I’m going to apologize ahead of time because … this is going to be very long, very boring, and perhaps a bit overwhelming. Still, it’s something that we probably should address.
Email Address Issues Leading to Bounces
We continue learning the ins and outs of email sequencing and I have had one or two clients who have, unfortunately, seen abnormally high bounce rates. With one, I took those emails that had bounced and ran them through the email verification tool that I discussed in the last newsletter.
There were 73 addresses that we checked and 100% of those came back as either “undeliverable” or “risky”. If there is good news here, this would indicate that this is not an issue with your email service, with Nimble, or even with message tracking.
I get “undeliverable”, but what the heck is a “risky” email address?
Here is what by chatbot, Hal, had to say about “risky emails” …
“Risky” generally means that while the email address exists, there are factors that could prevent successful delivery. This can include issues like:
- Inactive or Dormant Accounts: The account exists but may not be regularly checked or may have been temporarily deactivated.
- High Likelihood of Spam Filters: The address might be on domains known for spam or associated with disposable email providers, increasing the chance of messages being marked as spam.
- Low Engagement: The address may have a history of low engagement (e.g., infrequent opens or clicks), which email providers monitor and may use to classify messages as unimportant.
- Full or Misconfigured Inbox: The inbox may be full or have a configuration that could reject emails intermittently.
Sending to risky emails can lead to lower deliverability rates and increase the chance of being flagged as spam, so it’s often best to avoid these addresses unless necessary.
I then asked … “Can a “risky” email bounce?”
Yes, a “risky” email can still bounce. While “risky” emails aren’t always guaranteed to fail, they have a higher likelihood of bouncing due to the factors I mentioned, such as inactive accounts, full inboxes, or misconfigurations. Sending to these addresses can lead to inconsistent results—some may go through, while others might bounce.
If you’re aiming to keep bounce rates low, it’s usually best to avoid sending to “risky” emails unless you have strong reason to believe the contact is active or valuable.
Finally, I asked for advice on how to address these …
Here’s a structured approach to handling this list to improve deliverability and maintain list quality:
- Remove “Undeliverable” Emails: Since these emails are confirmed as undeliverable, it’s best to remove them from the list to avoid automatic bounces.
- Segment Out “Risky” Emails: Move the “risky” emails into a separate segment rather than removing them outright. This allows you to consider strategies for reaching them carefully without affecting overall deliverability.
- Re-engagement Campaign for “Risky” Emails:
- Consider sending a one-time re-engagement email to just this “risky” segment. Keep the content light and engaging, possibly inviting the recipient to confirm their contact information.
- Use a reputable, verified sender email address and ensure the email content avoids spam triggers to maximize delivery chances.
- Track results carefully—any bouncebacks from this attempt should lead to the removal of those specific emails.
- Monitor Engagement Carefully: After the re-engagement email, assess which “risky” emails interacted with the content. If you get opens, clicks, or responses, consider these emails active and move them back to your main list.
- Maintain a “Hold” List for Unresponsive Risky Emails: For any “risky” emails that remain unresponsive, add them to a “hold” or “inactive” list rather than removing them completely. This lets you revisit the list in the future if needed, but it won’t affect your main campaigns.
This process helps retain potential contacts while keeping your list clean and reducing future bounces. Let me know if you’d like any additional details on executing these steps.
As you can see, addressing these behaviors and determining their cause is an extremely complex process. There can be a multitude of reasons that can be tied to anywhere is the email chain from your server to theirs.
As always, I can and will do what I can to assist with these but, unfortunately, this is not my area of expertise. I’m an application guy, not an I.T. professional, so please talk to yours.
What can we take from this? Clean your lists! I know … what a pain but it is becoming increasingly clear that this will be a necessary function particularly if you want to do email messaging at scale. But, how can you clean your larger lists? I went back to Hal …
I asked … “If I provided you with a list, could you verify deliverability?”
Hal said …
I can help with various analyses and tasks related to email lists, but I don’t have the capability to directly verify email deliverability (i.e., check if an email address is valid or likely to bounce). For this, I’d recommend using an email verification service like Hunter, NeverBounce, or ZeroBounce. These services can quickly analyze lists and return results on whether emails are deliverable, undeliverable, or risky.
I then asked … “Do any of these services provide valid emails for those that are undeliverable?”
Hal said …
Email verification services like Hunter, NeverBounce, and ZeroBounce specialize in identifying invalid or risky email addresses within your list. However, they do not automatically provide alternative valid email addresses for those flagged as undeliverable or risky.
To obtain valid email addresses for such contacts, consider the following approaches:
- Email Finder Tools: Platforms like Hunter and Voila Norbert offer email finding services. By inputting a person’s name and associated domain, these tools can help locate their current valid email address. For example, Hunter’s Email Finder allows you to find email addresses by entering the person’s name and company domain. Hunter
- Manual Verification: If you have additional information about the contact, such as their company or role, you can manually search for their updated contact details through professional networking sites like LinkedIn or the company’s official website.
- Data Enrichment Services: Some platforms offer data enrichment, providing additional information about your contacts, including updated email addresses. Services like Clearout and DropContact specialize in enriching and verifying contact data.
Sources – Lemlist, GetResponse
While these methods can help you find valid email addresses, it’s essential to ensure compliance with data protection regulations and obtain proper consent before reaching out to new contacts.
Next I went to my human network. A gentleman I know who is highly respected in the marketing arena recommended a product called Voila Norbert (note that Hal also mentioned this service). He has used it personally and has been pleased with both the price and the results. It appears to offer both email find and email verification.
One final note and I will let you go. Apparently this is a standard practice for email messaging services. If an email is bounced, Nimble will add that address to your unsubscribed list (found in your email settings). The reason being, if this is not a valid email address, you don’t want to continue to attempt to send them messages.
Each email address on the list includes the reason for that. However, you can “whitelist” any email address that you think is in error or if a contact specifically requests that you remove them from that list.
That will do it for today! Enough is enough:) See you in two weeks!
Are you thinking about a CRM? If you would like to explore whether or not Nimble CRM might be right for you, please book a free 30-minute Zoom consultation with me by going to my calendar.
To learn more about our Nimble training and implementation services, please visit our Nimble CRM training services page. Thank you!
Or are you considering leveraging AI for more effective LinkedIn prospecting, or perhaps using advanced marketing in your business, or are you looking at improving your managed I.T. services including security, workflow, and telephony? With so many people talking about these things, it’s tough to figure out who to talk to.
My area of expertise is Nimble CRM (specifically sales), however, I would be happy to connect you to an AI, managed services, or marketing professional who I know and trust. Please reach out to me at craig@adaptive-business.com for an introduction!
Craig M. Jamieson
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