Internal Review Process for Email Campaigns

A common mistake I see brands make is relying on their own inboxes to test email campaigns. But just because it looks great on your device doesn’t mean it will for your customers. What's often not taken into consideration is how your campaigns render across the 60+ platforms and devices your customers might be viewing your campaigns on. This means that while you and even your team might see a beautifully designed, well-put-together campaign, your customers might be seeing a completely skewed design. Not quite the outcome you'd like... And without proper testing, that beautifully designed campaign could appear distorted, unreadable, or even completely broken for some recipients. Dark mode is a perfect example. It's estimated that around 40% of users have dark mode enabled on their devices, yet most brands don’t test how their emails render in dark mode. The result? Logos that disappear, unreadable text, and broken design elements that ruin the user experience. Internally, we use Litmus to check formatting, links, and deliverability before sending and while this is our go-to, Sinch Email on Acid also does the trick and is much more cost-effective for brands. To give you an idea, here's what you can do using a third-party tool like Litmus or Emails on Acid: ✔️ Ensure emails display correctly, including in dark mode ✔️ Make sure all links work ✔️ Confirm compatibility across 60+ devices ✔️ Prevent email clipping, especially in Gmail (102KB limit) ✔️ Minimise human error by testing beyond just your inbox ✔️ Validate mobile responsiveness ✔️ Provide proper authentication to avoid being flagged as spam ✔️ Monitor for blocklists and spam placements ✔️ Check email load times to avoid slow rendering ✔️ Review accessibility compliance (contrast, font size, readability) I’m still waiting for an ESP to integrate this functionality directly - it would be a game changer. Until then, proper testing is non-negotiable.

I've seen campaigns go live with errors that could've been avoided with a simple checklist... and trust me, the embarrassment and internal complaints isn't worth it. After years of managing CRM campaigns, I've developed 7 non-negotiable rules I follow before hitting send: 1️⃣ Test all links - Broken links kill conversions instantly. Click every single one. 2️⃣ Check personalisation - Nothing screams "mass email" like seeing (First_Name) in your subject line. 3️⃣ Preview across desktop & mobile - Your email might look perfect on desktop but terrible on mobile where 80% of people read emails. 4️⃣ Review your segment - Double check you're sending to the right segment. I once saw a "win-back" campaign sent to active customers. 5️⃣ Review send time & frequency - Are you bombarding customers or have you left too big a gap since your last email? 6️⃣ Proofread everything - Typos damage credibility. Read it aloud or get a someone to review. 7️⃣ Test deliverability - Send a test to multiple email providers to ensure it lands in inboxes, not spam folders. These checks take 10 minutes but save hours of damage control later 💬 What's your biggest campaign mistake? Share below so others can learn from it

Boss/Client: “Can you just send an email out now?” Me: "Sure, let me just do that in 3 seconds… NOT" Here’s what "just sending an email" REALLY means: 1️⃣ Strategy check: Will this email help, hinder, or completely derail the plan? 2️⃣ Audience deep-dive: Who actually needs this email? (Hint: Not everyone in the database, Karen.) Segment, segment, segment & understand 👏 your 👏 audience 👏 3️⃣ Decide the type: Is this part of a nurture flow, a one-off campaign, or something else? Spoiler: This decision changes EVERYTHING. 4️⃣ Write the copy and write it well. Align it to your audience & make it email-ready (hint #2: it's not a blog) 5️⃣ Design & layout: Let’s make it look great AND readable AND accessible – because, shocker, bad design = bad results 6️⃣ Set the CTA: What do we actually want them to do? Buy? Book? Cry tears of joy? Be specific & make it outcome or benefit-related 7️⃣ Landing page (if needed): And of course, it needs to be optimised AF for conversions 8️⃣ Send-time optimisation: Is right now the optimal time? What about time zones & highest engagement for our segment/individual subscribers? 9️⃣ Exclusion strategy: Have you excluded the right people in your segment e.g. people who are in active flows, received certain other comms, emails, phone calls or negative experiences or meet other exclusion criteria? 🔟 Deliverability: Will it align with our deliverability strategy? Will this harm or boost it? 11 (ran out of emojis): Cross-check the calendar: What else has gone out this week? Are we bombarding them? Will it affect future sends and other priorities? 12. Team input: Oh, we need product, compliance, and sales involved? No problem, let’s add another 24 hours (more like 2 weeks) for sign-off THEN: 1️⃣ Testing madness: Inbox previews, link checks, spelling errors – because one broken link = chaos 2️⃣ Send it: FINALLY, we’re live! But wait… 3️⃣ Analyse results: did it work, or are we just screaming into the void (spam folder) again? “Just send an email” is the marketing equivalent of saying, “Just build a skyscraper" Marketers, I know you feel me on this 🙃