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Yep. Email cleaning is a thing. Bet you never thought about cleaning your email list. But you should.
As part of a new launch I’m doing, I realized that I had several files with about 6,000 email addresses I had collected in the past.
First, I thought about just ditching these emails because I hadn’t contacted them for a few years. But then, I realized that I could potentially try to bring those folks back. But how?
How can I verify emails and re-engage an email list that I haven’t talked to in a while without being kicked off my email marketing system?
The answer is — to clean my email list. This is also known as email list scrubbing or email verification email validation. Using an email cleaner can simplify email management through smart folders and rules, while also promoting a commitment to data privacy and transparency regarding user information.
The good news is — there are tools for this. And even better news is that they aren’t as expensive as you think.
Let’s get started.
What is email cleaning?
Email cleaning is the process of removing inactive or invalid contacts from your mailing list. Sounds painful, doesn’t it. After all, you worked so hard to grow your email list.
But here’s the thing.
The average email list has around 60% of inactive contacts.
In other words, more than half of the emails you’ve collected are either invalid and not being delivered, contributing to the clutter of incoming emails.
This is a bad thing. Because it’s costing you money to keep them and it can also hurt your standing with your email marketing service.
The benefits of cleaning your mailing list?
I know it’s tough, but when you think about it, if 60% of your email addresses are either fake or spam or inactive — then they aren’t real people! It’s ok — let them go. Personalized cleaning suggestions can help you maintain a tidy inbox by learning from your behavior and preferences to offer actionable steps for email organization and management.
Here’s why:
You’ll have an engaged and responsive audience at your fingertips
A clean email list (no matter how big or small) is a responsive email list, capable of efficiently managing existing conversations. I like to visualize my email list as a group of my favorite people who like me enough to do what I ask, to take my advice and recommendations.
Your emails will get delivered
Email marketing services pride themselves on delivery. If a high percentage of your emails are getting blocked or filtered to the spam folder, that hurts your ability to reach the inbox and your customers. Email verification will identify those emails so you can decide what to do with them. Additionally, implementing auto clean rules can automate email management by archiving old messages, marking social notifications as read, and generating daily summaries, thereby making inbox management more efficient and organized.
Your email stats will improve – and so will your relationship with your list, leading to a sparkling clean inbox
Your email marketing campaign statistics such as open rate and click rate are a function of the total emails sent. So if you have invalid emails such as duplicate emails, disposable emails, or spam emails, your overall email statistics will be much lower than they really are. Utilizing a service that allows you to bulk delete these invalid emails can significantly improve your email management efficiency.
Drop in spam complaints: Getting too many spam complaints can have you blackballed from your email service provider. A good email
How do I get rid of invalid and unwanted emails?
There are two ways to get rid of invalid addresses.
First, figure out which email addresses are technically invalid; spam, inactive, unsubscribes, bounced, etc. To do this, you’ll need an email list cleaning service to automatically organize and filter out these invalid addresses.
Second, once you’re left with real email addresses, you can run a re-engagement campaign asking them if they want to stay on your list or just unsubscribe.
What’s the difference between Email Cleaning, Scrubbing and Email Verification Services?
The idea behind any bulk email validation tool is to remove bad emails from your list. They can be bad for a variety of reasons; spam emails (not valid or not verified as legitimate emails. Bounced emails (not deliverable, hence, not valid).
What is email cleaning? Email list cleaning is the process of regularly updating your email contact list by purging outdated contacts and being responsive to recipient preferences. This is the most general category. Email cleaning can include both email cleaning software as well as a manual process of deleting inactive emails. Many services offer an auto renewing subscription to ensure continuous access to these features.
What is email verification? Email verification is the process of making sure the emails on your list are tied to an inbox. In other words, it’s making sure that the messages you’re sending have somewhere to go.
What is email validation? Email Validation is a method of verifying if an email address is valid and deliverable. It also confirms if an email address has a reliable domain such as Gmail or Yahoo.
What is email scrubbing? Scrubbing your email list means to take out or delete all the email addresses on your list who never open, read, or interact with your emails.
The bottom line is that you only want emails that are connected to real people who want to hear from you. Many of these bulk verification tools do more than one of these. So think about what you want to do and choose accordingly.
How often should I clean my email list?
How often you validate your emails depends on the number of new emails you collect at any time period. If you collect 10,000 emails per month on average, you’d want to make email list cleaning a regular part of your marketing process. I’d recommend doing a quarterly email list cleaning, and ensure you use an app regularly to benefit from the latest updates and enhancements.
Email marketers with smaller lists (under 10,000) might only use an email list cleaning software about once per year.
