Disabling bounced email addresses in your database
This is a newer version of the Email bounce management tool. The new tool will further improve the deliverability of your mass marketing emails sent from Artlogic.
Info: This feature is currently in beta. So, before opting in, please be aware that features in beta may still have some small bugs that need ironing out, let us know if you come across anything that isn't working as expected.
Please note: This beta feature is for Artlogic Pro database users only.
What are bounced emails?
Bounced emails are ones that could not be delivered successfully to the recipient/s. Sending mailing campaigns to email addresses that are incorrect or no longer in use makes email providers (Google, Outlook etc.) suspect you are sending mailings indiscriminately, rather than contacting people who have chosen to hear from you.
If your emails are regarded as unwanted, email providers often filter them as 'spam'/ 'junk' or block them altogether. Sending emails to invalid addresses repeatedly can affect your sender reputation and prevent your mailings from getting through to the legitimate addresses on your mailing list too. It is important for these reasons to keep on top of your bounced emails.
Click here to learn about why your mailing campaigns might be recognised as spam
Overview
The bounce management tool is designed to show you which email addresses have not received your emails in order to help you clean up your mailing list.
The tool shows you all email addresses where the last mailing could not be delivered, classifying them into different 'views', helping you to focus on ones that will always be rejected (i.e. the ones that require your most immediate attention).
We recommend using this tool once a month to disable invalid email addresses, thus improving your email deliverability overall.
Using the new bounce management tool (beta)
Finding the tool
Log into your database and go to > Marketing > Email marketing campaigns > Email logs and analytics > Email bounce management (beta).
Info: If you do not see the word '(beta)' the new tool hasn't been enabled. Please contact us if you would like to register your interest.
Understanding the layout
The layout of the new bounced management tool has been designed to make removing your bounced emails as clear and efficient as possible.
Views
The views segment your bounced emails by classification, colour-coordinated according to the level of attention required (see 'Bounced email classifications', below).
List screen
The list screen, where all bounced emails can be seen, allows for edits to be made in bulk. It is possible to sort emails alphabetically or by the date of the most recent bounce.
Preview pane
The preview pane, which appears when clicking on one of your bounces, provides detailed information about that specific bounced address as well as options to 'Disable email' or add to 'Allowlist' on an individual basis.
Examples (with explanations):
Consecutive bounces: 8 (this is how many mailings they have been sent in a row, which have not been received by the recipient).
Latest bounce: 25 Mar 2021 15:10:10 (most recent bounce).
Further clarification: Bounced five or more times (if the email has bounced more than 5 times it requires your attention).
Total email attempts: 25 (how many times our mailing service, Sendgrid, has attempted to deliver your emails to them).
First email: 17 Oct 2019 15:01:11 (the first ever email attempt to this address).
Last delivered: 23 Jul 2020 18:41:39 (the last time an email successfully reached this address).
Last opened: n/a (if/when this address last opened a mailing from you).
Bounced email classifications
Action required
These bounces are highly likely to be permanent. They comprise the following types:
- Address blocked - The email address or the domain are not valid and no further attempts will be made because it is blocked as a 'permanent fatal error' by our email delivery provider.
- Persistent bounces - These email addresses have bounced on five or more consecutive occasions, indicating a permanent issue.
Suggested action: Disable all of these email addresses.
Review recommended
- Repeated bounces - These email addresses have bounced on between two and four consecutive occasions.
Suggested action: Check these email addresses and flag/disable any you think may be invalid.
Single Bounce
These email addresses have bounced once.
Suggested action: Check these email addresses and flag/disable any you think may be invalid.
Understanding the 'Reasons' behind the bounces
The reasons email addresses may bounce vary considerably. The messages displayed in the bounce management tool are generated automatically and usually coming directly from the recipients' servers. In a few specific cases, like 'Address blocked' bounces ('Invalid', 'Old Bounced Address' and 'Bounced Address'), they are generated by the third-party email delivery service we use called SendGrid.
Because these are automatically generated, they can be very tricky to understand. For this reason, we have classified the bounced email addresses - allowing you to focus on the most significant ones, where your action is required.
Managing your bounces
Disabling emails
As bounced emails are common when sending mass mailings, it is likely you'll have more than one email to disable. The new tool allows you to disable emails in a variety of ways: individually, using the preview pane, or in bulk, using the various 'views' and the flagging and finding method.
If you want the most control over which email addresses are disabled, use the 'All' view to see all bounced emails. You can then browse and disable addresses individually (button in the preview pane) or flag some records and click 'Disable emails' to target a group, as follows:
This will reveal options to disable per classification and/or by any flagged bounced emails.
Our recommended approach
Steps
- Open the 'Action required' view. Here, you'll see the email addresses that are highly likely to permanently bounce.
- It is possible to use the flag and find approach here in order to further refine your selection.
- Once you have reviewed the email addresses listed here, click the 'Disable emails' button in the action bar.
- You'll be asked to confirm this action in a popup. Doing so will disable all invalid email addresses in one go. The contact/s will remain in your database but no further mailings will be sent (see below for more).
What happens when you click 'Disable Emails'?
The contact/s will remain in your database but no further mailings will be sent.
The invalid email address will be moved to a 'Disabled email address' field above the main email address in the contact record. The 'Disabled email history' here shows you all email addresses that have been disabled for this record, along with the bounce reason and the date they were disabled:
You can also find all affected contact records in the Disabled emails view, under the Contacts menu.
Reverting accidentally disabled emails
Email addresses that have been disabled are logged in your modification history. You may request to have these re-enabled if they were disabled in error, but please note that for each record only the last email address to have been disabled can be restored by this process.
'Allowlist' email addresses
"Allowing" an email address means to add them to an approved recipient list.
This tells the system that you know the email address is correct and trusted, which may improve the likelihood of your emails reaching a contact's inbox.
Warning: Allowlisting does not guarantee that emails will be delivered; it only prevents an email address from being disabled in the bounce management tool. If an email address is Allowlisted it can still bounce. If it bounces it will only appear in the 'Allowlisted bounces' view and the email address cannot be disabled until it is removed from the Allowlist (although it may still be automatically blocked for sending by Sendgrid).
How to 'Add to Allowlist'
Clicking the 'Add to Allowlist' button in a bounced email record's preview pane can initiate two distinct allowlisting processes.
- If the bounce is classified as 'Address blocked':
You must fill in a form requesting that we unblock the email in Sendgrid and Allowlist it for you, providing good enough evidence that the email address is valid and you have permission to send to it. These requests will be handled by our support and development teams. Do note that even when we do this for you, the email may still bounce again in the future. - All other bounce classifications
You can add these bounced email addresses to the Allowlist yourself.
How to remove Allowlisting from email addresses
- Go to the 'Allowlisted bounces' view and select the address you wish to remove from your Allowlist.
- In the preview pane, select 'Remove from Allowlist' and confirm your selection.
