How To Stop Bounces & Boost Deliverability With Email Validation

If you’re sending cold emails, the last thing you want is for them to land in the spam folder. It’s frustrating, right? You spend time crafting the perfect email script, but it never sees the light of day. But here’s the good news: avoiding the spam folder and landing in the primary inbox is not just luck—it’s a skill.

The secret? Email validation.

In this post, we’ll break down what email validation is, why it’s crucial for your cold email campaigns, and how you can use the right tools to keep your bounce rate low and deliverability high.

Why Email Validation Matters for Cold Email Campaigns

Let’s cut to the chase: sending emails to invalid addresses can crush your sender reputation. Every time you send a cold email to a non-existent address, you’re telling email service providers (ESPs) like Gmail and Outlook that you might be a spammer. And once they get that idea about you, it’s hard to shake off the “spammer” label.

What happens next?

Your emails start landing in spam folders more often, even when you send to valid addresses. This is because of something called a “feedback loop,” where ESPs monitor the interactions with your emails. If too many bounce or get marked as spam, your reputation takes a hit. The result? Fewer people see your emails, and your campaign results plummet.

So What is Email Validation, Really?

In simple terms, it’s the process of checking if the email addresses on your list exist, they’re spelled correctly, and they can receive emails.

Here’s why it’s crucial:

It Protects Your Sender Reputation: By avoiding invalid emails, you keep your sender score high, ensuring your emails reach more inboxes.
It Reduces Bounce Rates: A lower bounce rate means ESPs trust you more, which boosts your overall deliverability.
It Saves Time and Resources: Why waste time and money on emails that will never be seen? Focus on valid leads instead.

Breaking Down the Email Bounce

An email bounce happens when your email doesn’t make it to the recipient’s inbox. There are a few reasons why this might happen, and they’re not all created equal.

Types of Bounces

1. Hard Bounce: This is your worst-case scenario. The email address is invalid—maybe it’s misspelled or doesn’t exist anymore. This bounce type hits your sender reputation hard and must be avoided at all costs.

2. Soft Bounce: These are more like temporary setbacks. Maybe the recipient’s inbox is full, or there’s a server issue. Soft bounces are less damaging but still need to be managed.

3. Spam Trap: Imagine sending an email to an address specifically set up to catch spammers. Ouch. Hitting a spam trap can get you blacklisted very quickly because it’s build to catch spammers buying unsolicited lists.

Tools to Help You Validate Your Cold Emails

You don’t need to be a tech wizard to validate your emails—there are plenty of tools out there that can do the heavy lifting for you. These tools check each email address on your list to make sure it’s valid and active. Here are a few of our favorites:

MillionVerifier: This tool checks if email addresses are valid, probably valid, catchall, invalid, or even spam traps. It’s super detailed and great for making sure your list is clean.

NeverBounce: A favorite among email marketers, NeverBounce is known for its reliability. It categorizes emails as valid, invalid, or risky—so you know exactly what you’re dealing with.

Scrubby: Great for taking things a step further, Scrubby is ideal for validating those “risky” emails. It helps you avoid potential spam traps and disposable addresses.

Using these tools before sending out your cold emails can save you a lot of headaches—and help ensure your emails land where they’re supposed to.

Best Practices for Campaign Management

To get the best results from your cold email campaigns, here are a few best practices:

Validate Right Before Launch: Run your email list through a verification tool the same day you plan to launch your campaign. This ensures that you have the most up-to-date data.

Isolate Risky Emails: Use separate email addresses you’re willing to lose for campaigns targeting risky emails to protect your main sending accounts.

Revalidate Regularly: Email lists can go stale quickly. Revalidate your list every 7-10 days to keep it fresh and avoid unnecessary bounces.

What to Do with Risky Emails

Sometimes, your verification tool will mark emails as “risky.” These are emails that could go either way—they might work, but they might not. Here’s a tip: run these through a second tool, like Scrubby, to see if you can squeeze a few more valid emails out of them.

And If you decide to use the risky emails in your campaigns, create a separate campaign using dedicated email addresses like we mentioned above. This way, if things go south, you won’t damage your main sending accounts.

Troubleshooting High Bounce Rates in Cold Emails

So, you’ve launched your campaign, and—uh oh—your bounce rate is through the roof. Don’t panic! Here’s how to troubleshoot high bounce rates:

1. Check for common causes

These can be:

Outdated Email Lists: Your list might include email addresses that are no longer in use.
Poor Validation: Maybe the tool you’re using isn’t catching everything.
Generic or Disposable Emails: non-personal emails (like [email protected] or [email protected]) are more likely to bounce.

2. Implement Quick Fixes

Revalidate Your List: Give your list another pass through a trusted tool like MillionVerifier.
Segment Your List: Move risky or generic emails into a separate campaign to minimize damage.
Review Your Sources: Make sure you’re getting your emails from reputable sources. Buying lists from shady vendors? Bad idea.

Here’s an example scenario: Let’s say your cold email campaign has a bounce rate of 5%. After revalidating your list, you find and remove the bad addresses, move the risky addresses to a separate campaign, and bring that rate down to 1.5%. Boom—your deliverability will improve, and more of your emails will get read.

Wrapping Up

Email validation isn’t just a “nice-to-have” for cold email campaigns—it’s a must.

By keeping your email list clean and up-to-date, you can avoid the spam folder, reduce your bounce rate, and make sure your emails reach the people who matter.

Want more tips on optimizing your cold email strategy? Check out growb2b.io for expert tips, templates, and much more.

Author:

Michael Gardiner

Michael is a cold email expert with 9 years of experience, having worked with over 250 B2B companies ranging from startups to Fortune 500s. Outside of work, you will find him traveling around the world with a goal to set foot in every country.