How email scrubbing services work with auto clean rules
Email cleaning services are designed to seek out, find and remove invalid email addresses from your list. Clean Email continuously searches for data breaches, alerting users if their email address has been compromised to maintain email security and integrity.
Here’s what they are looking for:
Email Address Syntax – These are emails that are obviously misspelled – [email protected] or [email protected]
Role-Based Email Addresses – Emails that start with info@, sales@, support@ — the email list cleaning service will only remove those emails if they are not being delivered.
Disposable Email Addresses – Lots of people will use test emails or disposable emails to keep their inbox clean. These types of addresses expire over time, so they will be deleted.
MX Records – These are email addresses that do not contain required MX records.
Spam Traps – Spam traps, sometimes known as honeypots, are used to detect and track spam emails. These are emails that have never been used before by a user. Anti-spam organizations, Internet Service Providers (ISPs), and enterprises use spam traps to trap spammers.
How to choose an email list cleaning service for bulk delete
Choosing an email list cleaning software or email validation software is really confusing. When you do a search on Google, all you get is lists of dozens of software at all different price point.
This makes me completely crazy! There are dozens of articles with dozens of tools and no one tells you how to choose a list cleaning service that’s right for YOU.
Well, since I’m in the process of choosing an email verification service, I’m going to share my journey and help you choose one for yourself.
Since I’m not an email list cleaning expert, but I do understand email marketing, I’m going to be curating my information from the best articles with the best advice. Additionally, I will consider services that have third party security certification to ensure data security.
Here’s what I’m looking for:
Has it been tested? Lots of recommendations on Google are nothing more than a listing of email verification services. It would be nice to see if anyone tested these services to check on their effectiveness.
How easy is it to use? I’m not very technical, so I’m looking for an email cleaning service that lets me upload my email lists from a spreadsheet. Another option is that the email checker connects with my email marketing software directly.
How the pricing works: Most email list cleaning services offer a “pay as you go” pricing plan. I prefer this because my email list is small (less than 100,000) and I’m not cleaning monthly.
How accurate is it? Because this is a bulk email verification, I’d like the results to be as accurate as possible — meaning that it removes BAD emails and keeps good emails.
The Best Email List Cleaning Services
I’ve narrowed things down to the top three email list cleaning services. The next step is to figure out which to try. For some help, I’ve hit GetApp, my favorite software directory to collect some verified reviews, pros and cons of each software. These services also offer robust unsubscribe capabilities, allowing users to quickly unsubscribe from unwanted emails in both bulk and individual actions.
Zero Bounce
Zero Bounce is considered the go-to email list cleaning service. It was on every “best email cleaning services” list and has excellent reviews.
What I liked about it:
I like that it’s the standard. That really tells you something. Especially if you aren’t cleaning your list all the time. Might as well use the best.
The pricing is reasonable and affordable. I like that that it’s structured for different list sizes.
99% Accuracy! Zero Bounce claims 99% accuracy. And, based on reviews and expert comparisons, they deliver 99% accuracy.
Security: I didn’t mention security as a key feature, but if you are in a business that has to protect consumer data, this is a must-have.
Gender detection: Another “unknown” but super cool feature. If you’re only collecting emails, how cool would it be to detect the gender of the address? Not just for email personalization, but for understanding your customer demographics.
Integrations: Another thing I like is the ability to integrate with the most popular email marketing tools like MailChimp, Constant Contact,
WOW — so ZeroBounce is a great tool. The question I’m asking myself is what’s more important right now; a clean email list or savig money.
Let’s take a look at my two lower-cost alternatives and see if they are better.
Never Bounce
Never Bounce is another great tool for capturing and cleaning invalid email addresses.
What I liked about it
So, what’s the difference between Zero Bounce and Never Bounce? I’m going to take a look at the critical features and see how they compare.
92% Accuracy: Their accuracy is less than Zero Bounce. That means that the bigger your list, the greater chance that it will miss bad emails and scrub good ones.
Security/GDPR: Never Bounce features their GDPR compliant feature. If you have subscribers from Europe, this will be an important feature for you.
Sync functionality: Never Bounce is unique with this synchronization feature. Its email checker works with your email marketing software to keep your list clean.
Integrations: Experts say that Never Bounce is the third highest in terms of integrating with your other email marketing services.
As you can see, there isn’t much of a difference in price between Zero Bounce and Never Bounce.
Your choice is going to come down to what features are most helpful for your business. Which security option is more important for you? Will it be GDPR or general email security?
Another important element is if one email cleaning tool integrates with your particular email marketing software.
