How to Set Up Notifications for Bounced Emails in HubSpot

Keeping track of bounced emails is a critical aspect of any successful email marketing campaign. If your emails aren’t reaching recipients, it can harm your sender reputation and hinder communication efforts. Fortunately, HubSpot offers solutions to notify you when an email bounces, although the process differs depending on your plan and tools.

Here’s how to set up notifications when recipients don’t receive your emails due to bounces.

1. Using Workflows for Automated Notifications (Professional & Enterprise Plans)

If you’re on HubSpot’s Professional or Enterprise plan, you can use workflows to automatically send notifications when emails bounce. Here’s how you can set it up:

Steps:

1. Create a Workflow:
   Go to the Automation section in your HubSpot account and create a new workflow.
2. Set the Enrollment Trigger:
   Choose the enrollment trigger as the contact property Email hard bounce reason is known. This ensures that any contact whose email has bounced will be automatically enrolled in this workflow.
3. Set Up the Notification:
   Once contacts are enrolled based on the bounce, configure an internal email notification to be sent to your team. This way, you’ll get real-time updates when emails are not delivered.
4. Publish the Workflow:
   After setting up the trigger and notification steps, publish the workflow. You’ll now receive automated notifications whenever there’s an email bounce.

2. Without Workflows: Creating Lists or Views to Monitor Bounces

If you’re using a HubSpot plan that doesn’t include workflows (such as the Starter plan), you won’t be able to set up automated notifications directly within HubSpot. However, you can still monitor bounced emails by creating an active list or saved view in your CRM.

Steps:

1. Create an Active List:
   In your HubSpot account, go to the Contacts section and create a new list. Filter the list using the contact property Email hard bounce reason is known.
2. Save the List or View:
   Once you’ve filtered for bounced emails, save the list or view. You can check this list regularly to manually track which contacts are experiencing email delivery issues.

This manual approach is a great way to monitor email bounces even without the automation capabilities of workflows.

3. Using Zapier for Notifications Outside of HubSpot

If you prefer to receive notifications for bounced emails but don’t have access to HubSpot’s Professional or Enterprise workflows, you can integrate HubSpot with an external automation tool like Zapier.

Steps:

1. Set Up a Zap:
   Create a new Zap in Zapier that is triggered when a contact is added to a list. This list should be the one you created in HubSpot to track bounced emails.
2. Configure the Notification:
   In Zapier, set up an action to send an email notification using your preferred email service provider (e.g., Gmail or Outlook). When a contact is added to your bounced email list, Zapier will trigger the notification.

This method allows you to automate notifications without needing the advanced features of HubSpot workflows, providing flexibility for different platforms.

Conclusion

Monitoring bounced emails is essential for improving email deliverability and maintaining communication with your contacts. If you’re using HubSpot’s Professional or Enterprise plans, workflows can automate notifications and make the process seamless. For those on other plans, creating lists or views and using tools like Zapier can still provide effective solutions for staying on top of bounced emails.

By staying informed, you can quickly take action and ensure your email campaigns reach your audience.