What is a Send Check?
A
send check in the context of email marketing is the process of thoroughly reviewing and testing your email campaign before it is sent to your entire
subscriber list. The primary goal is to ensure that the email appears correctly in different email clients, is free of errors, and aligns with the campaign's objectives.
Why is Send Check Important?
Conducting a send check is crucial for several reasons: Avoid Errors: Ensures there are no typos, broken links, or incorrect information.
Improve Deliverability: Checks if your email is likely to land in the recipient's inbox rather than the spam folder.
Enhance User Experience: Confirms that the email renders properly across various devices and email clients.
Brand Consistency: Ensures that the email content aligns with your brand's voice and style.
Steps Involved in a Send Check
A thorough send check involves several steps:1. Content Review
Ensure that the
content is accurate, engaging, and error-free. Check for spelling mistakes, grammatical errors, and factual inaccuracies.
2. Link Verification
Verify that all
hyperlinks in the email are working correctly. Broken links can lead to a poor user experience and a loss of credibility.
3. Image and Media Check
Ensure that all
images and media elements load correctly and are optimized for fast loading times. Additionally, check for appropriate alt text for images.
4. Rendering Tests
Test the email in different
email clients (Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo, etc.) and across various devices (desktop, mobile, tablet) to ensure it renders correctly.
5. Spam Test
Run the email through
spam filters to check its likelihood of being marked as spam. Tools like SpamAssassin can be very helpful in this regard.
Common Tools for Send Checks
Several tools can assist in conducting a comprehensive send check: Litmus: A popular tool for email testing and rendering across various clients and devices.
Mailtrap: Useful for testing email deliverability and spam score.
Grammarly: Helps in checking the email content for grammatical errors and typos.
Testi@: A simple tool for testing email rendering.
Best Practices for Send Checks
Follow these best practices to ensure a thorough send check: Multiple Reviews: Have multiple team members review the email to catch errors that one person might miss.
Use a Checklist: Create a
checklist of all the elements that need to be checked and mark them off as you go.
Test Frequently: Conduct send checks regularly to stay updated with the latest email client updates and rendering issues.
Stay Informed: Keep up with the latest trends and
best practices in email marketing to continually improve your send checks.
Conclusion
A send check is an essential part of the email marketing process. It helps to ensure that your email campaigns are error-free, visually appealing, and effective. By following best practices and using the right tools, you can significantly improve the quality and performance of your email marketing efforts.