As a business owner or marketer, you know that email marketing is an essential part of your marketing strategy. You spend hours crafting the perfect email campaign, but did you know that a significant portion of your emails might not even make it to your subscriber’s inbox? Invalid or fake email addresses can harm your email deliverability, cause bounces and even lead to your domain being blacklisted. That's why email validation is critical for successful email marketing campaigns.
In this article, we'll dive into why email validation is important, how it works, and how to implement it to improve your email marketing campaigns.
Why is email validation important?
Email validation is the process of verifying whether an email address is valid and deliverable. It involves checking the syntax of an email address, verifying the domain, and checking if the mailbox exists. Email validation is essential because sending emails to invalid or non-existent email addresses can harm your email deliverability, impact your sender reputation, and lead to bounces.
Sending emails to invalid email addresses can negatively impact your email deliverability because internet service providers (ISPs) use bounce rates as one of the metrics to determine if emails from a specific sender are spam or not. If your emails are frequently bouncing, ISPs may start to flag your emails as spam, and your emails might end up in your subscriber's spam folder instead of their inbox.
In addition, sending emails to non-existent email addresses can lead to hard bounces, which occur when an email is returned to the sender because the recipient's email address doesn't exist or is incorrect. Hard bounces can damage your sender's reputation, and ISPs may start to block your domain, which can be devastating for your email marketing campaigns.
How does email validation work?
Email validation uses email authentification including syntax checks, domain verification, and mailbox verification to ensure that the email address is valid and deliverable.
Syntax checks: The syntax of an email address refers to the rules that govern the structure of an email address. Syntax checks involve validating the email address's format, including the presence of "@" and "." symbols and the absence of spaces or special characters.
Domain verification: Domain verification involves checking the DNS records to ensure that the domain exists and is configured to receive emails. This involves checking the MX record, which specifies the mail server responsible for accepting emails for the domain.
Mailbox verification: Mailbox verification involves checking whether the mailbox exists and can receive emails. This involves sending a test email to the email address and checking if it's delivered or returned.
How to implement email validation
Implementing email validation is a straightforward process. There are several email validation tools available online that can help you validate your email addresses quickly and easily. These tools typically involve uploading your email list or entering individual email addresses to validate.
One such tool is Bounceless, an email verification service that uses AI-powered algorithms to validate email addresses. Bounceless checks email addresses in real-time and provides a detailed report on the email address's deliverability status, including the email address's status, whether it's a role-based email address, and whether it's a disposable email address.
In addition to email validation tools, you can also implement double opt-in for your email list. Double opt-in involves sending a confirmation email to the subscriber's email address after they sign up for your email list. This ensures that the email address is valid and that the subscriber wants to receive your emails.
FAQs:
Q: How often should email lists be validated?
A: It is generally recommended to validate email lists on a regular basis, such as every three to six months. However, the frequency may depend on factors such as the size and activity level of the email list, the frequency of email campaigns, and other factors specific to the organization's needs.
Q: Can email list validation services integrate with other marketing tools?
A: Yes, many email list validation services can integrate with other marketing tools such as email marketing platforms, CRM systems, and other marketing automation tools. This can help streamline the process of managing and validating email lists and improve the overall effectiveness of marketing efforts.
Q: How much does email list validation cost?
A: The cost of email list validation services can vary depending on factors such as the size of the email list, the level of validation needed, and the specific service provider. However, prices typically range from a few cents per email address to several hundred dollars for larger lists or more advanced validation services.