ZeroBounce’s Francisc Balint on The Biggest Challenge for Email Marketers

ZeroBounce’s Innovation Lead Francisc Balint talks about what email marketers struggle with the most right now – and how you can win the email game with just a few simple fixes. 

Francisc Balint got his first computer at 10, and ever since then, he’s spent thousands of hours learning how to improve systems. Whether it’s software development or creating effective email campaigns, one principle applies: a few tweaks can yield better results. 

In this conversation, Francisc shares insights into how email marketers like you can improve their deliverability and boost engagement. He also shares his approach to productivity – and one way you can make your day (and life) better.

Here’s what you’ll learn from Francisc:

• How to maintain a clean email list to ensure your messages reach the right audience
• The far-reach effects of proper email infrastructure configuration for better deliverability
• How using tools like email validation consistently improves outcomes.

For the full experience, watch the video interview of ZeroBounce’s Francisc Balint on YouTube.

Francisc Balint is an innovation lead at ZeroBounce. He’s joining us from the United Arab Emirates. We have ZeroBounce employees all over the globe – but tell us about yourself, Francisc.

I joined ZeroBounce over three years ago and would describe myself as a builder. I build the technical side of the platform—not the visual elements, but rather the behind-the-scenes aspects like stability, accuracy, and performance.

Before becoming an innovation lead, I was more of a team lead, still focused on the technical side. My role was to ensure the platform was well-maintained, regularly updated, and equipped with new features, all while making sure our customers had an exceptional experience with the platform.

Great experience with the platform is very important. Tell us a little bit more. How do you fit into ZeroBounce?

The execs and leadership at ZeroBounce have this technical background, and I think that’s exceptional in this industry. Even the Chief Operating Officer has a technical background. So, having this leadership, I feel like I’m on the same level culturally. I have a technical background as well, and not many people know that.

The leadership team all shares this early-stage experience with technology. A few of the execs have this background, and being in this space from the beginning shapes you differently. 

Culturally, I fit in with ZeroBounce because of my similar early-stage experience with technology. I got my first computer when I was 10, and I just jumped in and never let it go. I see the leadership team has had the same approach to technology.

Sending relevant content is always a challenge

What do you see as the biggest challenge people face in email?

Making sure you email people who will find your content relevant. I think that’s the top goal for everyone. And it’s not just about email – targeting the right audience with high accuracy is the ultimate goal. But I’d say it’s never fully achievable because people change.

One day, they might be interested in a particular subject, and then, after a few months, they might find your content irrelevant. So, that’s a challenge – a constant, ongoing one. 

It’s tough, and you need to stay on top of it. You have to invest a lot of time and resources, of course, to keep the audience relevant to your content. Yeah, that’s the top one.

So much of ZeroBounce is our quest to help with the struggle that people have to reach the inbox. And somebody might be thinking, “well, if I send an email, why wouldn’t it reach the inbox?” What are some of the biggest reasons why emails don’t show up in the inbox?

One of the biggest reasons people don’t reach the inbox is the misconfiguration of their infrastructure. I see that often. With our tool, we give you a step-by-step guide on how to configure your infrastructure – at least how to get started properly. So, before you begin, check your settings, and we have tools for that.

If you pay attention and get some guidance, you could get off to a good start. There are great tools out there, and ZeroBounce is one of them.

Email marketers face challenges from day one

A writer I know was telling me that she had an email list she hadn’t sent anything to in about a year – no emails whatsoever. She was thinking about picking up where she left off and sending emails again to that list. What do you think someone should do if they’re in that situation? They have a list, they want to get back to what they were doing, but it’s been so long. What should they do?

Well, I mentioned this idea that you need to be on top of it, and sending an email without knowing anything about the target or the destination is risky for your bounce rate and email reputation. 

I would have to say, you need to check that list. How do you check it? With email validation and AI scoring. Using those tools right before getting back to your audience will literally improve your outcomes.

