The week our newsletter quietly stopped working
Deliverability problems rarely announce themselves.
They just turn your effort into a slow leak.
What changed - and why it mattered- Our list had aged. People change jobs, abandon addresses, or mistype forms. Old data is normal - ignoring it is the mistake.
- We treated bounces as “noise.” A few bounces feels harmless, until it becomes a pattern your sending reputation remembers.
- We mixed audiences. One-size newsletters are convenient, but they can spike “this is spam” complaints when the content is only relevant to part of the list.
- We chased open rates. In 2026, privacy protections and image blocking make opens less trustworthy. Good sending habits beat chasing a shaky metric.
The workflow that fixed it (and stayed simple)Step 1: Stop guessing - measure with two numbers- Hard bounce rate (invalid address, domain doesn’t exist, etc.)
- Complaint/unsubscribe pressure (spam complaints if you can see them; otherwise watch unsubscribes after each send)
Step 2: Triage your list like a mechanic, not a collector- Keep: people who engaged recently (clicked, replied, purchased, requested a quote) or explicitly asked to be on the list.
- Quarantine: old entries with no engagement history, or addresses imported from years ago.
- Remove immediately: role accounts (info@, sales@) if they didn’t opt in, obvious typos, and any address that previously hard bounced.
Step 3: Verify addresses before you send (especially the quarantined group)- Why this works: Mailbox providers read bounce signals as evidence of sloppy list hygiene. Lowering hard bounces is one of the fastest ways to stabilize reputation.
- On Windows or macOS, eMail Verifier is a practical fit here because it can check address validity before you risk a send.
- If you have multiple sources (invoices, web forms, old CRMs), eMail Extractor can help pull addresses from files so you can verify them in one place - but only if you have permission to email those people.
Step 4: Treat bounces as automatic list maintenance, not a postmortem- Why this works: The best time to react to a bounce is immediately - before the same bad address bounces again next month.
- Use eMail Bounce Handler to process bounce messages and mark addresses that should be removed or suppressed.
- Decide your rule once, then stick to it:
- Hard bounce: remove/suppress immediately.
- Soft bounce: retry a limited number of times, then suppress if it repeats.
Step 5: Segment by “why they care,” not by vanity labels- Segment A: current customers (care about tips, updates, maintenance, timing)
- Segment B: recent leads (care about examples, pricing clarity, how the process works)
- Segment C: dormant contacts (care about a reason to re-engage, or should be allowed to go quietly)
Step 6: Re-warm your sending with a boring, reliable cadence- Why this works: Sudden spikes in volume can look suspicious. Consistency is a trust signal.
- Start with your best segment first (usually current customers), then expand.
- Keep the first few sends short and useful. Fewer links, fewer images, clear purpose.
Step 7: Write like a person who expects a reply- Why this works: Real engagement signals (replies, forwards, clicks) matter more than fancy templates. Also, plain language reduces misunderstanding and complaints.
- Use a recognizable “From” name.
- Put the point in the first two lines.
- Include one clear call to action - not three.
- Make it easy to leave. A clean unsubscribe is healthier than a spam complaint.
A concrete example: the “quarantine send” that saved our list- We took the quarantined addresses (older, uncertain history) and ran them through eMail Verifier.
- We removed the obvious invalids and anything previously bounced.
- We sent a single, low-frequency message to the remainder with a simple choice:
- Stay on the list (click a confirmation link)
- Update preferences (choose topics)
- Unsubscribe (one click)
Subject: Still want these monthly tips?
Hi [Name],
We send one email a month with practical [industry] tips.
If you want to keep getting it, click here:
[confirm link]
If not, you can unsubscribe here:
[unsubscribe link]
Thanks,
[Sender]
- What happened: The list got smaller, but performance improved. More importantly, complaints dropped because people self-selected.
- Why I liked it: It was respectful. It reduced risk. And it was a one-time cleanup, not a permanent campaign.
Where a desktop toolchain fits in (and where it doesn’t)- MaxBulk Mailer is useful when you want hands-on control over list segments, sending cadence, and message composition without building a complex stack.
- eMail Verifier helps when your list hygiene is the bottleneck.
- eMail Bounce Handler helps when bounces are piling up and you need a repeatable way to process them.
- eMail Extractor helps only when you have legitimate, permission-based sources and need to consolidate addresses. If you are scraping random sites, that is not “growth,” it is reputation damage.
- What none of these replace: permission, relevance, and restraint. Tools can reduce avoidable errors, but they can’t make unwanted email welcome.
The boring rules that keep deliverability stable- Do less, more consistently. A smaller list that trusts you beats a bigger list that ignores you.
- Never re-add bounced addresses. If someone re-joins, treat it like a new opt-in with a fresh confirmation.
- Don’t “win back” everyone. If someone has not engaged in a year, let them go or run a single re-permission message, then stop.
- Respect topic fit. If you sell two unrelated services, separate the lists. Relevance is the cheapest deliverability tactic you will ever find.
- Optimize for replies and clicks, not opens. Opens are increasingly noisy. A reply is hard to fake.
One place to start if your list is messy- If you want a practical overview of list hygiene and sending from a desktop workflow perspective, start with MaxBulk Mailer.
Checklist- Pull last 3-6 sends and record hard bounce rate and unsubscribes.
- Remove anyone who hard bounced (no exceptions).
- Verify quarantined/older addresses before sending again.
- Process bounces after every send and update your suppression list.
- Segment into customers, recent leads, and dormant contacts.
- Restart with the most engaged segment and a steady cadence.
- Send short, relevant emails with one clear next step and an easy unsubscribe.
Exactly 3 Actionable Takeaways- Run verification on any list segment you have not emailed in 90+ days before you send to it again.
- Adopt a strict rule: hard bounces are removed immediately; repeated soft bounces are suppressed.
- Write each email for one audience and one purpose - if you need two purposes, send two separate emails.
Recent questions from our MaxBulk Mailer users |
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