Bounce Types Explained: Hard vs Soft, and What They Actually Cost You
A bounced email looks like one lost send. It isn't. Hard vs soft bounces explained in plain English — and why your sender reputation pays for every one of them.
About MacDougall Email
I started in email marketing in 2006, when in comparison to more recent times, delivery was still the wild west. Over the following years I built a managed hosting and consulting business, adapting to rapidly changing technological and legal landscapes. The pace of that change has never been faster, with AI reshaping how email campaigns are sent and received.
I've worked with clients in the UK, Europe, the US and beyond, specialising in delivery systems, email authentication, marketing automation and strategy. MacDougall Email is the continuation of that work: same discipline, same specialities, modern tools.
Twenty years in, the fundamentals are unchanged: authenticated mail reaches the inbox, unauthenticated mail doesn't. Well-managed campaigns convert; poorly managed ones don't. The difference now is that the enforcement mechanisms are unforgiving, and it's hard for businesses to keep up to date with the latest best practices — that's where I come in: keeping your systems current while you run your business.
Direct, always
You work with the person doing the work. No account managers, no outsourcing
Evidence over assurances
Recommendations backed by tests, reports and measurements — never "trust me".
Scope agreed up front
What will be done, what it costs, and when it will be finished — agreed before anything changes.
Remote, worldwide
Based in Scotland, working with clients wherever they are.
