Email Newsletter Bounce Rates
Bounced emails
Anyone who doesn't receive the email within 4 days of sending is listed in the bounce section. The likely reason for the bounce is listed next to their email address in the reports and you can read up on the possible reasons on the website (eg, their inbox was full). If the bounce is due to a permanent problem (eg incorrect spelling of an email address), it is automatically removed from your subscriber list, so you don't pay to send emails to that address in the future. It is impossible to tell exactly how many subscribers successfully receive your email campaign in their inbox, because not all ISPs and corporate mail administrators send non-delivery bounce reports and some subscribers may have set up their own spam filters, which can prevent your email from reaching their inbox.
Can I assume that any email that does not show up in the bounce report was delivered?
No, you should not make that assumption. An email can bounce, but not show up in our Bounce Reports if the receiving ISP or corporate mail administrator does not reply with a non-delivery bounce notice. Unfortunately, there is no way to confirm that - we've sent the email out, and neither an 'opened' report or a 'bounce' report has come back to us. This is just an unavoidable part of how email works.
No, you should not make that assumption. An email can bounce, but not show up in our Bounce Reports if the receiving ISP or corporate mail administrator does not reply with a non-delivery bounce notice. Unfortunately, there is no way to confirm that - we've sent the email out, and neither an 'opened' report or a 'bounce' report has come back to us. This is just an unavoidable part of how email works.
Some emails don't appear in the bounce reports but I know they weren't delivered - what happened?
There are 2 main reasons why your email may not have arrived in the inbox:
- The ISP is using a content filter and has determined that your email exceeds their "might be spam" threshold. Some ISPs are stricter than others.
- The subscriber has chosen tight spam controls in the email client they are using - perhaps to block all email from unknown senders. Your email may have been delivered but, due to tight spam controls, it may have ended up in the spam or bulk folder and the recipient may have missed it.
Spam filters
Some emails are blocked by firewalls because of their content - trigger words and phrases in the subject line and content of the email can alert firewalls to the possibility of spam.
Some of the more commonly used phrases that ISPs and mail clients filter out include:
- Free!
- 50% off!
- Click Here
- Call now!
- Subscribe
- Earn £
- Discount!
- Eliminate Debt
- Double your income
- You're a Winner!
- Reverses Aging
- "Hidden"
- Information you requested
- "Stop" or "Stops"
- Lose Weight
- Multi level Marketing
- Million Pounds
- Opportunity
- Compare
- Removes
- Collect
- Amazing
- Cash Bonus
- Promise You
- Credit
- Loans
- Satisfaction Guaranteed
- Serious Cash
- Search Engine Listings
There are other problematic phrases that can trigger some Spam filters, and should be avoided. These include:
- Act Now!
- All New
- All Natural
- Avoid Bankruptcy
- As Seen On…
- Buy Direct
- Casino
- Cash
- Consolidate Your Debt
- Special Promotion
- Easy Terms
- Get Paid
- Guarantee, Guaranteed
- Great offer
- Give it away, Giving it away
- Join millions
- Meet Singles
- MLM
- No cost, No fees
- Offer
- One time
- Online pharmacy
- Online marketing
- Order Now
- Please Read
- Don't Delete
- Save up to
- Time limited
- Unsecured debt or credit
- Vacation
- Viagra
- Visit our web site
- While Supplies last
- Why pay more?
- Winner
- Work at home
- You've been selected
The 'spam test' facility available on my email software (for £9.00), checks your email against most of the major firewall systems to make sure you are not going to get blocked because of the content of the email. If it highlights a problem, it also advises on how to overcome the problem.