How Recruiters Can Turn Bounces and Unsubscribes into $£€

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​​Recruiters, marketers, automators... If you’re regularly emailing candidates or clients—especially using tools like Bullhorn Automation - you’ve likely become familiar with two things: unsubscribes and hard bounces.

At first glance, they can feel like a blow to your efforts—but they’re not always what they seem. In fact, how you respond to them is where the real sourcing and sales opportunities lie.

Through the free consultation calls I have with recruiters who have Bullhorn, a hot topic is unsubscribes and hard bounces. Neither outcome gives a nice fuzzy feeling.

If someone unsubscribes it limits your chances of reaching out to them again.

If you get a hard bounce, their email has failed or the server has blocked you.

But rather than get frustrated, slowing down your marketing / automation efforts, get active and turn these apparent dead ends into business opportunities. I've got some tips to help you monetise the "no"!

💡Be sure to also read my other blog: Tired of Unsubscribes? 5 Email Tips Every Recruiter Should Knowto help you reduce the volume of unsubscribes.

Unsubscribes and Hard Bounces Aren’t Always the End

Take it from someone who sends regular campaigns with Bullhorn/Automation/Sales/Sourcing tips. Here’s what I’ve learned:

When you start poking around a database that hasn’t been touched in a while, you need to plan for:

• Inevitable bad, dirty data

• Low trust due to radio silence / low communication volume

• Bounces and unsubscribes

So:

1️⃣ Don’t burn out your entire database all at once and overwhelm your recruiters with pointless "leads". A flood of bounces and unsubscribes is overwhelming—and tempting to ignore. Instead, work with your recruiters to identify the data that matters most (roles, skills, locations), so responses are relevant and recruiters engage.

2️⃣ Stagger your outreach. A gradual send schedule helps you build a better picture of your data, keeps your sender reputation healthy, and gives you the time to review and action what’s coming back.

3️⃣ Use and A/B testing to tell you what works (and what bombs).

4️⃣Then, and this bit is crucial, have a battle plan to turn what seems like a "no" into an opportunity.

Not Every Unsubscribe or Hard Bounce is Final

🏴Unsubscribes: What we often see—especially in recruitment—is that many unsubscribes are "false flags". It’s not the person opting out; it’s often their old email being shut down or a system admin / manager clearing mailboxes.

Often, that person hasn’t unsubscribed —they’ve moved to another company.

⛔Hard bounces should be an opportunity to follow the follow the leaver to their new company - and rekindle a relationship.

Instead of blindly trusting your email system, build a workflow to monetise the "no".

Here’s how I manage unsubscribes at Barclay Jones:

• Two months after each mailer, I check the unsubscribes.

• I investigate if they’ve left the company or simply moved jobs.

• If they’ve moved, I update their details in the CRM and re-engage them.

• I do the same with hard bounces by checking LinkedIn and updating records.

Recruiters can recover valuable contacts this way—some of those “dead” leads could be placements waiting to happen!

💸Campaign the Clean ~ Create the Opps!

Treat every email/automation campaign not just as marketing—but as a data quality (and data wealth) activity.

Hard bounces? Check if the contact has left.

Unsubscribes? Investigate the source.

Build this into your CRM workflows—it doesn’t have to be hard or time-consuming.

With the right process, they’re signals—not setbacks.

Want help building an outreach and automation strategy to keep candidates and clients opted in?

📅 Let’s talk!

I offer free consultations to help leaders, recruiters, and automators unlock the power of their Bullhorn database.

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