In this article, we talk about email verification. Why do you need it? How can emails help you in this process? How do you make your verification emails effective? As well as answering these questions, we provide samples of verification email design to inspire you.
No marketer will be satisfied to see that their emails are not being delivered to inboxes. According to statistics, the average bounce rate in email marketing has approached 1.26%, which is not good. Among the causes of this are the disposable emails or fake email addresses that recipients use when registering for various reasons (e.g., security, distrust of the site, or a simple typo).
Verification emails are the main tool that allows you to filter out such emails and keep your overall email marketing healthy and your email deliverability high. Email deliverability is one of the main indicators of your newsletter's success, and when your emails bounce back from invalid addresses on your list, your deliverability drastically goes down.
In this article, we dive into email verification and how newsletters can help verify email addresses. In addition, we show you several examples of verification emails so that you can create your own emails and keep them at your disposal.
(Source: Email from Activision)
What is a verification email?
Let's start with the fact that email verification is a process that helps check if there is a real potential subscriber on the receiving end of the address. The verification email is just a tool. It consists of sending a link or an activation code to an email address, which the recipient must activate from their inbox.
(Source: Email from Mailgun)
When we were deciding on the final form of our verification emails, we went for the simplest option: just click the link. No code to type, no fuss since our main goal at Maildroppa is making sign-up process frictionless.
In general, the email verification process starts when recipients fill in sign-up forms. It can be broken down into several stages:
- The subscriber enters their email when registering.
- The website performs a basic check for the presence of the @ symbol and domain and the absence of invalid characters. Without this, you won't even be able to send a verification email.
- The system (which you must create on your server side) then generates a code/link that will be needed for activation.
- After that, a verification email with this code is created and sent to the specified address (the recipient's inbox).
- The recipient clicks on the link / enters the received code on the website, thereby confirming their email.
Important note: Email verification can be carried out not only for subscriber registration but also for regular checks of emails already existing in the database.
Verification emails are a standard part of our sign-up process at Emailable. Their primary purpose is to confirm that the user signing up has provided a valid email address and to reduce fraudulent sign-ups, spam, and potential abuse. Even though these emails are more about technical aspects and our security, we're monitoring their metrics closely and the average figures are like this:
- Open Rate (OR): 80-95%, since verification emails tend to have high open rates because they are expected and necessary for access;
- Click-Through Rate (CTR): 75-90% since the email requires action, most engaged users complete the process;
- Drop-off rate: 5-20% of users abandon the process after receiving the email, often due to mistyped addresses, email filtering issues, or simply losing interest.
Why do marketers need verification emails?
Let's talk about why you need an email verification process in your business in general and verification emails in particular.
Keeps your email list fresh
The emails that you have been collecting in your list for so long eventually become outdated, invalid, etc. There is no escape from this, and the fact remains that about 28% of an email list becomes outdated within a year. Verification emails help keep the database clean by detecting invalid email addresses and cleaning them from the database, as well as proving that a particular email address exists.
(Source Email from Bolt)
Reduces hard bounce rate
In simple terms, a hard bounce is an email that is returned to the sender because the recipient does not exist due to the email address being invalid. The more invalid addresses that you encounter, the higher the overall bounce rate for your domain. When your bounce rate increases, your sender reputation issued by internet service providers decreases.
Once it crosses the critical mark, your account gets blacklisted, which will make it much more difficult to run email campaigns in the future, as your emails will mostly end up in the spam folder. Email verification helps detect such addresses at the registration stage, guarding both your email list and the sender's reputation.
(Source: Email from Discord)
Improves email deliverability
After email verification, all your marketing campaign emails will be accurately sent to only valid addresses that are able to receive emails. This approach maintains email deliverability at a high level.
Verification email samples for inspiration
We have prepared several basic sample texts that you can use in your emails. You can take them, customize them, and become inspired to create your own email masterpiece.
Email verification sample 1
Subject line: Welcome to [Website / platform / product name]! Verify your email.
Hey [Recipient's name],
We're thrilled to have you on board! Before you start exploring, please verify your email by clicking the button below:
[Verification button]
Let's get started! 🚀
Email verification sample 2
Subject line: Verify your email before your access expires.
Greetings [Recipient's name],
To complete your registration on [Website / platform / product name], please verify your email. Your verification link will expire in 24 hours.
[Verification link]
If you didn't create this account, you can safely ignore this email.
Email verification sample 3
Subject line: Secure your [Website / platform / product name] account—verify your email.
Hello [Recipient's name],
For security purposes, we need you to confirm your email before you can access your account.
Please enter this code on the verification page to complete your registration and secure your account.
[Verification code]
If you didn't request this, no action is required.
Email verification sample 4
Subject line: One last step, [Recipient's name]! Verify your email.
Hi [Recipient's name],
You're almost there! There's just one quick step left: verify your email to unlock full access to [Website / platform / product name].
