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

2. Can I say that 77% of my contacts will remain valid after 12 months?

No. The 23% figure should not automatically be converted into a 77% validity guarantee. ZeroBounce's measurement covers email-list decay across businesses and industries, and the study's decay categories should not be treated as identical to a fresh deliverability verification.

3. Why does a Small Businesses Email List become outdated?

Common causes include employee job changes, business closures, company restructuring, domain changes, abandoned mailboxes, and other changes in professional contact information. Company-level changes can also make an otherwise deliverable contact commercially irrelevant.

4. How often should a Small Businesses Mailing List be verified?

For frequently used outbound lists, monthly or quarterly verification can be appropriate. At minimum, marketers should consider verifying records immediately before major campaigns rather than relying solely on the date when the list was originally purchased or created.

5. Does email-list decay affect deliverability?

It can. Invalid and risky addresses can produce bounces and contribute to poor sending signals, while outdated contacts also waste campaign volume. Validity's 2026 deliverability research emphasizes that maintaining strong inbox placement requires continuous attention as mailbox-provider requirements evolve. (Validity)

6. What is the difference between an invalid contact and an outdated contact?

An invalid contact generally refers to an email address that cannot successfully receive mail. An outdated contact can be broader: the email may technically work, but the person may have changed roles, left the company, or no longer be the appropriate decision-maker.

7. How can companies measure their own contact-data decay?

Start with a verified cohort, record its quality attributes, and recheck the same contacts at three-, six-, nine-, and 12-month intervals. Separating email validity, company status, job title, and other fields will reveal which parts of the database deteriorate fastest.