Posted by A venture-backed SaaS startup in Denver, Colorado, had a problem most early-stage companies would envy. Thousands of users were signing up for its free trial every month.
But there was a catch.
While marketing was generating volume, product teams noticed something strange. Users weren’t logging in. Trial engagement was weak. Emails weren’t getting opened. And most importantly, very few of those trial users converted into paying customers.
This case study shows how the team uncovered the real problem, a growing list of invalid, disposable, and fake email addresses, and how implementing real-time email verification with myEmailVerifier led to an 18% increase in trial-to-paid conversions within 60 days.
The Challenge: Fake Emails, Wasted Campaigns, and Missed Revenue
The startup was built around a self-service SaaS model. Its growth strategy focused on acquiring users through content marketing, paid acquisition, and product-led onboarding.
But instead of a smooth journey from sign-up to conversion, here’s what was happening:
Low Email Engagement
Welcome emails and onboarding sequences were bouncing at a 35% rate. Many never reached the inbox at all. Even when they did, engagement was minimal.
Spam Sign-Ups and Bots
Bots and low-intent users were abusing their sign-up forms. Some entered fake data to access gated tools, while others used temporary inboxes to test the product.
Poor Trial Conversion Rate
Despite acquiring over 10,000 new users per month, less than 4% converted to a paid plan. With product usage low and messaging not landing, marketing had little to optimize.
Declining Sender Reputation
The domain’s sender score dropped as more emails bounced or landed in spam folders. Even valid users began missing onboarding and feature announcement emails.
Burned Resources
Marketing was spending thousands acquiring leads that never activated. Support was spending time responding to unreachable accounts. CRM tools were cluttered with fake records.
They had a traffic problem, but not the kind you want.
The Solution: Real-Time Email Verification With myEmailVerifier
The growth and product teams aligned on one key insight. Email is central to product-led growth; they needed to fix their email data before anything else.
Phase 1: Bulk Cleaning the Existing User Base
The team uploaded their existing 80,000-plus user records into myEmailVerifier’s bulk verification tool. Within minutes, they had clear visibility into their list quality.
Here’s what they found:
- Over 6,300 invalid or undeliverable email addresses
- 4,700 from temporary or disposable domains
- 2,100 role-based addresses (such as admin@ or info@)
- Dozens of spam traps and risky entries were flagged as dangerous
These contacts were removed or segmented from automated email workflows. This saved the team from wasting time and budget on unqualified leads.
Phase 2: Real-Time Verification at Sign-Up
They then integrated myEmailVerifier’s API directly into their registration flow.
From that moment forward:
- All new emails were instantly validated before form submission
- Users with invalid or temporary emails were shown an error and asked to enter a valid address
- Common typos like @gmial.com or @yaho.com were auto-suggested and corrected
This change drastically improved the quality of leads entering their funnel from day one.
Phase 3: Ongoing List Hygiene and Monitoring
To keep things clean over time, the team:
- Scheduled monthly bulk list verifications
- Flagged inactive users after 60 days for verification before re-engagement campaigns
- Aligned their marketing automation tools only to trigger workflows for verified users
The Results: Measurable Growth From Cleaner Data
After implementation, they monitored results for 60 days. The improvements were clear.
Bounce Rate Dropped
Bounce rate on onboarding and marketing emails fell from 35% to just 5.2%.
Inbox Placement Improved
Gmail and Outlook inbox rates rose by over 20%, increasing the visibility of onboarding sequences and product announcements.
Onboarding Engagement Increased
Open rates improved by 22%. Click-through rates saw a 14% lift. Trial users finally saw and engaged with onboarding flows.
Trial-to-Paid Conversions Jumped
Conversion rate climbed from 4% to 9.5%, representing an 18% lift in monthly recurring revenue from new trial users.
Better Operational Efficiency
- Fewer fake accounts in the CRM
- More accurate usage tracking and reporting
- Decreased support load from unreachable users
Key Takeaways for Founders, Marketers, and Growth Teams
Whether you’re an early-stage startup or a scaling SaaS business, this story delivers a clear message.
Clean data is not optional. It is foundational.
Here’s what any product-led or trial-based company should consider:
- High sign-up numbers are useless if they’re fake or unreachable
- Real-time verification blocks the problem at the source
- Clean lists protect your sender reputation and unlock better inbox placement
- Onboarding flows only work if they reach real users
- Marketing ROI improves instantly when you’re only talking to actual people
You don’t need to send more emails. You need to send smarter ones to people who exist and want to hear from you.
Conclusion: Email Verification Is a Growth Lever, Not Just a Cleanup Task
This startup thought it had a product onboarding problem. What it had was a data quality problem.
Once they cleaned up their database and added real-time verification, they didn’t just see better email performance. They saw real business impact.
Trial users became real customers. Onboarding campaigns finally worked. The support team focused on fundamental issues. Growth became sustainable.
If your team is sending emails to leads that aren’t converting, ask yourself, Do we know who’s on the other end?
Start verifying with myEmailVerifier today.
Prevent fake sign-ups, protect your sender reputation, and convert more trial users into long-term customers.
Let your next campaign reach people, not empty inboxes.
