We are reviewing our WordFly integration in relation to handling response codes. I'd like to know how other organizations handle soft bounces. Do your soft bounces eventually turn into a hard bounce? If so how long do you wait? Is there anything you specifically do with your soft bounces? I appreciate any discussion or opinions. thanks!!
Thank you Alex. The issue of spam traps is the primary issue we want to avoid.
Randall A. Mitchell Director of Information Systems | The Phoenix Symphony | Tel. (602) 452-0440 | Mobile. (602) 796-9323 | Fax. (602) 253-1772 www.phoenixsymphony.org | 1 N. 1st Street, Ste. 200, Phoenix, Az 85004
From: Tessitura Marketing Forum [mailto:forums-marketing@tessituranetwork.com] On Behalf Of Alexandra Barber Sent: Thursday, March 19, 2015 8:15 AM To: Randall A. Mitchell Subject: RE: [Tessitura Marketing Forum] "Best Practices" for Soft Bounces
Hi Randall and Jamie,
I noticed a high number of soft bounces a few month back which were attributed to an AOL mail block. That was resolved quickly and we haven’t had any other issues.
To improve inbox deliverability, we have also worked with Wordfly to address 'unknown' soft bounce addresses that bounced consistently for a number consecutive campaigns. An 'unknown' soft bounce address is a response from the ISP that they do not know this address. In a way it's a preemptive warning to the sender that this is going to be a hard bounce later on and many times these addresses are linked to abandoned mailboxes. Typically addresses will bounce as unknown for 6-12 months before they become hard bounces or spam traps.
We have updated our bounce handling procedure to mark these ‘unknown’ soft bounce addresses after 10 consecutive bounces as a hard bounce.
Thanks, Alex
Alex Barber Digital Marketing Manager
ROUNDABOUT THEATRE COMPANY
231 West 39th St. | Suite 1200 | New York, NY 10018
Phone: 212.719.9393 ext. 317| Fax: 212.869.8817
alexandrab@roundabouttheatre.org | roundabouttheatre.org
From: Tessitura Marketing Forum [mailto:forums-marketing@tessituranetwork.com] On Behalf Of Jamie O'Brien Sent: Thursday, March 19, 2015 10:32 AM To: Alexandra Barber Subject: Re: [Tessitura Marketing Forum] "Best Practices" for Soft Bounces
Hi Randall -
My understanding is that a soft bounce means an Out of Office type message and a hard bounce means that the email address isn't valid. I would presume that an Out of Office that's really saying that a person has left a company, etc will eventually turn into a hard bounce. I'm not inclined to pay much attention to soft bounce stats, but know I want to pin down exactly how we treat hard bounces--need to make sure changes to the record will be on the address level rather than simply marking the entire record Do Not Email, etc.
If others have a different read on the soft bounce meaning, I would like to hear if my knowledge has become outdated though.
Jamie
JAMIE O'BRIEN
ASSISTANT DIRECTOR OF DIGITAL SERVICES THE NEW 42ND STREET 229 W 42ND STREET, NEW YORK, NY 10036 JOBRIEN@NEW42.ORG 646.223.3063 WWW.NEW42.ORG
On Wed, Mar 18, 2015 at 11:12 PM, Randall Mitchell <bounce-randallmitchell8646@tessituranetwork.com> wrote:
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