[Verification button]
If you didn't sign up, please ignore this email.
Email verification sample 5
Subject line: Welcome! Let's get you started.
Hi [Recipient's name],
Thank you for joining [Website / platform / product name]! You need to verify your email so that you can start using all our features.
[Verification button]
We can't wait to see what you create!
One big no-no is for verification emails is letting them land in the spam folder. Avoid a noreply address, keep it concise, and watch your wording. Also, be mindful of file size — less is more. It seems basic, but building the perfect verification message can be tricky, so using pre-built templates is a great way to create an email in no time without headaches.
Stripo has a library of more than 1550 pre-built email templates and verification ones are on this list. Check out them to gain inspiration or use them for your brand security purposes.
Tips for creating perfect verification emails
Let's inspire you further with some tips on creating emails to check valid email addresses so that your next emails go to the intended recipient base.
Keep it simple
Since such emails are more technical and are needed to complete the registration process or verify an email address, it is difficult to create an elaborate newsletter out of them. When creating an email, try to make it as simple as possible. There is no need to overcomplicate the design, create long copy, add complex animations, or incorporate other elements that are more inherent in marketing newsletters.
The best way to make confirmation emails right is to keep them short and sweet. It’s really just about verifying the address. A bit of branding is fine, but no need for your life story. And remember to stick to best practices for compliance, like avoiding spammy keywords and including clear sender info.
(Source: Email from Electronic Arts)
When we were developing our verification email design, we tested multiple approaches and ultimately settled on verification via a single-click link for several reasons. Simple emails like that reduce friction compared to verification emails with manual code entry. Besides that, they work across all devices easily, and it’s a vital aspect since users are often using mobile devices to sign up. Another thing to consider is that single-click email minimizes user error, as people sometimes mistype codes when copying or pasting them.
Work on clear CTAs
Technical emails aimed at interacting with the recipient should be as clear as possible. Despite the simplicity of the recipient's required actions for email verification, some recipients may still have difficulties. Clear and distinct CTAs for such emails form the basis of the basics. All calls to "Enter a code," "Click this link," etc., should be bright and attract attention. In addition, it is worth adding an explanation of what clicking the button will lead to in order to ensure maximum transparency.
(Source: Email from Frontier)
To make your verification email effective and good-looking, there are several rules you should adhere to. Keep its design clean and simple. There’s no need to make a cluttered verification email. Your design should be minimalistic with a clear CTA. Besides that, use a large, prominent button for verification to grab recipients’ attention right away. Last but not least, ensure mobile responsiveness, as many sign-ups happen on mobile.
Add a sense of urgency
To spur hesitant recipients to carry out email verification, you can use the FOMO approach. It is enough to simply indicate that your confirmation link or activation code will expire in 24 hours or something like that. However, if your email verification system involves temporary links and codes, it is mandatory to indicate this in the email. This will save recipients from confusion and your customer support department from additional questions about invalid codes.
Setting an expiration date for links is an important part of any email verification. Not only does it further encourage the recipient to complete the sign-up process, but it also prevents abuse of old links. But keep in mind that everything needs a balance. Even though your link has an expiration date, you need to indicate this in the email in the right tone and with the right words. Using overly spammy wording is not a wise choice, as some of them can trigger spam filters like “urgent,” “free,” and so on. Besides that, try to avoid using excessive punctuation. A simple “This link expires in 24 hours" with a friendly and reassuring copy tone before that will help you build trust and get the job done.
Provide the benefits of email verification
Another way to increase the effectiveness of your verification emails is to mention some benefits for those who verify their email addresses. In return for email verification, you can provide small promo codes for discounts, an extra day of subscription, in-product benefits, and so on. All of these can encourage recipients to interact with your emails.
(Source: Email from Neocore)
Adopt an email verification service
You can also make your job easier by adopting an email validation service. As you can see, among some marketers and communities, email validation tools are called email verification tools. They are solely dedicated to the validation part of the email verification process, making the life of email marketers easier.
But what should you look for in your email verification API? We advise you to pay attention to these must-have email verifier features:
- real-time email verification and list cleaning;
- bulk email verification for verifying extensive amounts of emails in one go;
- domain search for seeing all the email addresses associated with a domain.
- deliverability features for improving your email deliverability would be a plus.
These features in the email checker of your choice will cover the basic needs for protecting your sender's reputation from invalid addresses. To make your search even easier, we have prepared a special review in which we looked into each popular verification tool, discovered its pros and cons, and gave them our honest verdict so that you can pick the right tool for your needs.
Wrapping up
Guarding your domain from invalid addresses is not an option; it's an obligation if you don't want your email marketing efforts to go to waste. Each disposable email address that you miss and that causes your emails to bounce damages your sender reputation. Email verification is the tool you need to filter out these invalid addresses at the registration stage and to clear them from your list on a regular basis. Your domain health issued by email service providers, as well as your entire email marketing performance, depends on this.
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