Could your open and click rates use a boost? Here’s how email verification can help and how to get started with the right service. 

If you’re passionate about email marketing, you probably keep an eye on your engagement metrics. Open and click rates are an essential barometer of your performance, and you’re always looking for ways to boost them.  

Sure, content matters – and so does the design of your templates. But what’s even more important is to ensure you’re working with a healthy list of contacts. In 2020, you simply can’t afford to overlook your email hygiene. Otherwise, your email marketing efforts will be in vain. 

What Is Email Verification?

Email verification is the fastest and safest way to check the accuracy of your email database.

An email verifier will analyze every email address in your list and determine whether it’s valid and ready to accept email. Thus, you can separate your valuable leads from the bad ones, and email only people who are likely to engage with your content. 

Why Is Email Verification Vital In 2020 And Beyond?

If you’ve been running email campaigns for a while, you remember its humble beginnings. Marketers used to rely on the “spray and pray” tactic – which isn’t a tactic at all. They used to gather as many email addresses as possible, email them, and pray for results. 

The industry has come a long way, though. Not only are there laws email marketers have to abide to, but also, sophisticated software that allows you to target your ideal customers. Ignoring these tools and best practices will sabotage your efforts – and, also, may get you in trouble.  

What’s your number one asset as an email marketer? Most industry pros would say: my email list! Obviously, your email list is your main tool, but even more relevant is how you use it. That builds your sender reputation.  

Email invalid contacts and you’ll get bounces. Continue to send to people who mark you as spam and you’ll get more spam complaints. Let your emails land in spam traps and you’ll be taken for a spammer.  

Everything you do as an email marketer makes or breaks your sender reputation. Internet Service Providers (ISPs) look at it to establish the kind of sender you are. The better your reputation, the more of your emails will reach the inbox. This is where email verification makes a difference.  

What Does An Email Verifier Do?

You already know it separates good from bad email addresses. Now let’s take a closer look at the latter and see why they hurt your email marketing.  

Your email list decays at an average rate of 22.5% every year. So, 22.5% of the email addresses you collect go bad within just one year. Why does that happen? 

• people get unhappy with their email provider and switch to a different one. Their old email addresses either become invalid or they get abandoned – and potentially turned into spam traps.  
• employees leave behind their work email address when they start a new job. Their address becomes invalid and bounces, or is turned into a catch-all email. Due to their very nature, catch-all addresses receive lots of email. Such mailboxes easily fill up with messages and often end up bouncing, thus hurting your sender reputation.  
• do you offer a freebie on your blog to boost your subscription rate? That’s great, but freebie hunters can use temporary (disposable) email addresses to get your content. Within days or even hours, these accounts self-destruct and cause your emails to bounce.  
• honest subscribers, who genuinely want to receive email from you, make typos when trying to subscribe. If you’re not using the double opt-in, there’s no way for you to reach these new subscribers again.  

Email verification not only solves these issues, but also prevents them from happening. By removing bad email addresses, it helps you keep a clean email list and reach your audience successfully.  

A good email verifier detects and eliminates: 

• misspelled and other invalid/fake emails 
• spam traps 
• abuse emails (people who label you as spam) 
• catch-all emails 
• disposable and role-based emails (such as info@, contact@), which are unlikely to engage with your content. 

What’s more, the system can detect these risky email addresses before they even make it to your list.  

The Email Verification API: A Must-have Tool

Let’s say your open and click rates have been unusually low lately, and you suspect the reason is your poor email hygiene. There are two ways you can get your list back in shape: 

• by cleaning your list in bulk. This means you upload your existing list on an email verification platform and allow it to weed out bad contacts. 
• by using an email cleaning API. Once your database is clean, it’s easy to keep it that way. The API checks every new signup in real time and prevents low-quality addresses from being added to your mailing list. 

The good news? Every trustworthy email verifier will provide access to an API. This piece of code is easy to install on your signup forms and works uninterruptedly in the background.  

The Benefits Of Using A Healthy Email List

Validating your email list means you’re going to have to part with some of your contacts. And that’s good! Instead of getting bounces or spam complaints, wouldn’t you rather communicate with actual human beings who want to hear from you?  

Here’s what you’re going to notice once you start emailing your newly verified list: 

• your bounce rate will look much better, as email verification removes invalid addresses.  
• your sender reputation will improve, so more of your emails will land in people’s inboxes. 
• as a result, your open and click rates will see a boost. 
• your overall email marketing performance will increase, so you’ll have a higher chance of reaching your conversion goals.  

Consider validating your database every quarter – or, at least, before every important campaign. Also, build your emails around your customers’ needs and interests. Send personalized offers and content that helps and inspires them, and your email marketing will thrive. 

Author bio

Paul Leslie is a freelance writer, researcher and interviewer. He has recorded more than 700 interviews distributed via radio and podcasts. He likes watching and rewatching movies and is always down to try a new restaurant.