Overview
If you've used an email verification tool like Neverbounce, Zerobounce, Briteverify, or other similar tools, you may wonder why they sometimes flag Apollo verified emails as unverifiable.
Here's why: Most third-party tools use a method called SMTP tickling.
Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) is a Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) for sending messages. Most email verification tools leverage SMTP tickling to ask an email service if an email exists, thereby verifying its validity before you send any messages to it.
Apollo also uses the SMTP methodology: this is the very first verifier we built when we started the company. But over the years Apollo has become much more advanced, and is now also backed by a big a data contributory network. One third-party tool may mark an email as "risky" or "catch-all" and say they are unable to verify it. But Apollo also knows whether this email sent out any traffic in the past, thanks to millions of linked mailboxes in our network.
Apollo’s verifier is a lot more powerful.
SMTP tickling can't differentiate between valid and invalid emails from a catch-all domain. Therefore, this method can't confirm if the email address does exist and will link you to the right person, or if your messages will land in a default inbox that no one ever sees.
Catch-all domains can still lead you to qualified contacts. However, with most third-party verification tools it's very difficult to guarantee if an email is worth the time or not. No one wants to gamble with their domain reputation. Hence the dilemma: include these emails in your email outreach and you put your domain at risk. Leave them out and you risk losing a chunk of potentially qualified leads.
Unless you use Apollo. Apollo does things differently.
What Apollo Does Differently
Apollo has a built-in email verification process with a 91% accuracy rate that doesn't rely solely on SMTP tickling to validate emails. Apollo's 7-step email verification process can differentiate between valid and invalid emails from catch-all domains. This means that when you send an email to an Apollo verified contact with a catch-all domain, your email will land in the right inbox.
So what makes Apollo different from other verification tools? To maintain the highest level of data consistency and accuracy, Apollo uses a 7-step email verification process that takes advantage of Apollo's large datasets. Backed by a huge contributory network, Apollo has access to data points most other vendors do not.
Apollo Datasets
Apollo collects and verifies data against multiple data sources to identify the best source of truth. Data sources include, but aren't limited to:
- The Apollo data contributor network
- Public data crawling
- Carefully vetted third-party data providers
By running checks against our large datasets, Apollo effectively verifies emails in real-time, handles catch-all domains, predicts email bounces, and automatically cleans emails. Third-party email verification tools can't leverage such insights to gain the same level of accuracy and granularity when verifying emails — especially when they're from catch-all domains.
The 7-Step Apollo Process
Apollo goes one step further than most verification tools to confirm that an account may or may not exist.
People email prospects daily using Apollo to find and contact qualified leads and track the deliverability and success of their sequences. This means that Apollo doesn't just use advanced technologies to run syntax, domain, and email checks to determine the validity of each email. Apollo also leverages its insightful data to check and confirm if a real person is actively using an email. Within the 7-step email verification process, Apollo can check and validate emails against Apollo-connected inboxes, CRMs, and CSV uploads, track email delivery statistics, and monitor email bounce-rates.
For example, Apollo can see email traffic from catch-all domains and hence verify emails in those domains when other vendors cannot. Apollo can also detect one email bounce, propagate that information to all customers in its network, and automatically refund the credit. Those validation methods are not accessible to other third party vendors.
Therefore, when you request and spend 1 credit on a verified email in Apollo, you can be sure of 2 important points:
- Apollo can provide greater email coverage for contacts vs. third-party email verification services because we don't eliminate a valid email just because it belongs to a catch-all domain. You can choose whether to include catch-alls in your prospecting results using the email status filter.
- Apollo has gathered ample evidence that the email does exist and will reach an actual person's inbox.
For more information on how credits work, check out What Are Credits?.
Follow Email Best Practices
It's time to address the elephant in the room: sending messages to verified emails is essential, but it's only one part of the solution. Several factors impact your bounce rate, including low open rates and recipients flagging your emails as spam.
If you want to make sure you're doing everything you can to keep your domain healthy and improve your deliverability rates when sending emails through Apollo, feast your eyes on these resources:
- Chapter 7 of our book: Outbound Sales
- How to Improve Email Deliverability with Apollo
- Avoid Spam Filters
- Why Do I See Such a High Bounce Rate for Emails from Apollo?
