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

Capture:

• Company size
• Industry
• Job function
• Geography
• Email type
• Date last verified

Step 3: Recheck periodically

Repeat verification after:

• 3 months
• 6 months
• 9 months
• 12 months

Step 4: Separate types of decay

Do not combine everything into one number. Track:

• Invalid email
• Catch-all
• Changed company
• Changed role
• Closed company
• Duplicate
• Unsubscribed
• Still valid

Step 5: Calculate cohort decay

If 1,000 initially verified records produce 760 records that still meet the same quality criteria after 12 months, the observed annual decay for that cohort is 24%.

That is a much stronger finding than simply assuming that the industry-wide 23% benchmark applies to the company's audience.