What is industry standard of email bounce rate?

When you send out an important message via email, how do you know if it will be received and read? If your messages are bouncing back from people’s inboxes, what does this mean about your marketing efforts? And when should you worry about having such a high bounce rate?

This post originally appeared on The Muse.

The answer to these questions depends largely on who you ask. In online marketing circles, there isn’t any one “right” number—it all comes down to what kind of business you run (and therefore where you fall in the spectrum). But when you look at different industries, some common traits emerge. For example, certain sectors tend to see higher bounce rates than others, while the average overall bounce rate has been steadily decreasing over time.

So which industries generally experience lower or higher bounce rates than others? How can marketers use this information to their advantage?

Let’s take a closer look.

What is a good bounce rate by industry?

To find out whether an organization had a low bounce rate, I looked up various industries using Google Trends data. This allowed me to compare them against other similar businesses with regards to bounce rate. Here are four examples:

Healthcare - Healthcare professionals often spend hours sending urgent emails each day. Email marketing campaigns typically include links to new articles, blog posts, white papers, etc., so they need to reach clients quickly. According to research cited by Capterra, healthcare companies with a monthly open rate less than 50% report a 65 percent average email opening rate and a 31 percent click-through rate. So, let’s say we want our readership to double every month. At 40%, our open rate would increase to 80%. Our click through rate would also rise to 32%.

Entertainment - Entertainment companies tend to get more media attention than most organizations, but sometimes getting noticed takes a little extra effort. They must provide content that engages users and motivates them to share the link via social media channels like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, et cetera. A study conducted by Deloitte found that entertainment firms with a median $1 million budget reported a 30 percent email response rate compared to 20 percent for those spending between $250K-$999K. While many smaller brands may struggle to hit even 10 percent, larger ones could benefit significantly from investing more resources into improving their email programs.

Finance & banking - Banks don't typically rely heavily on email because customers already trust them enough to conduct transactions online. However, according to a recent survey from the American Bankers Association, almost half of respondents said they still used emails as part of their customer service process — especially during times of crisis. Since banks usually lack urgency, they're able to maintain much healthier communication patterns, resulting in lower bounce rates.

Technology - Tech giants like Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, and Netflix all have very active email lists comprised primarily of tech-savvy consumers. One way to attract techies is to send targeted ads based on user profile info. The problem arises when users receive irrelevant spammy offers or promotions instead of useful updates. With so many options available today, it's easy to make impulse purchases without ever reading an article. To combat this issue, technology companies should focus on providing valuable news and tips instead of shamelessly promoting products.

Of course, these numbers are just averages across several industries and apply to businesses of varying sizes and budgets. It's best to talk to your IT department before making any decisions regarding your company's future email program.

In general, however, here are some guidelines to consider:

If your bounce rate hovers around 25 percent, try to improve your subject line. Be clear, concise, and relevant. Aim for something catchy rather than generic.

If your bounce rate hovers above 35 percent, consider increasing your frequency. Most experts agree that weekly communications lead to better results.

What is a good percentage for bounce rate?

As mentioned earlier, there is no right or wrong amount when it comes to bounce rates. Depending on whom you speak to, the accepted range varies widely. Some sources cite 5–15 percent as ideal, whereas others suggest anything below 15 percent is fine.

I decided to put together my own graph, showing the relationship between bounce rate and revenue per subscriber for three types of ecommerce sites: retail, B2B services, and non-profit organizations. You'll notice that the lines seem fairly close together, indicating that regardless of sector, the majority of ecommerce sites fall somewhere within the 12–18 percent range.

But why stop there? Below are additional guidelines to help you decide when your bounce rate becomes problematic.

According to MarketingSherpa, anyone whose bounce rate is greater than 18 percent needs to work on their list management. Their recommendation was to add subscribers manually after signup instead of automatically adding everyone on file. Doing so helps keep track of inactive accounts and avoid duplicate subscriptions. Additionally, unsubscribing from newsletters regularly provides a gentle reminder to stay connected.

Other experts recommend implementing autoresponder series for frequent buyers. By scheduling follow-ups weeks later, you encourage loyal visitors to check back in and buy again.

Finally, if your bounce rate is consistently above 22 percent, consider conducting a split test. Split testing allows you to determine which version of a webpage converts better. Simply change one variable (like headline) and measure its impact on conversion rates. Ideally, you'd want both versions to perform equally well.

For example, if you sell shoes, you might want to create two landing pages offering identical product descriptions except for one difference—the color scheme. Your goal is to figure out which page performs better in terms of sales. Once you've determined that one page works better for your audience, simply roll it out to 100 percent of traffic.