Aside from the email validator, is there a tool at ZeroBounce that you think is particularly useful?

It depends on the use case, of course. The main one is email validation, which will help you achieve better outcomes than the industry average. On top of that, there are other tools that can improve everything else. It depends on where you are and at what stage you’re at.

As I mentioned before, if you’re just starting out, the first step would be to check your configuration, which can take about 10 minutes. If you have someone a bit more technical, they can configure and add some settings to your domain in another 10 minutes. This will significantly improve your infrastructure and your email success rate.

So to answer your question, I’d say the inbox tester is a great tool for everyone. That’s something everyone can use. Both the inbox and email testers are crucial tools to use before you send even a single email.

It can be difficult to stand out in the inbox due to the sheer volume of emails that come through. Yet, there are some emails that catch my attention. So, what kind of emails tend to catch your attention?

For me, it’s different. My inbox is clean, but I do get tons of emails, and I check them all. If anything unexpected arrives, I’ll check it anyway. 

To get my attention, the email needs to have something that sounds good. I tend to open emails on leadership topics, technical subjects, technical reviews, and research papers. Those are the kinds of emails I’ll open because that’s what I’m interested in. 

I’m sure it’s of interest to a lot of people, the fact that you’re over there in UAE. What is it like over there?

It’s different, definitely. Being here definitely changed my views on some things. I came here mostly for the weather. I think that’s sealed the deal, let’s say.

I’m not a fan of winter, although I lived most of my young age, in a pretty cold area. And here, during the night, we may get minus one degrees Celsius or something like that. It’s sunny, and I think everyone enjoys that kind of weather. Getting so much sun really changes you, I will say. And I also think it helps with productivity if you’re influenced by the weather.

So there is no winter closing roads or shutting down the internet. Maybe some rain, but very little. The technology we have is crazy, so I’m in the right space. It’s the best place for a person who’s interest in technology.

It’s a very efficient country.

Definitely. I think it’s one of the most efficient ones. The level of technological adoption here is unbelievable. They try to scale efficiently every year, increasing the population and the number of tourists coming into the country.

I believe they are doing this strategically, maintaining efficiency while scaling. I really respect how they lead the country and the vision they have for the next few decades.

Is it at all challenging for you to work remotely? So, I think you’re the only ZeroBounce employee over there, isn’t that correct?

Yeah, that’s right, I’m the only one in this country.

I wouldn’t say it’s challenging. Remote work started becoming the norm after COVID, so now it’s just the standard. It’s a bit farther away, but you still have internet access, and that’s all you need. 

It could work anywhere – you just need internet. There are some basic fundamentals, and as long as you have that, you can work from anywhere.

How can anyone out there who’s reading this make today better?

For me, it’s very simple. The way I made my days better was by deleting social apps from my phone. I know many people might disagree with this, but I think you could, and I didn’t come up with this myself – I read it somewhere on LinkedIn – but you could surpass the average person in anything you do by simply deleting social media from your phone. 

So, a few years ago, I got off Instagram, Facebook, and so on. The most social media I use now is LinkedIn, and not on my phone – I browse it on my laptop. Other than that, I just focus on reading and learning about new tech.

What have you found getting rid of the social media apps on your phone has done for you?

I guess it’s given me more clarity. We might not realize it, but just scrolling and seeing visual content – some of it might affect you even without you knowing. You see it, and it’s in the back of your mind. I just stopped being so into it. 

Before, I guess you could say I was addicted to social media. It became a habit: waking up and immediately checking and scrolling through the newsfeed. For me, it felt like a very bad habit, if not an addiction, and I wanted to get rid of it. 

The best way to do that was to uninstall the app. I eventually deactivated the accounts, and a few years ago, I probably would have deleted them if I had any thought of reactivating them.

Well, thank you so much for letting me ask you some questions. I’ve enjoyed it.

It was a pleasure. Thank you for having me and sharing this conversation. It was great.