Managing email deliverability is critical for maintaining communication reliability and reputation. When using Amazon Simple Email Service (SES), bounce events can impact domain credibility and even lead to account suspension if not handled properly.
To avoid these issues, you can configure an SES monitoring system to detect, alert, and log email bounce and complaint events automatically. This guide explains how to set up AWS SES bounce email notifications using AWS services such as SNS, Lambda, and CloudWatch, with integrations for real-time alerts and data analytics.
1. Why Monitor Email Bounces in AWS SES
High bounce rates indicate issues with email lists, invalid recipients, or domain misconfigurations. Without visibility into these events, you risk:
- Violating AWS SES sending policies.
- Reducing sender reputation, causing emails to land in spam.
- Missing critical notifications that affect business communication.
Setting up AWS SES bounce alerts ensures real-time detection of delivery issues and compliance with AWS best practices.
2. Configure AWS SES for Bounce and Complaint Notifications
Start by enabling email bounce tracking with AWS SES to identify undelivered messages.
Steps:
- Open the Amazon SES console.
- Navigate to Verified Identities and select your domain or email identity.
- Under Feedback Notifications, configure Bounce and Complaint notifications.
- Create or choose an existing Amazon SNS topic as the destination for these events.
This setup enables SES to publish bounce and complaint messages to the SNS topic whenever an issue occurs.
3. Integrate Amazon SNS for Event Routing
Amazon Simple Notification Service (SNS) acts as the bridge between SES and other services. After configuring bounce notifications in SES, create an SNS topic to receive and forward these events.
Steps:
- In the SNS console, create a new topic (e.g., ses-bounce-notifications).
- Add subscriptions for AWS Lambda, email, or HTTP endpoints to receive events.
- Confirm subscriptions to activate them.
This integration ensures that every bounce or complaint event is processed in real-time — forming the foundation for your SES monitoring system.
4. Automate Bounce Handling with AWS Lambda
To take automatic action on bounce events, integrate AWS Lambda with SNS. The Lambda function will parse the SNS payload, log event details, and optionally add problematic addresses to the suppression list.
Example Use Cases:
- Automatically remove invalid recipients.
- Update your database with bounce status.
- Trigger alerts for repeated bounces.
Example Function Flow:
- SNS receives a bounce notification.
- The SNS topic invokes the Lambda function.
- The Lambda function processes the event and takes corrective action.
This automation streamlines SES bounce and complaint logging and ensures consistent deliverability management.
5. Set Up Real-Time Alerts with Slack
For immediate visibility, integrate Slack with your AWS Lambda function. Use Slack webhooks or event APIs to send notifications whenever a bounce occurs.
Example alert:
🚨 Bounce Alert: Message to user@example.com failed due to “Invalid Recipient.”
Logged in system at: 2025-10-15 10:34 UTC
Real-time alerts allow teams to react instantly, reducing the time to identify and fix issues affecting email delivery.
6. Log Events and Analyze with Monitoring Tools
Logging and long-term analysis help track trends and improve your email strategy. Export bounce and complaint data to observability tools such as New Relic, CloudWatch, or Elasticsearch.
Benefits of integrated logging:
- Centralized view of all email bounce activities.
- Metrics for sender performance and recipient health.
- Insights into recurring issues or policy violations.
By monitoring and logging SES email deliverability, you gain better visibility into system health and long-term reliability.
7. Review and Optimize Deliverability
Once your monitoring and alert system is active, review its performance regularly. Analyze bounce patterns to identify:
- Invalid or outdated recipient addresses.
- Misconfigured email headers or DKIM/SPF issues.
- Overly aggressive throttling or rate limits.
Continuous tuning ensures optimal compliance and keeps bounce rates low.
Key Benefits of a Complete SES Monitoring System
- Real-time Bounce Alerts: Immediate notifications enable fast response and troubleshooting.
- Comprehensive Logging: Historical data supports long-term trend analysis.
- Reduced Risk: Prevents AWS SES account reviews by maintaining compliance.
- Improved Deliverability: Better sender reputation and higher email success rates.
Implementing this workflow transforms AWS SES from a simple email-sending service into a proactive, self-monitoring system.
About IAMOPS
IAMOPS is a full DevOps suite company that helps organizations build secure, automated, and reliable cloud systems.
With expertise in email bounce tracking with AWS, SES monitoring systems, and cloud-native observability, IAMOPS enables teams to maintain high deliverability and reliability across their communication platforms.
Our services include:
- Setting up AWS SES bounce alerts and real-time notifications.
- Implementing SES bounce and complaint logging pipelines.
- Building automation with AWS Lambda, SNS, and third-party integrations.
- Monitoring and analyzing email deliverability performance.
IAMOPS empowers organizations to achieve robust, automated monitoring systems that improve reliability, compliance, and operational efficiency.
Summary
Tracking email bounces and complaints is essential for maintaining sender reputation and ensuring uninterrupted communication.
By combining AWS SES, SNS, Lambda, and Slack integrations, teams can automate bounce handling, trigger real-time alerts, and log detailed analytics.
This approach enables better insight, faster reaction times, and long-term compliance with AWS policies. Implementing these practices for AWS SES bounce alerts and monitoring email deliverability helps create a resilient and scalable notification system, critical for maintaining trusted communication at scale.
