This article covers how email bounce rates work in Thryv® Business Center™ email campaigns, including the difference between hard and soft bounces, how to view bounced emails in campaign stats, how to prevent high bounce rates, campaign error types, and how to request a bounce rate reset. This article does not cover creating email campaigns from scratch. For help creating an email campaign, see how to create an email campaign in Thryv Business Center.

Why Email Bounce Rates Affect Your Ability to Send Campaigns

When too many emails in a campaign cannot be delivered, the bounce rate for your account increases. Thryv Business Center locks email campaigns when the bounce rate reaches 3% or above. The industry standard threshold is below 2%, so Thryv Business Center provides slightly more margin before locking campaigns. Understanding why bounces occur and keeping your contact list clean are the most effective ways to stay below the threshold and keep your email campaigns sending without interruption.

If your email campaigns have been locked due to an exceeded bounce rate, the following error message will appear when attempting to send a campaign from Thryv Business Center.

The screenshot above shows the error message that appears in Thryv Business Center when an email campaign cannot be sent because the bounce rate limit has been exceeded. The message indicates the campaign is locked and provides guidance to contact support. This error message does not appear unless the bounce rate threshold has been reached — if campaigns are sending normally, the bounce rate is within the acceptable limit.

What Is an Email Bounce Rate and What Causes Email Bounces?

The bounce rate in an email campaign refers to the percentage of email addresses in the campaign recipient list that did not receive the message because the email was rejected by the recipient's email server. There are two categories of email bounce — hard bounce and soft bounce.

Soft Bounce — Temporary Delivery Failure

A soft bounce indicates a temporary delivery failure. The email address is valid and the email reached the recipient's server, but the message was not delivered for one of the following reasons:

• The recipient's email server was temporarily unavailable.

• The message was too large to be delivered.

• The recipient's mailbox was full and could not accept new messages.

When a soft bounce occurs, Thryv Business Center will automatically retry delivery to the recipient's email server for 72 hours. If delivery is still unsuccessful after 72 hours, the email address is added to a block list and no further emails will be sent to that address.

Hard Bounce — Permanent Delivery Failure

A hard bounce indicates a permanent delivery failure. The email was rejected because the email address is invalid. Common causes of a hard bounce include:

• The email address does not exist.

• The email address was previously valid but is no longer active.

Thryv Business Center detects hard bounces after a campaign is sent. At this time, Thryv Business Center does not automatically scrub email lists for invalid addresses before sending. The most effective way to reduce hard bounces is to keep client email addresses up to date in your CRM. Ask clients to confirm their email address at each visit or point of service, and remove addresses that are no longer valid. Third-party email list scrubbing tools are also available and can help identify invalid addresses before sending, though they may have associated fees and are not guaranteed to catch every invalid address.

How to View Bounced Emails in a Campaign

To see which email addresses bounced in a specific campaign, navigate to the campaign and select View Stats. On the campaign statistics page, select Bounced to display only the email addresses that bounced in that campaign. For a full guide to removing bounced email addresses from your contact list, see how to scrub bounced emails from your contact list in Thryv Business Center.

The screen recording above shows how to view bounced emails in a campaign in Thryv Business Center. The View Stats button opens the campaign statistics page. Selecting the Bounced filter on the statistics page displays only the email addresses that were not delivered in that campaign.

How to Prevent High Email Bounce Rates in Thryv Business Center

The following actions reduce the risk of exceeding the bounce rate threshold and keep email campaigns sending without interruption:

• Do not purchase email lists. Email delivery responsibility falls on the sender. Purchased email lists frequently contain invalid, outdated, or unverified addresses that generate high bounce rates. Depending on how the list was acquired, sending to purchased lists may also violate anti-spam regulations. For more information on email marketing compliance, see anti-spam requirements for email and SMS campaigns in Thryv Business Center.

• Keep contact email addresses current. Ask clients to confirm their email address at each visit or point of service and update the address in your CRM immediately. Remove email addresses that are confirmed invalid. For a guide to tracking email delivery rates and identifying unengaged contacts, see how to track email campaign delivery rates in Thryv Business Center. For a full guide to removing bounced emails from your contact list, see how to scrub bounced emails from your contact list in Thryv Business Center.

