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Understanding Lead Validation Categories

Updated this week

When running outbound campaigns, the quality of your leads directly impacts delivery rates, sender reputation, and response rates. That’s why it’s important to understand how leads are categorized by email verification status, and how to use those categories to decide who to include in your outreach.

This guide explains each validation category you’ll encounter in the Lists view and how to apply this insight when importing leads into a campaign sequence.

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Overview Lead Validation Statuses

When you upload or generate leads, each email undergoes a verification process. Based on the result, your leads are assigned one of the following statuses:

Status

What It Means

All

Shows leads of every status type.

Deliverable

Email is valid and active. Safe to use in campaigns.

Risky

Email is technically valid, but may result in issues. It may belong to a full inbox, a disposable email provider, a spam trap, or a catch-all domain. It can also be affected by company-level IT policies that block external communication. Proceed with caution.

Unknown

The server didn’t confirm validity (e.g., catch-all domains or greylisting).

Unverified

Email hasn’t been validated yet. Run a check to classify it.

Each status helps you make smart decisions when importing leads into sequences.

Using Validated Leads in Campaign Sequences

During sequence creation, you’ll choose which lead types to import. Here’s how to handle each:

  • Deliverable → Include confidently, as they are fully verified and active.

  • Risky → Use with caution, but monitor bounce rates closely.

  • Unknown → Best used when targeting a smaller pool or requiring broader outreach.

  • Unverified → Avoid using these leads until verified.

For more information, refer to the Campaign Sequence Setup document, which explains the process of selecting lead validation categories while setting up your campaigns.

Preparing for a Successful Campaign Launch

Before launching your campaign:

  • Ensure you've filtered out invalid or unverified leads.

  • Start with Deliverable-only campaigns for higher success rates and to protect your sender reputation.

  • Gradually include Risky or Unknown leads as needed, while closely monitoring email performance.

For more information, refer to How to Launch a Campaign, which provides essential tips on managing and monitoring campaign results once it is live.

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