We've talked about the impact of unknown addresses in the past. Unknown addresses can have a big impact on your deliverability, both short and long term.

High numbers of unknown addresses can occur when:

* You're first importing your list. We expect to see this to some degree, but generally recommend warming up with the most active leads first, which would reduce the instance of unknown addresses to virtually zero.

* You've accidentally sent a broadcast to an old list. This will almost guarantee that you wind up with blocks from one or more ISPs if the number is substantial enough. (Aim to keep unknown addresses as low as possible, under 3% of your total send at the most).

* Importing new leads.

* Not performing proper list hygiene. It's a good idea to make sure that the weekly reports are being removed from your list - and not being reimported in.

Ultimately, once your initial warm up is complete, and your list is growing organically, you should see a steady decline in the percentage of bad addresses. If not, it is cause to review your list management practices.

Not only can it cause an instant impact when the unknown addresses are mailed, but it can cause long term deliverability effects if not resolved quickly.

For over a decade Heather Seitz used email marketing to build successful companies and had to solve the biggest barrier to consistent profitability: deliverability. Today she is the Co-Founder and CEO of Email Delivered.

To know more about unknown addresses, visit http://www.emaildelivered.com/unknown-addresses/. Remember to sign up for the FREE Email Delivered Pulse newsletter for articles, tips, and recommended resources for email marketers.

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