A dummy email may be useful for keeping the user anonymous and avoiding spam in the inbox, but it is a hindrance to strategies that use email as a communication channel.

Successful email marketing campaigns start with building healthy email lists, made up of addresses of people who have shown an interest in your brand/company’s content.

Dummy emails don’t help email lists, on the contrary. By joining lists, it damages the reputation of senders, while at the same time wasting investments in email marketing.

In this article, we’ll look at the many reasons why this type of email doesn’t convert. Let’s start by understanding the particularities of a dummy email.

The main type of dummy email

The best-known dummy email is one that is only valid for a few minutes or hours.

Once the validity expires, the dummy email and all the messages it receives automatically disappear.

Most dummy email services are free, and the platforms do not require users to enter any personal data. Here are more details on some of the existing services for those who want to create this type of email.

Other types of dummy email

In addition to the more common dummy email with a short lifespan, there are other types designed to last longer, but which can be deactivated at any time, depending on the configuration created by the user.

These emails can then become invalid due to action by the account owner (deactivation) or abandonment (inactivity or lack of engagement).

See below for other types of dummy email:

Alias

It’s a secondary email address that redirects messages to the main address’s inbox. It sends only the messages that matter to the user’s inbox, thus avoiding unwanted emails.

The problem with Alias is that it is a background address. This increases the chances of it becoming inactive or being deactivated.

Conta de redirecionamento

Similar to Alias, but created from a different domain to the user’s main email account. The forwarding account is used to forward emails to the main address.

As with Alias, a forwarding account can be deactivated at any time by user action.

Polluted lists and sender reputation

When disposable email expires, it generates hard bounces, which pollute mailing lists and damage the sender’s reputation.

The spam filters of the recipients’ providers classify domains and IPs associated with dummy email as unreliable, resulting in campaigns being blocked. It’s worth remembering that only 3% of bounces are enough to trigger blocks.

The waste caused by a blocked list

Email marketing campaigns require time and resources. Sending dummy email addresses can waste these resources, because when they become invalid addresses, the messages won’t reach the recipients. This not only affects the delivery rate, but also the costs associated with sending emails that will never be opened or read.

How to avoid dummy email on lists

The first step to preventing dummy emails from entering your lists is to build them correctly, i.e. with addresses of users who are interested in receiving your email communication.

This happens by creating registration forms, which act as rich content tools designed to attract prospects. This is what we call the top of the funnel in digital marketing.

Despite all the ethical and legal recommendations, there are senders who insist on buying or exchanging email lists.

However, those who use these procedures to build lists can be included on international blacklists, as well as being legally liable for breaches of the LGPD or other data protection laws.

Let’s take a look at how to build lists correctly, avoiding dummy emails.

The importance of opt-in

When users access your content, they need to give you their email address. This is the opt-in, i.e. the permission that tells the provider that you are not a spammer, but an authorized sender.

For example: a CTA such as “Subscribe to our newsletter and receive exclusive content” already translates the necessary authorization that differentiates an email marketing sender from a spammer.

In this way, you build a list of prospects who will be contacted immediately after signing up, with a follow-up email. The intention is to turn this prospect into a lead and thus create a lasting relationship with them all the way down the funnel.

However, typos are very common in forms, especially when they are typed in on smartphones. Entering a dummy email address is also a recurrence, as many users prefer to avoid a relationship with the source of content that interests them.

SafetyMails’ real-time verification API checks the syntax of emails, detects provisional emails, rectifies the most common domains typed with errors (e.g. Gamil instead of Gmail), preventing emails with errors from entering the lists. This way, your email marketing can achieve the best deliverability rates.

Dummy emails does not convert: conclusion

Anyone who works with email marketing knows what a headache dummy emails can be. As well as providing incorrect data on campaign performance, they hit senders hard and can lead to campaigns being blocked.

Not only does a dummy email fail to convert, it is also very detrimental to investments in email communication, both for e-commerce and for conversion campaigns. Clean up your lists and get away from dummy email!

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