What’s a bounce?
An email bounce is a notice from the receiving ISP or domain that the email you attempted to send hasn’t been delivered. When and if the ISP returns a bounce code to the system, it’s reported as a bounce.
SMS
A bounce is a notice from the network provider that the SMS you attempted to send hasn’t been delivered. When and if the network returns a bounce code to the system, it’s reported as a bounce.
Bounce Types
The type of bounce is recorded for reporting purposes. Both email and SMS bounce reporting record two types of bounces: Hard and soft.
| Bounce Types | Descriptions |
|---|---|
| Hard | The reason for non-delivery is due to a permanent error that signals the contact or email domain is unknown or doesn’t exist. A hard bounce can also mean a spam block. When you first send to your mailing list immediate bounces, such as a non-existent email address, are recorded and the contact is immediately set to ‘Bounced’, as there’s no point trying to send to these contacts. |
| Soft | A temporary error that signals a full mailbox, temporarily unavailable domain or receiving server issues. |
| Policy related | Generally related to company policy where staff are not allowed to receive messages with certain wording, images or attachments. The receiving server is likely to block this type of mail. |
The bounce detail is only available for six months and the bounce information for two months. Messages older than that will not display data.
Bounce Limits
When contacts exceed the bounce limits set below, they’re automatically updated according to the bounced status.
| Limit | |
|---|---|
| Soft bounce | 5 |
| Hard bounce | 2 |
| SMS | Limit |
|---|---|
| Soft bounce | 5 |
| Hard bounce | 2 |
| Consecutive | 2 |