An email bounces when it can't be delivered to the recipient's inbox, and the receiving server sends back a reason. VipeCloud leaves bounced contacts out of future mass emails, because too many bounces hurt your sender reputation and make it harder for your other emails to be delivered.
What's the Difference Between a Hard Bounce and a Soft Bounce?
Every bounce is either hard or soft, and the contact record shows which one with a Hard Bounce or Soft Bounce badge.
Hard Bounce - a permanent failure. The address is wrong, doesn't exist, or is blocked. A hard bounce is recorded for the email address across VipeCloud, not only in your account.
Soft Bounce - a temporary problem, such as a full inbox or a server that's down. It pauses mass emails to that address in your account only, and clears the next time an email to that address is delivered.
Three soft bounces within 30 days turn the address into a hard bounce.
How to See the Bounces From a Mass Email
Each mass email's issue results list every contact it bounced for, so you can check a whole send at once.
Click Communication in the left-hand sidebar.
Click Email.
Click Mass.
Find the mass email and click the percentage in its Issues column.
To show only bounces, click the Bounces card above the list.
The Issues percentage counts bounces and unsubscribes. The issue results page also has All Issues, Unsubscribes, List Unsubs, and Spam Reports cards.
How to Find Why a Contact Bounced
The bounce reason is the receiving server's explanation for the bounce. It tells you whether the address needs fixing or the problem is likely to pass.
Click the Search VipeCloud bar at the top of the page.
Type the contact's name or email address.
Select the contact to open their record.
Read the Bounce reason line at the top of the record, under the Hard Bounce or Soft Bounce badge.
Common bounce reasons:
Invalid email address - the address doesn't exist or was typed incorrectly.
Mailbox full - the recipient's inbox has no room for more email.
Server issues - the recipient's email server is down or having problems.
Blocked - the recipient's server rejected your email because of a security filter or a blocklist.
If a bounce reason isn't clear, copy the full bounce reason and send it to us with the contact's email address. We'll help you work out why their server is rejecting your emails.
How to Override a Bounced Contact
A bounced contact won't receive another mass email until you override the bounce. Override it only when you know the address works again, for example after the contact confirms their inbox is fixed.
Open the contact's record.
In the contact's details, find the Bounced field, which shows Yes (hard) or Yes (soft).
Click Override next to it.
After you override, the Bounced field shows No and the bounce reason is removed from the top of the record.
What to Do If an Email Keeps Bouncing
Stop emailing an address that keeps bouncing unless you have a plan to fix its bounce reason. Reach the contact through another channel and ask for a new email address. Changing the email address on the contact's record clears the bounce.
Key Notes
Bounced, unsubscribed, and spam-reporting contacts are left out of future mass emails until they're overridden.
Three soft bounces within 30 days turn an address into a hard bounce.
A hard bounce applies to the address across VipeCloud. A soft bounce applies only in the account where it happened.
The Issues column on the Mass page counts bounces and unsubscribes, not spam reports.