As I look through the comparison features compared to the price given the size of my email list, I’m leaning toward Zero Bounce.
Email List Validation
This email cleaning service isn’t as well known as Zero Bounce or Never Bounce. But it’s a definite contender.
Not only that, but I can grab it on AppSumo for a lifetime deal of $59!
What I liked about it
Pricing: Email List Validation is more affordable than Zero Bounce.
99% Accuracy: I wasn’t able to find anyone claiming otherwise. So, I have to take them at their word.
Security: Email List Validation is GDPR compliant.
Sync functionality: Integrates with the most popular email marketing platforms like Mailchimp,
My Email Verifier
What I liked about it
While My Email Verifier wasn’t listed on every “best email list scrubber” lists, it’s certainly got a lot going for it.
99% Accuracy: My Email Verifier has been community tested and it ranks 1st for the highest accuracy level.
Pricing: My Email Verifier has you purchase credits. It’s 1 credit for each email address. So far, this is the most affordable email list cleaning service. For my list of 6,000, it would cost about $21.
Customer Support: If you’re not tech savvy My Email Verifier offers highly rated customer service.
Integrations: My Email Verifier currently integrates with only five email marketing services: Mailchimp, GetResponse,
Pabbly Email Verification
Now this is interesting! Most email list cleaning services brag about how quickly they clean and verify your email list — except for Pabbly. Pablby email verification prides itself on taking it’s time.
Pabbly email verification is saying that they take their time so that they can guarantee accurate results;
What I liked about it
99% Accuracy: Unlike other email list cleaning services, Pabbly claims that they manually check each email address. This is why each verification takes about 24 hours.
Integrations: Pabbly boasts integrations with more than 300 different applications. They offer a search for your brand, I wish they offered a complete list by category because I can’t see how many different email marketing software they integrate with. I did see MailChimp,
Pricing: If you don’t mind waiting the 24 hours to receive your results, you’re going to love the price. My Email Verification’s price is among the lowest of the bunch.
Pabbly is a different kind of email list cleaning service in that it offers what they call SMTP connections. This means that you can keep all of your emails “clean” including ones you send via Gmail, Amazon SES, SendGrid, MailGun, Elastic Email, etc.
What I liked about it
Although ContactOut is primarily an email finder tool, it certainly has plenty to offer when it comes to cleaning up your email list. Here’s what makes the tool’s email verification feature stand out:
98% Accuracy: ContactOut boasts an impressive accuracy rate, significantly higher than many competitors. This ensures that your email list remains clean and that only valid emails are retained, reducing bounce rates and improving deliverability.
Security/GDPR Compliance: The tool is fully GDPR compliant, making it an especially reliable choice if you have subscribers from Europe.
Real-Time Verification: One of ContactOut’s best features is its real-time verification. As you enter email addresses, the tool checks their validity instantly, helping you collect only genuine emails from the start.
Pricing: ContactOut offers flexible plans for businesses of all sizes, from startups to large enterprises. It also has a free option that lets you validate up to four email addresses per day.
Integrations: ContactOut Email Verifier integrates seamlessly with popular CRMs and email marketing platforms, ensuring a smooth workflow. This makes it a perfect fit for businesses looking to maintain a clean email list.
User-Friendly Interface: The intuitive design of ContactOut’s interface makes it accessible for users of all technical levels, allowing for easy navigation and effective use.
Best Email Cleaning Software Comparison Charts
Here is the comparison chart I put together from GetApp.
For more information and comparison information check out List Cleaning Advice. They also provide a terrific chart of email list cleaning services along with a summary of prices and accuracy percentages.
Which Email Cleaning Service is Best?
OK, so after all of this research, which email list cleaning service is best?
Here are my recommendations:
Think about which of the outlined features are most important for your business. is it accuracy, bulk validation, eliminating duplicate email addresses or getting your mailing lists cleaned quickly. Pick the most important, must have feature and then a supporting feature.
Best email list cleaning tools by feature
- Best accuracy – Pabbly
- Best value – My Email Verifier
- Best synch with email marketing campaigns – Never Bounce
- Most popular overall – Zero Bounce
Since each of these services offers some level of “free” trials or tests, I’m going to take them up on it. I’m going to break out my existing email lists into small groups and run each batch through the email list cleaning services that I’ve outlined here. And see which validation service performs the best with the lists I have.
Conclusion
If you’re running a big email campaign, you’ll need to find at least one email list cleaning business that can help you eliminate bogus emails, increase productivity and deliverability, and safeguard your organization from spam and fraud. These tools will undoubtedly save you time by allowing you to quickly sort through hundreds of email addresses instead of manually going through them all.