At Emailcenter we check several new campaigns
every day. We are fairly confident we know about all mistakes
that are feasible in an email campaign and how to prevent
them. Here are 10 useful checks:
Images
Make sure the images have been referenced correctly. Remember
if the image reference does not have the full http information
recipients will not be able to see these images.
Links
Make sure each of the links work and go to the right place
– small errors like a space at the end of the link
will ensure the link does not work.
Email
Client Compatibility
Test your email in all of the main email clients used by
your recipients. For example if your recipients are consumers
then test it in Hotmail, Yahoo and AOL. If they are business
addresses test it in Outlook and Lotus Notes. This will
ensure that you find any areas where your email is not compatible.
MIME
Format
If you send a plain text version along with your HTML don’t
just presume that this does not need checking like many
people do. Plain text emails can have a whole host of issues
that are different to HTML including line spacing and issues
with special characters.
Unsubscribe
Link / Profile page
If there is only one thing you do check over and again make
this it – no unsubscribe link can lead to SPAM complaints,
abusive emails and even legal action.
Personalisation
While you may know that personalisation is in the email
have you put the right field in? There are few ruder things
you can do than address an email to Dear Mr. Fred.
Data
set / Segmentation
Double check the data you are sending to. Have you set the
right segmentation? Have you assigned all of the lists you
intended? Have you excluded the right people?
From
/ Reply names and address
You should standardise on a ‘from’ address to
ensure people who add you to their safe senders list will
receive your email directly into your inbox each time. Therefore
as part of your checking procedure make sure this is always
the same.
SPAM
filters
Turn on your SPAM filters in your test accounts and see
if your email goes directly into the junk folder or inbox.
Timing
If you are using a campaign management tool that allows
you to schedule campaigns make sure this is correctly configured
the emails go at the optimum time.
Try
downloading our campaign checklist here
