An email bounces when it can't be delivered. A complaint is when someone marks your email as spam or junk in their email app. SplashSend acts on both, so you don't keep emailing addresses that harm how your other emails arrive.
Hard bounces
The address doesn't exist, or the receiving server has refused it for good. SplashSend stops emailing it straight away, and the person's status reads Emails stopped.
Soft bounces
Something temporary got in the way, such as a full inbox or a server that was down. SplashSend keeps sending later emails, and stops on the third bounce. Earlier bounces still count even if other emails got through in between.
Complaints
The person is unsubscribed and their emails are stopped at the same time. Not every email provider reports complaints back to senders, so there may be more than you see.
Where to find them
- In People, the panel on the left has a section called We never email these, with the groups Hard bounces, Soft bounces, Complaints, Unsubscribed and Stopped by you. They fill themselves as things happen.
- A person's page says Emails stopped and why, such as Address bounced or Marked as spam. Their Activity tab shows when it happened.
- A sent campaign's Insights tab shows its Bounce rate and lists the addresses it couldn't reach.
These people stay on your list, which keeps the record and stops them being added back by mistake. No campaign, drip or Cruise email goes to them. People whose address bounced, who marked you as spam or whose emails you stopped can't sign up again through your forms. Someone who unsubscribed can, by signing up again and clicking the link in the confirmation email they're sent.
Fixing an address with a typo
Say Leo Hall's emails bounced because his address was saved as leo.hall@gmial.com.
- Open him in People.
- Click his email address under his name, correct it, then click anywhere else to save.
- Click Actions and choose Allow emails again, then click Start emailing again to confirm.
This also puts his bounce count back to zero. Only do it when you know the address works now. It isn't offered for someone who marked you as spam, because they've asked not to hear from you.
Stopping emails to someone yourself
To stop all emails to one person without unsubscribing them, open them, click Actions, choose Stop all emails and confirm. Their status reads Emails stopped until you choose Allow emails again.
Your bounce and complaint rates
SplashSend works out your rates over the last 30 days, once at least 10 of your emails have gone out in that time. Only hard bounces count towards the bounce rate. The Sender reputation card, on the Campaigns dashboard in Reports, shows both rates.
- Above 3% hard bounces or 0.05% complaints, your account is flagged as needing attention. Clean your list before your next send.
- Above 5% hard bounces or 0.1% complaints, sending is paused and your drips are switched off. 0.1% is one complaint in every thousand emails.