How to validate email lists for BDR

Stop chasing bounce rates: ZeroBounce API + n8n = 97% deliverability Most teams play defense with deliverability: Warming inboxes. Buying “verified” lists. Hoping the bounce rate stays low. But hope isn’t a strategy. We flipped it into an automated, pre-send validation system that gives us 97% deliverability without manual checks. Here’s the simple 3-step stack we use 👇 1) Webhook Trigger (n8n) Every new lead or uploaded CSV triggers an n8n workflow before it enters any outbound sequence. No SDR has to touch a file. 2) ZeroBounce Email Validation API The workflow calls ZeroBounce’s API: ▪️Verifies email validity (deliverable / undeliverable / risky) ▪️Detects abuse, spam traps, disposable domains ▪️Returns clean metadata on each contact Invalids? Dropped automatically. Risky? Routed to a re-engagement list. 3) Auto-Sync Clean Leads Clean contacts are sent straight to Smartlead / Instantly.ai / HubSpot. Invalid contacts never hit a campaign. Bounce rate? Practically zero. Why This Works ▪️SDRs never waste time manually scrubbing lists ▪️Bounce-induced domain penalties disappear ▪️Sequences launch faster and safer ▪️Our sender reputation keeps improving month over month The results: ▪️97%+ deliverability across campaigns ▪️Domain warm-up time cut in half ▪️Reply rates improved by 18% (when your email lands, people reply) If you’re still playing catch-up with bounces, let the system handle it for you. We’ve packaged our n8n + ZeroBounce workflow JSON with setup docs. 👉 Comment “DELIVER” and I’ll share it.

Imagine sending highly targeted Cold Emails... only for them to bounce or land in spam. Frustrating, right? That’s why cleaning your email list is critical for Outbound success in 2025. Here’s why it matters and how you can do it right. 1️⃣ Protect your sender reputation Each bounce damages your sender reputation. Bad reputation = more emails landing in spam. 💡 Example: If your bounce rate exceeds 2-3%, email providers may start flagging all your messages as spam. 2️⃣ Improve deliverability A clean list ensures your emails reach active inboxes. The result? Higher open rates and better engagement. 3️⃣ Boost campaign performance Better leads means fewer bounces, which increases campaign ROI and $ generated. Here’s how you can clean your list: 🟡 Use email validation tools like ZeroBounce, NeverBounce by ZoomInfo, DeBounce, Clearout, LeadMagic ⚡️ Pro Tip: Validate your lists with 2+ providers to remove unverifiable accounts and maintain high deliverability. 🟣 Create an Email validation workflow Step 1: Run all new leads through a tool like NeverBounce before adding them to your list. Step 2: Segment contacts by email provider. Reaching out to Google inboxes first, then Microsoft ones, will help maximize campaign performance. Step 3: People change jobs often. Regularly validate your lists before the next campaign to remove any inactive or bounced emails. Remember: Clean list = good campaign performance. 🔝 Let’s keep yours thriving in 2025. 💰 💬 What tools do you use for Cold Email validation? Share your favorite ones in the comments. PS: I’m co-hosting a super-cool webinar with Tal Baker-Phillips from lemlist on Unlocking Cold Email Deliverability in 2025 and it’s happening on December 17th! DM me if you want an invite. 😊

If you're not using validated catch-alls, your cold emails are taking a 20% performance hit. Most people know to avoid email bounces. It's what happens when your recipient's address doesn't exist. And it hurts your long-term deliverability. So most people use a tool like DeBounce, LeadMagic, or MillionVerifier. And they're great. But there are three possible outputs from these tools: -Valid (aka Safe to send) -Catch-all (aka Risky) -Invalid And I've found that most of my lists contain 20-50% catch alls, where 30-50% of those could be valid. How do I know which are valid? By using a specialized catch-all email verification tool. Some of these tools take 2-3 days to give a result. But you can do this instantly with BounceBan (Verify risky emails without sending messages). Here is how to use it in Clay: Step 1️⃣: First verify the email with another tool. Step 2️⃣: Then add a HTTP API enrichment. Step 3️⃣: Select GET as the method. Step 4️⃣: Input the endpoint shown in the video. Step 5️⃣: Add a query string called "email" and add the email column as the value. Step 6️⃣ : Add a header called "Authorization" and your API key as the value. Step 7️⃣ : Setup a conditional formula so it only runs on catch-all (or risky) emails. Step 8️⃣ : Export the result column to filter out undeliverables. When people say "double-verified" lists, this is what they mean. Enjoy your <2% bounce rates! 💪 Anything missing from this workflow?👇