What Percentage of Small Business Contacts Remain Valid After 12 Months? | InfoGlobalData

Practical Takeaways for B2B Marketers

1. Treat 23% as a warning benchmark, not a guaranteed small-business rate

ZeroBounce's 2026 research provides strong evidence that email data can degrade substantially within 12 months, but it does not isolate SMB contacts. Use it as a planning benchmark rather than a claim about every small-business database. (ZeroBounce)

2. Verify before important campaigns

Don't assume that a record is still deliverable because it was accurate six or 12 months ago.

3. Track company and contact changes separately

A valid email address attached to the wrong decision-maker is still poor prospecting data.

4. Build refresh cycles into your workflow

Quarterly reviews—or more frequent verification for active outbound campaigns—reduce the risk of relying on stale information.

5. Measure your own decay rate

A 12-month cohort study can reveal whether your audience decays faster or slower than broad market benchmarks.