Why Email Validation ≠ Inbox
I don't enjoy showing up as a Negative Nancy in your web browser, trombone in hand, but we need to have an honest conversation about email validation. It's often presented as a magic solution for email list problems and deliverability woes, when in reality, it’s often a misguided waste of time and resources.
Yet, I still see marketers tossing good money at bad email lists on the regular.
And not enough vendors in this industry are helping senders sort out when they should (and absolutely should not) be using list validation services to solve their deliverability issue.
So today, let’s break it down. When does email validation actually help? When is it a waste of money? And most importantly, what should you be doing instead?
TLDR: validation is a tool, not a strategy. If you’re using it to "clean up" a bad list, you’re looking at the wrong problem.
Perhaps you're asking...
What is Email Validation, Anyway?
This is a process where you attempt to determine the validity of an address without actually having to send an email to it.
It’s often referred to as “cleaning your email list”, but it’s different than typical list hygiene management (which involves proactive removal of hard bounces, spam complaints, and unsubscribes).
Instead, validation involves checking for syntax errors and ensuring the domain you’re sending to exists.
Some vendors (like Kickbox, the one I used to work for in this space), also verify, which involves pinging mail servers to see if an address is active… which is sort of like calling the recipient’s mailbox provider to ask if they’re home right now and allowed to come out and play.
The idea is that running a list of addresses through a validation tool before sending will identify all of the “bad addresses” on your list, which can reduce your bounce rates and the amount of spam trap hits you hit, both of which help you protect your sender reputation and improve deliverability.
Sounds good, right? Well…
Here’s the Problem: Validation Has Become a Crutch
While it does serve a purpose within a marketer’s email tech stack, it’s become a technical quick-fix to compensate for issues that ultimately boil down to not sending it right (ahem, choosing to avoid certain best practices like getting permission when you know better).
Too many marketers treat it like a magic “clean-up” button… something to solve inbox placement problems instead of preventing them in the first place.
When I worked for a verification provider, I had conversations daily with marketers hoping validation would “wash out” all their list problems…
As if tossing your six-year-old’s chocolate-and-grass-stained shirt in the laundry has any chance of coming out lookin’ brand new.
Riiiight.
There are some big misconceptions about what email validation can actually do. Let’s clear them up…
#1: Validation Can’t Create Permission
Just because an email address exists doesn’t mean the recipient wants to hear from you.
Validation doesn’t magically turn a scraped or purchased list into an opt-in list. If someone never gave you permission in the first place, validation won’t change that. And trust me—no amount of list cleaning will convince an uninterested recipient to engage positively with your emails.
Hello, spam complaints! Goodbye, inbox.
#2: Validation Won’t Fix Bad Engagement
A permission-based, validated list can still perform terribly if your emails aren’t relevant or valuable. If people aren’t opening, clicking, or finding your content useful, no amount of validation will change that.
Deliverability isn’t just about who you email—it’s about what you send.
#3: Validation Won’t Magically Remove Spam Traps
This is where things get really messy. One of the biggest myths is that validation tools can remove all spam traps from a bad list.
They can’t.
If you’re not familiar with the term, spam traps are email addresses managed by mailbox providers (MBPs) and organizations like Spamhaus to catch senders who are engaging in bad behavior: sending to addresses without consent, pulling in a bunch of typos due to problems with list collection, or sending to once-valid addresses that have long-since stopped accepting mail.
Here’s the kicker: MBPs and anti-spam agencies don’t disclose spam trap lists. That would negate the whole point of setting a trap! If you told people where it was, they would likely just walk right around it. Some traps might get flagged in a validation process, but plenty will slip through undetected.
If a validation company claims they can remove every single spam trap, they’re either lying or don’t understand how spam traps actually work.
The result? You’ll spend thousands of dollars (plus your precious, precious time) on what you believe is now a perfectly clean list, only to still hit spam traps when you send.
So, the risk to deliverability is still there, only you’ve removed your view into the problem (leading to a false sense of security and a tougher time identifying how spam traps are ending up on your list).
Essentially, you’re putting a bandaid on a bullet-wound.
💌 When Using Email Validation Actually Makes Sense
Look, I’m not saying validation is completely useless. It has its place—just not as a crutch for bad email practices.
