Executive Email Overview

Purchasing or renting an email list can be stressful. There are many low-quality lists on the market that have been compiled through questionable or unethical methods. Using these lists can get your mail server blocked, lead to account restrictions, and damage your company's reputation. Our goal is to be fully transparent about how we obtain, verify, and maintain executive email addresses, as well as the results you should realistically expect. While it is impossible to guarantee 100% accuracy or deliverability for any executive email database, we go above and beyond the typical data provider to deliver the most accurate, reliable, and stress-free experience possible.

How do you obtain email addresses for the executives in your database?

We utilize a variety of research and verification methods, including live research calls, online profile updates, updates submitted by email, customer submissions, and reviews of publicly available sources such as company websites, brochures, business and SEC filings, press releases, domain registrations, social media profiles, and more. We also work with multiple highly reputable third-party services to research and verify email addresses for contacts employed at specific companies.

How often are email addresses verified for deliverability?

Executive email addresses are verified at least once annually by the companies listed in our database and four times annually, every 3 months, through two highly reputable third-party email verification services — the same services used by Fortune 500 companies.

How are email addresses verified for deliverability?

Our verification process includes company-level verification, third-party email verification, and ongoing database maintenance. Invalid emails discovered at any phase of the process are immediately removed from our database. Though no verification process is perfect, this multi-step approach helps us maintain a deliverability rate that far exceeds typical industry averages and many other well-known data providers.

Can you guarantee deliverability?

Bounce rates can fluctuate based on many factors, including a temporarily full or offline mailbox, the reputation of your mail server, the volume and speed of email being sent, and the content of your email and subject line, which can impact spam filters and blocklists. Some ISPs, such as AOL, Yahoo, Gmail, and Verizon, may also bounce or reject email when too much email is sent at once or sent too quickly, making an otherwise deliverable email address appear invalid. In addition, executives in our database change at an average rate of 3% per month. This means that a meaningful percentage of executives may change jobs between quarterly verification cycles, in addition to company mergers, acquisitions, closures, and name changes. Considering all these factors, it is impossible to guarantee 100% deliverability. Since our data is updated in real time, active subscribers are welcome to re-download the data regularly at no additional cost to ensure they are working with the latest available information.

Are the executive email addresses in your database opt-in?

Executives in our database have not "opted in" to receive email from you, nor have they undergone any sort of "opt out" processing on your behalf. Any emails you send should be considered unsolicited. However, unsolicited business email is permissible under the CAN-SPAM Act as long as you comply with its requirements. This includes providing a clear method for recipients to opt out of future email. There are other provisions of the CAN-SPAM Act that we recommend you familiarize yourself with, as well as any applicable state, local, or international laws that may apply to your outreach.

How can I send out bulk email?

If you are sending one-to-one emails, you can typically use your existing business or personal email account without issue. This is a common approach for targeted outreach and does not require any special setup. If you are planning to send email campaigns or higher-volume outreach, the setup is different. If you have your own corporate email or SMTP server, you may already have what you need, but you should confirm that your email system is properly configured to support higher-volume sending. Most email service providers, including Constant Contact, Mailchimp, SendGrid, and even CRMs like HubSpot and Salesforce, prohibit the use of purchased or rented email lists. These platforms are generally designed for communicating with existing customers and prospects who have an established relationship with your business. Uploading third-party lists may result in account restrictions or suspension. To address this, we have researched and identified select email service providers that do allow the use of third-party business contact data. We recommend using services like these for initial outreach. As prospects engage by replying, visiting your website, calling, or otherwise showing interest, they can then be added to your CRM or ongoing email marketing database.