Seasonal Email Campaigns: Avoid Bounces During Holidays
Mar 13, 2025
Imagine it’s Black Friday. Everyone is browsing websites for offers and you are ready with your perfectly crafted holiday email campaigns.
Festive subject lines? Verify. Amazing deals? Verify again. You expect a flurry of sales when you push send. Instead, there was stillness. Just an inbox full of bounce notifications—no clicks, no engagement. Does that sound familiar? My friend, seasonal bounce rates have just taken a toll on you.
Why does this happen? And more importantly, how do you fix it before your Christmas email tips go straight to the spam folder? Let’s dive in!
Why Do Emails Bounce More During the Holidays?
Holidays bring joy and also bring back the emails too. Inbox congestion results from surges in email volume. Even the most effective advertisements may end up in the dreaded garbage folder as ISPs tighten their filters. This is what's taking place:
1. Overloaded Inboxes
With every brand flooding inboxes with Black Friday emails, users are overwhelmed. If an inbox is full, your email bounces—no second chances!
2. There is actual email throttling.
Email throttling is the practice of ISPs limiting the number of emails that a sender can deliver in a given hour. Send too quickly or too much? Your emails are banned or delayed.
3. Sender Reputation Takes a Hit
A sudden spike in your sending volume can flag your domain as spammy, damaging your sender reputation during holidays. Poor holiday email campaigns can worsen the situation.
How to Land in the Inbox & Prevent Bounces
1. Get Your Email List Warm
Start increasing the volume of emails a few weeks prior to the season rather than sending 100,000 all at once. Email throttling will be less likely because ISPs will consider this normal.
Pro Tip: To avoid being discovered by ISPs, companies such as Nike progressively boost the amount of their emails before to Black Friday.
2. Separate & Customize to Improve Delivery
Not every customer wants the same thing. Segment based on:
Past purchases
Engagement history
Location (for time-zone optimization)
Example: Starbucks uses hyper-personalized Christmas email tips by recommending winter drinks based on previous orders.
3. Don’t Overdo the Festive Subject Lines
Yes, it’s the holidays, but overused phrases like "BIGGEST SALE EVER!!!" trigger spam filters. Instead, make your subject lines engaging yet natural.
✅Do: "Your Exclusive Holiday Gift Inside!"
❌Don’t: "🔥BUY NOW – Christmas MEGA SALE!!!🔥"
4. Monitor Your Sender Reputation
Use tools like Google Postmaster to check if your sender reputation during holidays is suffering. If ISPs see complaints, your emails might get auto-blocked.
Quick Fix: Keep spam complaints below 0.1% by sending emails only to engaged subscribers.
5. Balance Quality Over Quantity
Focus on sending high-value, well-timed emails rather than overflowing inboxes.
For instance, Apple hardly ever sends out Black Friday emails, but when they do, they're straightforward, exclusive, and hard to resist.
6. Ensure Your Email List is Clean
Old, inactive emails increase seasonal bounce rates. Regularly scrub your list using tools like ZeroBounce or NO2Bounce.
Pro Tip: Before sending mass holiday email campaigns, remove unengaged users to improve deliverability.
7. Test, Optimize, Repeat
A/B test subject lines, send times, and content formats. What worked last year might not work this year!
Example: Amazon adjusts its Christmas email tips yearly, tweaking offers based on past campaign performance.
Conclusion
Avoiding bounces during holiday email campaigns isn’t about sending more—it’s about sending better. The brands that get it right prioritize quality engagement over sheer volume. So, will you be another casualty of inbox congestion, or will your campaigns break through the noise?
The choice is yours. But if you need a final nudge—warm up that list, optimize subject lines, and send emails people actually want to open!
FAQ
Why do email bounce rates increase during holidays?
Seasonal bounce rates spike due to increased email traffic, full inboxes, and stricter ISP filters.
What’s the best time to send holiday emails?
Test different times, but generally, early mornings or mid-week perform best before email volume spikes.
How can I avoid spam filters in holiday email campaigns?
Avoid excessive caps, exclamation marks, and generic festive subject lines. Keep emails clean and personalized.
Does sender reputation affect my holiday emails?
Yes! A bad sender reputation during holidays can block your emails entirely. Maintain consistent, responsible sending practices.
Should I resend bounced emails?
Not immediately. Fix the issue first—clean your list, adjust volume, and then retry with proper segmentation.