Cold email workflow
Hunter to lemlist: verify the list before you import it
Workflow · SimpleVerifier Team · Steps checked 20 October 2026
Export your leads from Hunter as a CSV, upload it to SimpleVerifier as it is, and import only the valid file into lemlist, mapping the email column to email. Keep risky (usually catch-all) rows out of the main campaign and drop invalid ones.
Step 1
Get the CSV from Hunter
- 1In Hunter, open Leads and the list that holds the people you want.
- 2Select the leads to export.
- 3Click the three dots that appear once leads are selected.
- 4Click Export to download the CSV.
Hunter's help says the people export includes each lead's verification status and date, and that exports from people lists have no row limit. From Domain Search, only emails you have revealed can be exported.
Source: Hunter help centre · Hunter export guide
Step 2
Verify every address
- 1Sign in and upload the CSV as it came out of the export. The email column is found by its header or its contents.
- 2Every row gets a live mailbox check with catch-all, disposable and role-address detection.
- 3Download the valid, risky and invalid files. Each keeps every original Hunter column.
Then $9 for 2,500 emails, or $29.99/mo unlimited.
Step 3
Import into lemlist
- 1In lemlist, go to Campaigns and open the campaign.
- 2Click Leads list, then Import new leads, then CSV import, and drop in the valid file.
- 3Review the suggested field mappings, change any from its dropdown or create a custom field, and click Continue.
- 4Skip or choose AI actions and enrichment (enrichment can use credits), then pick how to handle duplicates under Manage duplicates and click Import leads.
Source: lemlist: How to import leads from a CSV file · lemlist: Format custom variables correctly
Column mapping in lemlist
| Column in the Hunter file | lemlist field | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Email address | Required on every row; lemlist uses it as the lead's unique ID. | |
| Company name | companyName | |
| Company domain | companyDomain | |
| LinkedIn profile URL | linkedinUrl | |
| Anything else your copy uses | Custom variable | Header names are case-sensitive and become variables. Avoid spaces. |
Column names in your Hunter file depend on your export settings, so match them by what they hold. Field names on the right are as lemlist’s help article writes them.
- Row 1 is column names; a lead whose address sits in row 1 is read as a header and skipped.
- Pure .csv in UTF-8 (in Excel, CSV (Comma delimited)), not .xlsx.
- Remove empty rows between leads.
Which results to send
- validSend
The mailbox server confirmed the address. This is the file that goes into the main campaign.
- riskyHold, or send separately
Usually a catch-all domain, which accepts every address so no verifier can confirm the mailbox. Leave it out, or load it into its own smaller campaign at low daily volume so any bounces stay visible and away from the main one.
- invalidDrop
The server said the mailbox does not exist, or the domain cannot take mail. Sending will bounce.
Things to watch with Hunter and lemlist
- Hunter's people export carries each lead's verification status and date. Use the date: a status from months ago says little about whether the mailbox is open today.
- Rename Hunter's columns to lemlist's variable names before upload, or map them at the mapping step; header names become case-sensitive variables in lemlist.
- The Manage duplicates step decides what happens to leads already in lemlist. Choose it deliberately rather than clicking through.
Estimate what an unverified list would do to the campaign with the cold email bounce cost calculator, or reshape the file for lemlist with the CSV import formatter.
Common questions
- How do I move a Hunter list into lemlist?
- Get a CSV of the list out of Hunter (In Hunter, open Leads and the list that holds the people you want. Select the leads to export. Click the three dots that appear once leads are selected. Click Export to download the CSV.), verify it, then import the valid file into lemlist: In lemlist, go to Campaigns and open the campaign. Click Leads list, then Import new leads, then CSV import, and drop in the valid file. Review the suggested field mappings, change any from its dropdown or create a custom field, and click Continue. Skip or choose AI actions and enrichment (enrichment can use credits), then pick how to handle duplicates under Manage duplicates and click Import leads.
- Do I need to verify a Hunter export before lemlist?
- Lead databases go stale as people change jobs, and a bounced cold email counts against your sending domain the same as any other. Verifying the Hunter export before it goes into a sequence keeps the bounce rate under the roughly 2% line where mailbox providers start filtering, and it catches catch-all domains you should not send to blind.
- Which columns should I map in lemlist?
- Email address to email; Company name to companyName; Company domain to companyDomain; LinkedIn profile URL to linkedinUrl; Anything else your copy uses to Custom variable. Set every column your copy does not use to skip or ignore.
- Should risky or catch-all addresses go into the campaign?
- Usually a catch-all domain, which accepts every address so no verifier can confirm the mailbox. Leave it out, or load it into its own smaller campaign at low daily volume so any bounces stay visible and away from the main one.
- What does verifying the list cost?
- Your first 100 checks are free after Google sign-in, once per account. Then $9 for 2,500 emails one-time, or Pro at $29.99 a month with no cap on email verification. Files up to 100,000 rows.