Written by
Michael Benson
Uncover the secrets of Delivered, Bounced, Blocked, and Deferred Emails in this insightful guide.
In the digital age, emails have become an essential mode of communication, both for personal and professional purposes. Approximately 79% of all marketers consider emailing one of the top three most effective marketing channels. Almost every business today has an ongoing email marketing campaign. And reasonably so — the medium promises an incredible ROI of $36 for every dollar of investment. Yes, you read that right — for every dollar you spend on email marketing, you can make up to $36 more.
Email marketing is also so popular because of its simplicity. Sending an email is straightforward – you compose a message, address it to the recipient, hit the send button, and off it goes into the digital ether.
However, sometimes, what happens next can be a mystery. While in most cases, emails are successfully delivered, that's not always true. Other times, they bounce back, get blocked, or are deferred for reasons unknown to the sender. Such incidents can significantly derail your campaigns and lower your success rates.
So, what is a bounced, blocked, or deferred email? How do I know if my email is blocked or deferred? What is a bounce address?
If you don’t have an answer to these queries, don't fret; we got you. In this comprehensive guide, we'll dive into the email delivery world and explore the concepts of delivered, bounced, deferred, and blocked emails. We'll also discuss the common reasons behind each of these scenarios and provide insights into what you can do when your emails don't reach their intended destination.
Uncover the secrets of Delivered, Bounced, Blocked, and Deferred Emails in this insightful guide.
Delivered emails refer to email messages that have successfully reached their intended recipients' email inboxes or email servers. When you send an email, it goes through a series of steps to reach its destination, and "email delivered" is one of those steps. Here's a brief overview of how it works:
Noteworthy, while an email may be marked as "delivered," it doesn't guarantee that the recipient has actually opened or read the email. The "delivered" status simply means that the email successfully reached the recipient's email server or inbox. The recipient can choose to open and read it at their convenience.
Most email clients do not offer analytics on opened or ignored emails. However, several tools like LeadBoxer, Streak, Boomerang, and Veloxy can help you track these metrics at a small fee.
Bounced emails are email messages that do not successfully reach their intended recipients and return to the sender's email server. Bouncing can happen for various reasons. Marketers typically categorize bounced emails into two main types: Hard bounces and Soft bounces.
Hard bounces happen when an email fails to reach the intended recipients due to a permanent and unresolvable issue. Such bounced messages usually return to the sender's Outbox folder. Common reasons for hard bounces include:
Soft bounces occur when an email cannot be delivered temporarily due to a non-permanent issue. Common reasons for soft bounces include:
Email servers and service providers typically generate bounce messages or Non-Delivery Reports (NDRs) to inform the sender about the email delivery failure and the specific reason for the bounce. These notifications can help you understand why your message bounced and take appropriate actions, such as correcting email addresses, contacting the recipient through an alternative method, or resolving server issues.
High bounce rates can negatively impact a sender's email reputation and deliverability, potentially leading to being marked as a spammer. Therefore, it's essential for email marketers and administrators to regularly monitor bounce notifications and maintain a clean and up-to-date email list. Doing so will help you minimize the reoccurrence of bounced messages.
Deferred emails are emails an email client’s servers temporarily refuse to accept. Several people confuse them with bounced emails. However, they're different. While in bounced emails, a server might reject an email totally, a deferred email means 'not now, maybe later.'
During email deferrals, receiving servers usually pre-schedule to accept the emails at a later date and time automatically. This feature is also sometimes referred to as "scheduled emails" or "delayed sending."
What causes deferred emails? Well, a deferred delivery can arise because of the following factors:
Many email clients and services, including popular ones like Gmail, Outlook, and various email marketing platforms, offer the option to schedule deferred emails. Deliberately deferring your emails can come with several benefits, including:
The exact steps to schedule delayed emails may vary depending on the email service or client you use. Still, it typically involves selecting a specific date and time for your email to be sent instead of dispatching it immediately.
What does it mean when you get the error notification, 'email message blocked'? And what can you do to salvage this situation?
Blocked emails are emails that an email or spam filtering system has prevented from reaching the recipient's inbox. Email services and clients use various methods to identify and block emails that they consider unwanted, often to reduce spam, phishing attempts, or other unsolicited and potentially harmful messages.
Below are a few common reasons for blocked emails:
One common trick cyber actors use to initiate attacks is email phishing. This technique involves the bad guys sending emails masquerading as trusted sources to dupe users into sending them money or revealing their details.
For instance, if your email address is conpanyabc@gmail.com, an attacker can email your subscribers from a fake account like companyabcc@gmail.com. Because of the rapport you've already built with your clients, they might not see the need to verify your email address, making them easy prey.
Because of such incidents, email servers are usually biased against unauthenticated addresses. So, if your email lacks proper email authentication records like SPF (Sender Policy Framework) or DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail) set up, it can trigger spam filters.
Email authentication helps to verify that your address is legitimate and not spoofing someone else's email address. Without proper authentication, some clients might treat your address as suspicious, triggering them to block your emails.
Email spam filters use various techniques to analyze the content of an email to determine if it's spammy or legitimate. Suppose an email's content contains specific characteristics commonly associated with spam, such as excessive use of particular keywords, links to known malicious websites, or attachments with suspicious file types.
In that case, it's more likely to be flagged as spam or blocked. You can avoid this by ensuring that email content is well-structured, free of excessive promotional language, and doesn't trigger standard spam filter rules. Also, avoid using too many links or images in your email.
