the recipient’s inbox. There are two main types of bounces:

• Hard Bounces: These occur when the email address is invalid or does not exist.
• Soft Bounces: These are temporary delivery failures due to issues like a full mailbox or the recipient’s server being down.

Causes of an Account Suspension #

If your bounce rate exceeds the industry standard (typically below 5%), your account could be suspended. A high bounce rate often signals poor sending practices, including emailing invalid addresses or being flagged as spam. Maintaining a bounce rate between 0-3% is generally considered optimal to ensure healthy email deliverability.

How to Fix the Hard Bounce and Reactivate Your Account #

If your account is suspended due to a high bounce rate, take the following actions to resolve the issue:

• Review Recent Email Activities: Inspect recent campaigns, workflows, and bulk messages for potential problems.
• Pause All Outgoing Emails: Temporarily stop all workflows, campaigns, and bulk messages to prevent further issues.
• Validate Email Addresses: Ensure all emails are directed to verified, active email addresses.
• Provide Proof of Opt-In: Respond to the suspension notice with evidence of opt-in, including examples of unsubscribe links in your messages.

Upon completing these steps, our Support Team will be able to assist you in reactivating your account.

Preventing Future Account Suspensions #

To minimize the risk of account suspensions, follow these best practices:

• Email Validation: Regularly update and validate your contact list to keep bounce rates low.
• Dedicated Sending Domain: Use a dedicated domain to enhance email deliverability and sender reputation. For detailed instructions, please refer to the Setting Up a Dedicated Domain article.
• Sender Email Configuration: Ensure the sender email aligns with the dedicated domain, reducing spam flagging risk.
• Batch Email Scheduling: Send emails in smaller batches to better manage bounce rates. Refer to the How to Batch Schedule Email Campaigns and How to Send Bulk Emails articles for guidance.
• Double Opt-In Implementation: Require double opt-ins to confirm contacts’ explicit consent to receive emails.
• Unsubscribe Links: Always include clear unsubscribe options, meeting both best practices and legal requirements. Please refer to the Setting Up Unsubscribe Links In Emails article.

For a deeper understanding of email bounces and how they can impact your deliverability, be sure to explore our Email Bounce Classification article. This resource covers the various types of bounces in detail, explains the causes behind them, and provides actionable tips to improve your email-sending practices.

By implementing these strategies, you can optimize your email deliverability, safeguard your account, and build stronger, more reliable connections with your audience.

Frequently Asked Questions #

What is the difference between a hard bounce and a soft bounce? #

A hard bounce occurs when the email address is invalid or does not exist, while a soft bounce is a temporary delivery failure such as a full mailbox or a server being down.

What bounce rate can get my account suspended? #

If your bounce rate exceeds the industry standard (typically below 5%), your account could be suspended. A rate between 0-3% is considered optimal.

How do I reactivate a suspended account? #

Review recent email activities, pause all outgoing emails, validate your email addresses, and provide proof of opt-in to the suspension notice so the Support Team can assist with reactivation.

How can I prevent future suspensions? #

Regularly validate your list, use a dedicated sending domain, align your sender email with that domain, send in smaller batches, require double opt-in, and always include unsubscribe links.

Why does a dedicated sending domain help? #

A dedicated domain enhances email deliverability and sender reputation, and aligning the sender email with it reduces the risk of being flagged as spam.

How does batch scheduling reduce bounce risk? #

Sending emails in smaller batches lets you better manage bounce rates and catch problems before they affect your entire list.