ENTRY #002

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It's Thursday afternoon, I'm feeling pretty confident about the campaign I'd just launched.

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I'd done everything by the book - found emails, ran them through verification and cleaned the list.

I was basically patting myself on the back for being so thorough.

Then I get an email from Instantly with this message:

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Your campaign has been paused due to a high bounce rate.
Please check the campaign and make necessary adjustments.

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My stomach dropped.

Here I was, thinking I'd outsmarted the system, only to learn that even "verified" emails can still wreck your sender reputation.

It's like getting a clean bill of health from your doctor, then immediately catching the flu on your way out of the clinic.

But the truth is that no data is ever 100% perfect.

There's always going to be some level of inaccuracy that catches you off guard.

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After the initial panic subsided, I did what any reasonable person would do

No, it wasn’t resuming the campaign because I had verified the emails and so nothing could be wrong.

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I paused everything, checked my inbox health (thankfully it was still okay), and manually removed every lead that had bounced.

Crisis averted.

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The Bigger Problem I Keep Seeing

This whole experience made me think about something that drives me crazy:

The number of people I see who just grab emails straight from Apollo, throw them into a campaign, and hit send.

No verification. No quality checks. Nothing.

It's like driving blindfolded and hoping for the best.

I've watched too many good reps completely torch their inboxes in just two campaigns because they skipped this crucial step. Don't be that person.

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Here's What You Should Do Before Adding Any Email To A Campaign

Verify it. Period.

These tools have saved my reputation more times than I can count:

• Prospeo
• Lead Magic
• Zero Bounce
• Million Verifier
• Debounce

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But here's where it gets tricky: understanding what those verification results mean:

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A) Valid/Deliverable = Green Light

The email exists, the mailbox works, and you're good to go.

This is your bread and butter.

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B) Invalid/Undeliverable = Hard No

Don't even think about it.

These will bounce and hurt your sender reputation faster than you can say "spam folder."

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C) Valid_Catch_All = Proceed with Caution

This one's tricky. The domain accepts everything (even fake emails), so you can't really tell if the specific address is real.

I’ll treat these like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're gonna get.

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D) Risky = Your Call

Higher chance of bouncing, but not guaranteed.

It could be a full mailbox, server issues, or just a finicky setup.

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The Game-Changer People Should Explore More Often

1) Run your emails through TWO different verification tools before sending.

Think of it like getting a second medical opinion before surgery.

Tool #1 says "Valid"? Great. Tool #2 confirms it? Now we're talking.

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2) Maintain a reasonable sending limit

Send 15-30 emails/day per inbox.

Send emails at 10-30 minute intervals

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These two approaches are what will save your inbox from getting burned, even if the data is not 100% accurate, because you will spot issues early on and be able to fix them promptly

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What I Wish Someone Had Told Me Earlier

Email verification isn't a magic bullet, it's damage control.

Even with the best tools and cleanest lists, you're still going to see some bounces.

The goal isn't perfection; it's minimizing risk while maximizing deliverability.

The difference between successful outreach and burned inboxes often comes down to this one step that takes a couple of minutes but saves you weeks of reputation recovery.

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Until the next entry, stay curious and keep building.
​Natasha | GTME in the wild