Internet Service Providers often maintain their internal spam filters to protect customers from unwanted and potentially harmful emails. If you send an email from an IP address or domain that is on a denylist or has a history of sending spam, the ISP's spam filter may block the email before it even reaches the recipient's inbox.
To resolve this, the sender may need to work with their email service provider to address the issues causing their emails to be blocked and take steps to improve their sending reputation.
Recipients can set up custom spam filters to control what emails they receive in their inbox. These filters can factor in various criteria, including specific sender addresses, keywords, or domains. If an email matches the criteria defined in the recipient's custom spam filter, it will be moved to the spam folder or blocked.
That is often a deliberate action recipients take to reduce unwanted emails. Senders should be aware that their emails may get blocked by recipients who have set up strict custom spam filters and should respect their preferences.
Failed deliveries are detrimental to email marketing campaigns. They can significantly lower your initiatives' ROUs. Fortunately, they're preventable and resolvable. Whether it's a bounce-back message, an email trapped in a spam filter, or simply an undelivered email, understanding and implementing the following solutions can help you ensure your messages are reliably delivered.
Before delving into more technical solutions, always double-check the email addresses you're sending to. A simple typo can lead to delivery failure. Ensure there are no spaces, extra characters, or misspellings in the recipient's address. Additionally, confirm that you're using the correct domain extension, such as .com, .org, or .edu, as mistyping this can lead to delivery issues.
Do you have cast email lists with thousands of subscribers? Don't worry; you don't have to verify your email addresses manually. Several nifty tools like Clearout can validate you within minutes at the click of a button.
Sometimes, email delivery failures may be caused by the recipient's inbox being full or exceeding its storage capacity. If this happens, the email server may reject new messages. To avoid this, send smaller attachments and occasionally remind subscribers to sort their inboxes.
Alternatively, you can use email management tools that will automatically alert you when subscribers' inboxes are almost full.
One of the most common reasons for email delivery failure is that recipients or email servers classify your message as spam. Email servers use various filters to detect and divert spam emails, but occasionally, legitimate emails get caught in the crossfire. Avoid this by researching and omitting spam triggers from your email content.
You can also encourage the recipient to check their spam folder regularly. If your email is there, they can mark it as "Not Spam" to prevent similar issues in the future.
If you're experiencing consistent email delivery failures with your current email service provider, consider switching to a more reliable one. While free email services can be convenient, they may have limitations in terms of security, deliverability, and customer support. Paid email services often provide better features and support, which can help you ensure successful email delivery.
Many email services allow users to safelist specific email addresses or domains, ensuring that messages from these sources always reach their inboxes. If you've been experiencing high bounce rates, you can run a campaign to encourage your recipients to add your email address to their safe list. Doing so will minimize the risk of email delivery failures.
Email authentication is an essential step to increase email deliverability. The two most common authentication methods are SPF (Sender Policy Framework) and DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail). SPF verifies that the sender is authorized to use a specific domain, while DKIM adds a digital signature to the email to confirm its authenticity. Implement these authentication protocols to increase the trustworthiness of your emails.
If you're sending emails on behalf of a business or organization, consider using a reliable email service provider (ESP) that specializes in email marketing and communication. ESPs often have built-in features to improve deliverability, such as tracking bounces and handling unsubscribe requests. They can also provide support and guidance on optimizing your email campaigns.
Your sending reputation, often known as your sender score, is a critical factor in email deliverability. It measures your email-sending behavior, including the percentage of emails marked as spam, bounce rates, and recipient engagement. Monitoring your sender score is crucial, as a poor reputation can lead to email delivery failures.
Tools like Sender Score by Return Path can help you keep track of your reputation.
If you're sending a high volume of emails, consider using a dedicated IP address for your email campaigns. Doing so ensures that your sending reputation does not depend on other senders sharing the same IP. A dedicated IP gives you more control over your email deliverability and can reduce the risk of ESPs marking your emails as spam.
When you receive bounce-back emails indicating failed delivery, don't ignore them. These messages contain valuable information about why your email could not reach its destination. Standard bounce-back codes include "user not found," "mailbox full," and "recipient rejected." Use this feedback to clean your email list and remove invalid or inactive email addresses, improving delivery rates.
Segmenting your email list involves categorizing your recipients based on specific criteria such as demographics, location, or engagement level. By sending targeted emails to smaller groups, you can improve the relevancy of your content, reduce the likelihood of being marked as spam, and enhance overall deliverability.
While images and rich media can make your emails visually appealing, they can also trigger spam filters and lead to email delivery failures. To ensure your emails are delivered, consider sending plain text emails or using a good balance of text and images. Be cautious with email attachments, as they can also be a red flag for spam filters.
Email delivery failures can be a frustrating and detrimental experience, but with the right strategies and solutions, you can significantly improve your email deliverability. By confirming email addresses, checking spam folders, authenticating your emails, and managing your sending reputation, you can increase the chances of your messages reaching their intended recipients.
Remember to monitor your email campaigns, adapt to changing email service providers if necessary, and take the time to address bounce-back emails. With these solutions, you can communicate more effectively and efficiently through email, reducing the stress and uncertainty of failed email deliveries.
Above all, ensure your emails are recipient-centric. As you create your campaigns, ask yourself if that's the information you'd have loved to hear if you were the recipient. Recipient-friendly messages will earn you a positive sender reputation, gaining you favor with email servers' algorithms.
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