There are many reasons why an email might bounce. Explanations for bounced messages can vary in format, depending on the mail server that's sending the message back. Different types of mail servers use different terminology. Common causes for bounced messages include address errors, bad domain names, unknown users, and dormant email accounts.
The Higher Logic Thrive Marketing Enterprise (Thrive Marketing Enterprise) system reacts to bounces in a variety of ways, depending on the type of bounce, as described below.
Generic Hard
Description: An email that has been bounced back to the sender and is permanently undeliverable. The returning server does not provide a specific reason for the failure, but causes can include spam blocking, invalid domain, and invalid user.
Action: The system does not automatically suppress hard bounces. We recommend manually suppressing these contacts or setting a hard bounce suppression threshold for the account.
User Not Found
Description: Indicates the specified email account does not exist. This is a permanent failure and, in most cases, means the email is undeliverable.
Action: The system automatically suppresses contacts after 2 consecutive bounces of this type.
Bad Domain
Description: The domain of the email address is not valid and the system could not deliver to it.
Action: The system automatically suppresses contacts after 2 bounces of this type.
Generic Soft
Description: An email that gets accepted at the receiving mail server but is bounced before it arrives at the contact's inbox. The receiving server does not provide a reason for the failure. Often, this is a temporary situation and could resolve itself.
Action: The system automatically resends the message that same night. After that, no more attempts are made to resend, unless you use the Resend Bounces feature (refer to the How to manually resend a soft bounce section below to learn more). Then, the system will resend that night at 10:30. You can also set a generic soft bounce suppression threshold for the account.
How to manually resend a soft bounce
- Navigate to Messages > List.
- Select a message, and then click Track > Message.
- Scroll down to the Message Results: Detailed Bounce Metrics section.
- Click the dropdown and select Detailed Bounce Metrics.
- Check the Generic Soft box, followed by Resend Bounces.
The system will resend messages in this category that night at 10:30 pm.
Mailbox Full
Description: The contact has too much email and their server isn't accepting any more. This is most common with web-based email services, which have limits on how much mail can accumulate. This can also be a sign of an abandoned account. Often, this is a temporary situation and could resolve itself.
Action: Resend using the Resend Bounces feature.
Temporary Unavailable
Description: The mail server is temporarily experiencing problems such as "no adequate servers," "Connection Timed Out," "Resources temporarily unavailable," or "Out of memory." All of these typically indicate a temporary problem with a mail server and should resolve themselves.
Action: Resend using the Resend Bounces feature.
Spam
Description: The receiving server has identified the message as Spam and will most likely continue to block it.
Action: Generally, the advanced bounce details (which can be turned on for your account) provide additional information as to what either the contact or Thrive Marketing Enterprise can do.