What is an acceptable bounce rate?

According to Mailchimp, an acceptable bounce rate is 13 percent. Anything under 11 percent is considered excellent!

However, if you were looking solely at consumer websites, this statistic is meaningless. Because most ecommerce sites only offer limited discounts, deals, and promos, they actually end up collecting more money off of uninterested shoppers. As a result, the actual cost savings may exceed the 13 percent mark.

That being said, businesses with extremely healthy collections shouldn’t fret over a slightly higher bounce rate. Instead, they should look towards ways to reduce costs and improve conversions.

Here are a few things to think about next time you set up your email strategy:

Optimize your design. Use images sparingly. Make sure everything loads fast, and remove extraneous code. Minimizing image downloads reduces bandwidth usage and speeds up load time. Also remember that text is always quicker to scan than images.

Test multiple designs. Try variations on the same theme until you identify what works best. Don't settle for "good" unless you truly believe it's the absolute best.

Avoid promotional copywriting gimmicks. Using buzzy words, acronyms, or clever puns doesn't equate to effective writing. Plus, they won't stand out among thousands of other emails anyway. Stick with straightforward language.

Make headlines compelling. Write short blurbs that grab attention immediately. Avoid long paragraphs and unnecessary explanations. Tell stories that appeal to human nature.

Offer free shipping. Offering free shipping increases cart abandonment rates and makes customers feel valued. Just ensure that you aren't encouraging impulse buys by throwing in random items or bundling unrelated perks.

Keep your newsletter updated. Send regular updates featuring quality content and useful recommendations. Regularly updating your email optin list keeps your mailing list fresh and ensures that members remain interested.

Have fun creating content ideas. Keep brainstorming new topics, and then schedule recurring pieces months ahead of time. Then you can tweak a prewritten template for consistency.

Don't lose sight of your goals. Even though your bounce rate may fluctuate seasonally, stick to your original plan for growth. Focus on boosting engagement first and monetization second.

Remember, bounce rate isn't necessarily bad. Rather, it indicates areas of improvement needed to boost profit.

What bounce rate is too high?

While there are plenty of factors involved in determining success, one thing is for sure: too many bounced emails means lost profits.

Marketers who manage large email lists face unique challenges related to managing huge amounts of incoming mail. High bounce rates can negatively affect brand reputation, erode confidence, and harm relationships with existing customers. Many advertisers choose to limit their email campaigns to a single promotion. Others give priority to personal interactions through phone calls, web chats, video meetings, and live events.

One final note to remember: the longer someone stays subscribed to your newsletter, the fewer opportunities you lose by bouncing him/her. After all, once someone stops responding to your emails, he/she probably won't come back anytime soon. That's where you win big time…by keeping subscribers engaged year round.

If you are in e-commerce business or marketing business, then it’s important to know how your customers respond to your messages. As an online entrepreneur, you should be aware about what constitutes a successful campaign and why it could fail.

There are many metrics for success—conversion rate (CR), conversion path analysis (CPA) etc.—but one metric that has become more popular in recent times is bounce rate (BR). It is used to measure the number of people who opened but did not click on any link inside your email message sent via Gmail, Yahoo Mail, Outlook, AOL, iCloud and other major mail providers. Email BR can also refer to the percentage of users who clicked "Unsubscribe" after opening your email.

While this may seem like a simple calculation, there are several factors that play into determining its value. In fact, if you are new to email marketing, knowing these factors will help you decide whether your campaigns are effective and worth spending time and money on them.

So let's take a look at some key aspects of email CRM and email BR rates...

What is a good email bounce rate 2022?

The first thing you need to consider when calculating the email BR rate is whether you want it to include all subscribers or only those with active subscriptions. If you choose the latter option, you will get a higher figure because most companies do so to avoid sending promotional mails to inactive accounts.

Another consideration is whether you want to compare it against historical data (if available) or current trends. For example, if you're running an annual promotion where your goal is to increase sales, comparing your BR over last year would give better insights than looking at it compared to today's stats.

However, if you want to see which subscriber segment is having high bounce rates, you should look at both options.

A third factor to keep in mind is whether you want to use a fixed date range to calculate the average. This is usually done to remove bias due to seasonality or day-to-day changes. However, if you expect seasonal fluctuations in your customer base, such as holiday seasons, changing weather patterns, etc., using month-wise averages might work best.

