What Is a Good Email Bounce Rate and How to Improve It

What is a good email bounce rate is a question many UK SMEs ask when reviewing the performance of their email campaigns. High bounce rates can signal problems with your B2B data, targeting, or deliverability, leading to wasted time, lower engagement, and reduced ROI.

For businesses using purchased B2B data, understanding bounce rates is essential. It helps you maintain a strong sender reputation, reach more inboxes, and increase the effectiveness of your campaigns. Without this knowledge, even well-crafted emails may fail to generate leads or replies.

In this post, we’ll explain what a good email bounce rate looks like for SMEs, the difference between soft and hard bounces, and actionable strategies to reduce them. You’ll learn how to clean and manage data, optimise sending practices, and monitor campaigns—so your emails consistently reach the right people and deliver measurable results.

Understanding Email Bounce Rates

Before you can improve performance, it’s important to understand what bounce rates are and why they matter for your email campaigns.

Definition of Email Bounce Rate

• Email bounce rate is the percentage of emails that fail to reach recipients’ inboxes.

• A high bounce rate can damage your sender reputation, reduce deliverability, and limit the ROI of your campaigns.

Hard vs Soft Bounces

• Hard Bounces: Permanent delivery failures, such as invalid email addresses or non-existent domains. These should be removed immediately from your list.

• Soft Bounces: Temporary issues, such as full inboxes, server errors, or blocked domains. Soft bounces may resolve on their own but should be monitored if persistent.

Understanding the types of bounces helps SMEs take targeted actions to reduce them and improve overall email campaign performance.

What Is Considered a Good Email Bounce Rate

Knowing what is a good email bounce rate helps SMEs benchmark their campaigns and identify areas for improvement.

• Average Benchmarks: For most UK SMEs, a bounce rate below 2%–3% is generally considered healthy for B2B email campaigns.

• Industry Variations: Rates may differ by sector or list type—B2C campaigns often see higher bounces due to more dynamic contact lists.

• Implications of High Bounce Rates: Consistently high bounces can harm sender reputation, reduce deliverability, and decrease engagement across future campaigns.

Maintaining a good bounce rate ensures your emails reach the right decision-makers, maximise engagement, and generate the best possible ROI from your B2B campaigns.

Common Causes of High Bounce Rates

High bounce rates often signal underlying issues with your email campaigns or B2B data. Understanding the causes allows SMEs to take corrective action.

Outdated or Poor-Quality B2B Data

• Purchased lists may contain invalid or irrelevant contacts

• Targeting the wrong decision-makers reduces engagement and increases hard bounces

Incorrect Email Formatting or Sending Practices

• Typos, broken links, or spammy content can trigger delivery failures

• Sending too frequently or in large volumes may result in server rejections

Technical or Compliance Issues

• Server errors, blocked domains, and firewall restrictions can prevent delivery

• Following GDPR compliance is essential to avoid blocked emails and maintain a healthy list

Identifying these common causes helps SMEs implement strategies to improve email deliverability and reduce bounce rates.

How to Improve Your Email Bounce Rate

Reducing bounce rates is essential for maximising the effectiveness of your email campaigns. Here’s how SMEs can improve performance:

Maintain Clean and Accurate Data

• Regularly update and segment your lists to remove inactive or invalid addresses

• Target the right decision-makers for better engagement

Optimise Email Sending Practices

• Verify sending domains and ensure correct formatting

• Personalise emails and schedule sends appropriately for your audience

• Avoid spammy content to improve deliverability

Monitor and Analyse Campaign Performance

• Track bounce rates, opens, clicks, and responses to identify issues

• Use insights to refine your campaigns and reduce future bounces

• Continuously optimise subject lines, content, and targeting for better ROI

Implementing these strategies ensures that your emails reach the inbox, engage the right audience, and drive measurable results.

Why Choose Results Driven Marketing

A successful email campaign relies on both high-quality data and best practices in sending. Results Driven Marketing helps UK SMEs reduce bounce rates and maximise campaign ROI.

Why SMEs Trust Us

• Tailored B2B Data Lists – Segmented by sector, role, and company size for precise targeting

• 700K+ Monthly Updates – Keep your campaigns current and accurate

• GDPR-Compliant and CTPS-Checked – Ensure legal compliance without limiting outreach

• Fast Delivery – Campaign-ready lists delivered within 24 hours

• Expert Support – Guidance on using data effectively to boost engagement and reduce bounces

Whether you’re launching new campaigns or refining existing ones, we help SMEs turn accurate B2B data into better inbox placement, higher engagement, and measurable leads. For support, contact us.

Get Started with Better Email Deliverability

Improving your email bounce rate starts with actionable steps and reliable data.

Next Steps

• ✅ Audit your current email lists and bounce rates

• 📩 Ensure your B2B data is accurate, segmented, and GDPR-compliant

• 🔍 Optimise email content, subject lines, and sending practices for higher deliverability

• 📞 Need expert guidance? Contact us or use high-quality email lists to boost campaign success

At Results Driven Marketing, we help UK SMEs maximise inbox placement, reduce bounces, and convert leads effectively through structured campaigns and accurate B2B data.

Results Driven Marketing
📍 Cobalt Business Exchange, Newcastle
📞 0191 406 6399
🌐 rdmarketing.co.uk
Experts in B2B marketing data, GDPR-compliant outreach, and lead generation strategy for UK SMEs.