Bounces & spam: what counts and how to avoid it¶
Bounces¶
A bounce is an email that couldn't be delivered. Common reasons:
- the address doesn't exist (a hard bounce),
- the mailbox is full or the server is down (a temporary problem),
- the receiving server blocked the email because of its content or a delivery policy such as DMARC,
- your address or domain is on a block list.
Flashissue won't try to send to an address that has bounced.
Hidden contacts¶
When emails to a contact fail, Flashissue hides that contact from the list. Hidden contacts aren't counted and don't receive emails. To review them, open the list and click Show hidden contacts.
- Delivery-policy blocks (for example a Gmail DMARC block) usually mean the address is fine. Fix your setup, such as verifying your domain, then restore the contact.
- Hard bounces usually mean the address no longer exists. Only restore one if you know it's valid.
Select contacts and click Restore selected to add them back.
Spam¶
Spam is unsolicited bulk email to people who didn't opt in and don't have a relationship with you. Even real newsletters can end up in spam. To stay out of it:
- send only to people who opted in, and never to purchased lists,
- send from your own verified domain,
- remind readers why they're getting your email,
- keep your subject lines honest, and don't make the whole email one big image,
- make unsubscribing easy (Flashissue adds the link for you).
What happens with high bounce or spam rates¶
Accounts with high bounce or spam rates may have sends held for review, or may be suspended. See Email reviews.