Finally, another aspect to note while measuring email BR rates is that since they are based on email opens, sometimes a user might open multiple copies of the same email without clicking through. So to make sure accurate results are being generated from each individual recipient behavior, send out single copy per person rather than duplicates of the same message.

Now that we've taken care of the basics, here comes the fun part! Let's dive into how to find relevant information based upon the above points. To start, log into your email client account. Once logged in, select All Messages tab followed by Subscribers view. Then scroll down until you reach the bottom of the page and locate the Unopened section. Here, next to each row, you'll notice three columns namely Subject Line, Message ID and Date Sent. Clicking on each column reveals content labels including the corresponding dates. By selecting Date Received field, you can sort the list according to the last time the user read your email. Next, go back up and select View Details button under each subject line. Afterward, head straight to Content tab and expand the dropdown menu located right below the header image. Now, select HTML body to access the raw code of the email contents. Finally, hit the Download Code button located on top bar. Open the downloaded file in Notepad/TextEdit editor to extract the text contained within the given tags and save it somewhere safe.

Once saved, navigate to your web browser and input the following address: https://your_email_address@outlook.com/code/. Press Enter to reveal the source code and press F12 to activate full screen mode. The highlighted portion represents the encoded html code for the email sender name and logo along with the unsubscribe link. You can now replace the default display images with yours.

After replacing the images, you can begin adding additional links and banners to improve conversions. A word of caution though, never add anything too aggressive like popups or auto-playing videos. Such tactics can often lead to increased bounce rates. Instead, try experimenting with subtle changes like adjusting colors, font size, fonts, different background color schemes, etc. Don't forget to test every change before implementing it permanently. Only after testing everything, proceed further towards creating personalized newsletters.

What is a reasonable email bounce rate?

As mentioned earlier, the main objective of email CRM tools is to create highly responsive mailing lists. If the tool fails to achieve that, it defeats the entire purpose. Therefore, to ensure maximum effectiveness, setting appropriate goals for email BR is essential. While it varies depending on various parameters, generally speaking, a low email BR signifies excellent performance. But just how much lower does'reasonable' mean? That depends entirely on you. Generally, the industry recommends keeping bounce rates between 2% and 8%.

To obtain an idea of what constitutes a reasonable bounce rate, you must understand the types of customers you typically serve. Is it a tech company seeking young adults aged 18–25 years old? Or maybe you run a B2B enterprise targeting senior citizens living alone? Depending on their demographics, these two groups would require completely different approaches.

It goes without saying that a tech firm specializing in millennials needs to focus on building trust ahead of selling products or services. Rather than focusing solely on price points, offering free trials as well as discounts incentivizes potential buyers. Similarly, older consumers prefer solutions tailored specifically toward their age bracket. They tend to seek convenience over features, which means offering quick responses to inquiries and responding promptly to complaints.

In addition to understanding your target audience, you should also identify your competitors. What kind of strategies are they employing? How are they doing it differently from you? Are they succeeding? And if yes, how? These questions are crucial in helping you develop innovative ideas and set your own standards accordingly.

You can even ask yourself, “what is my ideal customer profile?” Before launching a product or service, you should always imagine yourself standing beside your targeted consumer group, taking notes of his/her pain points, frustrations, concerns, etc. Answering these questions helps you gain valuable insight into designing email campaigns that resonate with your audiences.

Lastly, don't be afraid to accept failure. Your primary aim isn't to launch a perfect product or campaign. Most entrepreneurs fall victim to perfectionism syndrome, obsessively trying to tweak things until they succeed. When you launch something imperfect, learn from mistakes, and move forward with confidence. Remember, every attempt counts no matter how small.

What is a good email open rate 2022?

When analyzing email CRM reports, you must remember that email open rate refers to the number of unique addresses that opened your email during a specific period. Since it includes duplicate contacts, it doesn't necessarily reflect the true picture. Thus, it's imperative to filter duplicated entries manually. Otherwise, you risk overestimating your actual open rate.

Also, check whether the numbers match up with your expectations. Even if you receive 100 unread replies in response to your latest campaign, it doesn't mean your email was ineffective. It simply indicates that some recipients didn't bother reading past the title. On the flip side, if you send 10 emails to the same contact yet none of them gets opened, it's fair enough to assume that he/she doesn't appreciate receiving unsolicited emails from unknown sources.

That said, keep track of non-responsive leads as well. Those who claim to have received your email but haven't bothered replying indicate either lack of engagement or spamming.

Generally, the recommended email open rate is 50 percent or greater. Anything less than that could signal problems related to design, delivery, follow-up sequence, etc.