• Send a confirmation email to new subscribers. When a new client signs up for email marketing from your business, send a confirmation email immediately. A confirmation email verifies the address is valid and active before the contact is added to campaign lists. Automated Campaigns in Thryv Business Center can be configured to send a welcome email to new leads and clients automatically. For help setting up an automated welcome campaign, see how to create automated campaigns in Thryv Business Center.

Additional Tips for Improving Email Campaign Performance

In addition to managing bounce rates, the following practices improve overall email campaign performance and reduce the likelihood of campaigns being marked as spam:

• Use consistent branding — Include consistent imagery and branding so recipients recognize the sender immediately.

• Keep messaging clear and concise — Limit the need for scrolling by keeping the message focused on a single topic or call-to-action.

• Test before sending — Send a test email to yourself before sending the campaign to the full list to confirm the email displays correctly.

• Use effective subject lines — Subject lines that clearly describe the email content produce better open rates and reduce spam reports.

• Send relevant content — Campaigns sent to contacts who have opted in and who find the content relevant generate fewer spam reports and bounce rates.

• Know your bounce rate threshold — Thryv Business Center locks campaigns at a bounce rate of 3% or above. To calculate how many bounces would lock your campaigns, multiply the total number of recipients in a campaign by 0.03. Keeping the actual number of bounces below that figure prevents the campaign lock from being triggered.

Email Campaign Error Types and What They Mean

The following error messages may appear in the Delivery History section of a campaign in Thryv Business Center. Each error indicates a different reason the campaign could not be sent:

• "You've exceeded the bounce rate or spam rate limit" — The account's bounce rate or spam rate has exceeded the allowed threshold. Contact Thryv Support at support@thryv.com or call 844-998-4798 to request a review and reset.

• "You've exceeded your monthly recipient limit" — The campaign recipient list exceeds the monthly sending limit for the current plan. A plan upgrade is required to send to a larger recipient list.

• "You've exceeded your monthly SMS limit" — The account has reached the monthly SMS sending limit for the current plan. A plan upgrade is required to send additional SMS messages this month.

• "Could not be delivered - technical issues" — The campaign could not be sent due to a technical error. Contact Thryv Support at support@thryv.com or call 844-998-4798 for assistance.

How to Request a Bounce Rate Reset in Thryv Business Center

The bounce rate cannot be reset directly within Thryv Business Center. To request a bounce rate reset, contact the Thryv Support team by calling 844-998-4798 or by sending an email to support@thryv.com. The support team will investigate the cause of the exceeded bounce rate and provide guidance on how to prevent the threshold from being exceeded again before resetting the rate.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does this article cover?

This article covers how email bounce rates work in Thryv Business Center email campaigns, including the difference between hard and soft bounces, how to view bounced emails in campaign stats, how to prevent high bounce rates, campaign error types, and how to request a bounce rate reset. This article does not cover creating email campaigns from scratch. For help creating an email campaign, see how to create an email campaign in Thryv Business Center.

At what bounce rate does Thryv Business Center lock email campaigns?

Thryv Business Center locks email campaigns when the bounce rate reaches 3% or above. The email marketing industry standard threshold is below 2%. Thryv Business Center allows slightly more margin before locking campaigns, but keeping the bounce rate below 2% is recommended for optimal deliverability.

Does Thryv Business Center automatically remove bounced emails from my contact list?

No. Thryv Business Center detects bounced email addresses after a campaign is sent but does not automatically remove them from your contact list. Bounced addresses must be removed manually. For a step-by-step guide to removing bounced emails, see how to scrub bounced emails from your contact list in Thryv Business Center.

Can I reset my bounce rate myself in Thryv Business Center?

No. The bounce rate cannot be reset from within Thryv Business Center. To request a reset, contact Thryv Support by calling 844-998-4798 or by sending an email to support@thryv.com.

Where can I learn more about email marketing compliance and anti-spam requirements?

For information about the CAN-SPAM Act and anti-spam requirements that apply to email and SMS campaigns in Thryv Business Center, see anti-spam requirements for email and SMS campaigns in Thryv Business Center.