Check out frequently asked questions about email verification on Apollo.
FAQs
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Frequently asked questions |
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| What does catch-all mean? | Why do some third-party tools flag Apollo-verified emails as unverifiable? | Do I need a third-party email verification tool to verify my Apollo emails? |
| How do I keep my domain healthy? | What does a 91% accuracy rate really mean? | |
What does catch-all mean?
A catch-all email server is set up to accept every email sent to that domain, even if the email address doesn't exist.
Here's an example of how unverified catch-all emails can be problematic for your campaigns:
| Domain Name | Existing Email Addresses from Example Domain | Catch-All Inbox | Invalid Email Address |
|---|---|---|---|
| exampledomain.com | bob@exampledomain.com, jane@exampledomain.com, craig@exampledomain.com, tim@exampledomain.com | info@exampledomain.com | terry@exampledomain.com |
Imagine you have an email for Terry at Example Corp. His email is terry@exampledomain.com. However, Terry stopped working at Example Corp 1 month ago and the company is yet to replace him. Example Corp has 4 existing employee email addresses, plus 1 catch-all email address. This means that even though Terry left the company and his email address is no longer valid, the message you send to terry@exampledomain.com will still land in the catch-all info@exampledomain.com inbox.
With the rise in spammers taking advantage of catch-all email domains, only some companies still dedicate resources to keep on top of reviewing the emails in their catch-all inboxes. If you send a message to an invalid email from a catch-all domain and your message lands in an inbox that no one checks regularly, it's unlikely anyone will see it. It's even less likely the specific person you are trying to reach will open or read it. This can lead to lower open rates, and over time, can affect your domain reputation.
However, many companies have a catch-all email server because they want important emails to reach a company inbox, despite sender errors. So let's say Terry never left the company and his email does still exist. If you don't email him, you'll miss out on a potential deal just because his email address belongs to a catch-all domain.
Luckily, Apollo can distinguish between valid and invalid emails from catch-all domains. Refer to the What Apollo Does Differently section above for more info.
When you prospect on Apollo, you can use the email status filter to choose whether to include catch-all email addresses in your search.
Why do some third-party tools flag Apollo-verified emails as unverifiable?
Apollo can collect and verify data against multiple data sources that third-party verification tools can't. We don't solely rely on SMTP tickling to verify if a mailbox exists, which means we can distinguish between valid and invalid emails from catch-all domains when other verification tools can't. As a result, many third-party tools flag valid, Apollo-verified emails as unverifiable because they belong to a catch-all domain.
Do I need a third-party email verification tool to verify my Apollo emails?
You don't need a third-party verification tool. Apollo has an advanced, built-in, 7-step verification process with a 91% accuracy rate.
Providing accurate data and verifying emails is integral to the success of all Apollo users, and we are committed to your success.
How do I keep my domain healthy?
Start by watching and implementing the tips from the webinar below into your outreach strategy. In this video, you'll learn fundamental steps to increase email deliverability, keep your domain safe, and avoid the dreaded spam folder.
What does a 91% accuracy rate really mean?
If you send an email to an Apollo-verified contact within 30 days of requesting the details and the email bounces, Apollo refunds your email credit. For more information, check out Email Status Overview.
Apollo verified emails have an accuracy rate of 91%. Although it may be impossible to eradicate invalid emails entirely from your prospecting workflow, many factors contribute to Apollo's 9% bounce rate. Due to our thorough, tried-and-tested verification process, invalid emails make up a very small portion of that percentage. Other factors include:
- If the recipient has configured their email settings to block incoming emails
- If the recipient's mailbox is full
- If the recipient's server is temporarily unresponsive
- If you have a negative email domain reputation.
To keep track of your sequences in Apollo, leverage email analytics to monitor email performance and run A/B tests to keep improving your reply rates. Use inbox ramp-up to ensure your mailbox is prepped for emails, and include an unsubscribe link to avoid landing in spam. You can also take advantage of sequence diagnostics to pinpoint any issues with your domain.
Check out Sam McKenna's master class How to Write Cold Emails Anyone Will Respond To to crack the cold email code and book more meetings.