Here’s when it actually makes sense to use:
You collect email addresses from multiple sources. If you’re collecting addresses through web forms, in-person events, customer databases, and other sources, a validation tool can help catch typos and formatting errors before they cause bounces. It can also help highlight which collection sources have data quality issues worth investigating.
You’re a high-volume sender with lots of new signups flowing in. Hard bounces aren't a huge issue on their own (as long as you're keeping bounce rates below 3-5%), but when you’re sending hundreds of thousands or millions of emails per month, removing hard bounces (aka invalid addresses) before sending can help protect your sender reputation.
You’re struggling with fake sign-ups and typo'd addresses. If bot signups or keyboard-challenged users who enter their address incorrectly by accident are filling your list with invalid addresses, real-time verification (at the point of sign-up) can filter out the junk before it becomes a problem.
You’re hitting spam traps and want to find out why. If you're collecting permission and doing regular list hygiene, hitting spam traps can be confusing. Validation can help you identify where they may be coming from.
You’ve recently gone through a merger or acquisition. If your company has inherited a list with uncertain quality or collection practices, validation can help you assess your risk and clean it up before your first send.
Notice what’s not on this list?
“Cleaning up” a purchased list.
Magically solving your deliverability issues.
Removing all of the spam traps.
That brings us to…
When You Should Save Your Money
Validation isn’t a magic wand, and there are plenty of times when it’s just not worth the spend.
🚫 If you think it will fix consent issues. Validation won’t turn a non-opted-in email into an engaged subscriber. Permission first, always.
🚫 If you’re hoping to remove every spam trap. We covered this earlier — 👏 wake 👏 up! There’s no master list of spam traps. Anyone who tells you otherwise is selling you a dream... or some snake oil.
🚫 If your biggest problem is low engagement. Be real with yourself: if you're sending emails that aren’t interesting, useful, or wanted, validation isn’t the issue. (ahem, your content and strategy are!)
🚫 If you’re validating the same subscribers over and over. Unless you’re seeing a significant drop in list quality, running the same list through validation every few months is just burning money. You'll find out the status of addresses organically when you send to them, and if you're sending regularly, you shouldn't see any large spikes in bounce rates.
None of these apply to you? Friggin' fantastic! You just saved yourself a few thousand bucks.
Instead of Throwing Money at the Problem... Fix the Root Causes!
At the end of the day, email validation isn’t the solution. It’s a migraine pill... one which may or may not make the pain go away. If you’re constantly relying on it to "clean" your list, that’s a sign of a deeper issue.
Stop paying to remove bad emails after the fact — focus on keeping them out in the first place.
Here’s how:
💌 Get permission (for real).
If you have to wonder whether someone actually wants your emails, the answer is probably no. Subscriber consent is the foundation of good deliverability... always have been, but it's even more true today than it was in years (and even months) past.
💌 Practice regular list maintenance.
Don’t wait until your engagement is tanking to pay attention. That's likely when you're already starting to miss the inbox. Get ahead of it by removing inactive subscribers, honoring unsubscribes immediately, and monitoring engagement trends.
💌 Use real-time verification (only when needed).
If email revenue is important to you and typos or bot sign-ups are becoming a problem, validating at the point of entry can help — but only if you’re sending at a high enough volume to justify the cost.
💌 Identify why you’re getting spam traps.
If you're hitting spam traps, don’t just run a validation tool and call it a day. Look at how those addresses got on your list in the first place. Did they come from a questionable data source? A partner list? A stale segment you haven’t sent to in years? Fix that problem, and the spam traps won’t be an issue.
Skipped to the Bottom? Here’s the big speech…
Email validation is not a strategy. It’s a tool that should be used sparingly and with intention.
DO: Use it to catch typos, protect against fake signups, or when merging data from multiple sources.
DON'T: Use it to fix permission issues, solve low engagement, or “clean” a purchased list.
If you’re constantly needing to “clean” your list, something is broken in your list collection, permission practices, or email strategy. Go fix that first.
My blogs on what to do when you suspect a deliverability issue and the power of permission in email marketing (and how to get it!) can help.
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