Again, before deciding on a particular threshold, determine your objectives. Does increasing the email open rate equate to improved ROI? Or are you aiming to acquire fresh leads? Whatever the case may be, it's vital to establish clear guidelines beforehand.

For instance, if you plan to double your existing subscriber count, you should strive to deliver twice the amount of clicks. Otherwise, you won't reach your goals unless you boost overall outreach efforts. Likewise, if you intend to grow revenue streams, your strategy shouldn't revolve around getting new sign-ups. Instead, concentrate mainly on converting existing ones.

And finally, once again, don't feel discouraged if you aren't seeing eye-popping results immediately. It takes time, effort, and experience to build relationships with prospective clients. Give it some time, stay patient, and stick with the process. Eventually, you'll reap rich rewards.

What is a good industry bounce rate?

Industry bounce rate is defined as the percentage of bounced emails among all emails sent to subscribers. Compared to internal bounce rate figures, external bounce rate values are harder to predict and vary greatly across industries and countries. Some businesses report an email BR as high as 70%, whereas others say it's zero. Based on our research, the commonest cause of high bounce rates stems from poor quality control practices.

When you send an email to someone and it doesn't reach them, what do you think about? If this happens with more than 50 percent of your emails then it's time to take action! Email bounce rates are important metrics in marketing automation tools like Mailchimp or Constant Contact which help businesses track their campaign performance. But how should you define "bounce" from receiving an email? And what does a high bounce rate mean?

Let’s first understand what bounce means when we talk about sending emails. When your message goes into spam folder due to various reasons such as having bad spelling, being too long etc., your sender address gets blacklisted on servers. So if people try to access the same blocked account again using different ID (email), they will be bounced back to inbox. It means these messages were sent but didn’t get delivered properly because of some technical glitch. This can happen if your mail server has been compromised, or network connection was poor during delivery process.

Now let’s come to bounce rate. The definition of “Bounce Back Percentage” varies according to services used by customers. For example, Gmail defines bounce as any customer who opens one email and immediately deletes without reading it. In other words, it simply refers to clicking away button within seconds after opening. On the contrary, Yahoo says that anyone who mails an email and then clicks 'forward' before reaching recipient's junk box counts as a bounce. Other companies use slightly varied definitions. Here’s the common figure quoted across all major providers:

According to multiple sources, the average global online user receives around 3-4 unsolicited commercial e-mails per day. That translates to over 25 billion emails going directly into junk boxes each year worldwide. Of those, only 20-25 percent would ever open and read it—the rest would just end up getting deleted. However, there is no official data available showing exactly what percentage of emails are considered a bounce. To find out, most experts look at the figures and extrapolate based on certain assumptions. According to research conducted by Radicati Group, Inc.—a leading Internet analytics company—in 2014, the world had 2.74 trillion unique users connected via the internet. Based on the assumption that every single person received 4 unwanted emails per week, the bounce rate came down to 29 percent.

So now you know what bounce rate is. Let’s move forward and discuss its significance. There are two main things to consider here: What does a low bounce rate mean? And what does a high bounce rate mean?

Here are some tips to keep in mind while monitoring email campaigns:

1) Track your open/click through rate

This metric indicates whether your mailing efforts are working well or not. A higher clickthrough rate means better conversion chances. Most marketers prefer looking at CTA instead. While tracking numbers helps you see where you need improvement, keeping a close watch on bounce rate gives you clear picture regarding overall success of your campaign. You must analyze why did people unsubscribe in order to improve future campaigns.

2) Analyze the top 10% vs bottom 90% subscribers

The difference between the two groups tells you something vital about your audience. Knowing why people don't want to receive your promotional emails is crucial to fix problems early rather than later. This way, you'll avoid wasting money on unsuccessful campaigns.

3) Use segmentation analysis to identify problem areas

Once you've identified your target market segments, divide them further based on age, gender, location, income level, profession, etc. Then create separate campaigns aimed specifically towards specific group of people. By doing so, you won't waste resources on irrelevant messages.

Also, make sure to set filters on your email service provider to filter unwanted emails. For instance, in case of Gmail, go to Settings & Filters & Blocked Addresses. Check the option Hide Messages From Known Senders. Also, turn off Auto-Delete After X Days option under General tab. With both settings enabled, unwanted emails will automatically disappear after expiration date.

4) Test, test, and retest

It’s always recommended to run split tests to maximize results. Split testing allows you to compare response rates of different versions of the same email subject line, tone, image, copy, layout, or even wordings. You may also want to change the color scheme of images or text colors to study impact on responses.

5) Keep a check on Spam Complaint Ratio

Spammers often aim to flood our inboxes with huge amount of promotional emails. They usually disguise themselves as legitimate organizations. Your best bet is to monitor incoming complaints to spot fraudulent accounts. Since many ISPs block known spammers, these accounts cannot register complaints against you. Therefore, it will give you a heads-up before a big botnet attack hits your system.

6) Look for patterns in your subscriber list

If you notice sudden increase in bounce rate, it could indicate malicious activity occurring in your database. Don't hesitate to contact support team of your ISP or hosting provider.

7) Know your goals well

Before launching a new promotion, carefully decide upon objectives of the campaign and write accordingly. Once you're done, follow the rules closely. Otherwise, you might face penalties either from client side or service provider.

8) Review your content regularly

Content is king! Make sure it's relevant and interesting enough to attract attention. Avoid clichés and jargon. Be careful not to offend anybody. Remember, nobody wants to receive boring mails.

9) Create personalized emails

Customers love customized communications. Sending generic emails increases likelihood of bouncing emails. Try incorporating names of clients, employees, or partners in your emails. Or, include special offers or discounts exclusively meant for select few people.

10) Stay updated with latest technologies

Failing to stay current with technology trends can cost your business dearly. Send newsletters whenever possible. New updates can boost sales and engagement levels.

11) Keep an eye on inactive subscriptions

You probably already know that active subscriptions count much more than inactive ones. Inactive subscription alerts you once in a month but still continue to show up in inbox. These useless notifications cause clutter and confuse readers. Take immediate steps to tackle them.

12) Consider personalization

Personalized messages are likely to generate higher conversions. Emails written in conversational language tend to appeal to reader's emotions, making them less prone to delete. Personalize your emails too. No matter how simple or complex, everyone appreciates uniqueness.

13) Measure ROI

Measuring return on investment (ROI) is crucial for boosting productivity. As soon as you start measuring, you become accountable to deliver quality product. Monitor email effectiveness by comparing actual number of opened emails versus expected volume.

14) Report issues promptly

In addition to knowing bounce rate, you must also report any technical glitches or failures. Provide detailed information regarding causes along with suggested solutions.

15) Follow proper security guidelines

Your privacy policy clearly states how you handle private details of your clients. Always ensure compliance with HIPAA laws. Never share consumer data with third parties unless required by law.

16) Do regular audits

Auditing your email lists frequently makes sure no unauthorized accounts exist. Conducting periodic audit ensures that no fake or duplicate entries remain unnoticed.

17) Don't abuse CC/BCC fields

Be mindful of SPAM regulations. We recommend following CAN-SPAM Act standards strictly. Don't put sensitive information in BCC field unless absolutely necessary.

18) Protect yourself against phishing attacks

Phishers pose as trustworthy entities to steal financial credentials. Ensure that links within emails point to genuine sites. Phish scams mostly rely on social engineering techniques.

19) Manage expectations

Don't surprise your prospects. Tell them upfront about anything that affects frequency of newsletter. Set reasonable expectation and stick to it.

20) Reduce friction

Remove unnecessary tasks and obstacles. Minimize forms and surveys to reduce bounce rate.

21) Remove auto responders

Auto responder sounds great at the beginning. But eventually it creates lot of confusion among audience members. Moreover, it adds another layer of complexity in communication process.

22) Build trust

People generally hate automated emails with prewritten replies. Many opt out because they feel unauthentic. Give human touch to your correspondence.

23) Integrate CRM systems

CRM software integrates seamlessly with email marketing system. Using CRMs for managing email marketing saves time and effort. Plus, it enables easy management of leads and contacts.

24) Leverage multi channel marketing strategies

Multi channel marketing strategy involves cross promoting products, services, and deals among channels. Marketing mix includes direct marketing methods like print media, radio advertising, telemarketing, television commercials, outdoor billboards, trade shows, coupons, referrals, web banners, search engine optimization, viral marketing, press releases, community outreach, email marketing etc. Each method works differently depending on type of business. Choose whichever suits needs of yours.

25) Optimize landing pages

Landing pages serve dual purpose. They provide visitors with basic overview of your brand plus offer compelling reason to subscribe or buy. Landing page design plays key role in increasing conversion rates.

26) Automate repetitive processes

Automated emails save considerable time and energy. Rather than writing individual emails for each lead, you can craft templates and schedule recurring emails periodically.

27) Respond quickly