Step Six: Review and Pre-Launch Testing
After you have developed the written content, visual design, and layout, it is important to perform a series of tests on the email prior to sending it to your subscribers. Doing so will ensure deliverability while providing you the opportunity to tweak the message.
The first test you should perform is the Spam Score. Listrak has pre-integrated Spam Score into its solution; however, if your provider does not offer a Spam Scoring feature, you may use Spam Assassin to rate your email. Spam Score is an important feature because it runs your email through a serious of tests and rates several factors, such as colors, fonts, graphics, links, and tags. Within a matter of seconds, you receive a score and a detailed report on potential problem areas in your message. Running Spam Score prior to sending an email allows you to go back and change parts of your message that receive a high score. The lower the score, the better chance the message has of being delivered correctly.
Prior to sending the message, you must also confirm that the message complies with the CAN-SPAM act. If you mistakenly overlook this step, your company could be fined or charged with a criminal or civil offense. For a message to be compliant with the act, it must contain four things:
- An opt-out feature
- A valid subject line and header (routing) information
- The physical address of the mailer
- A warning label if the email contains adult content
If the message is missing any of these items, you must edit the message to include all of the information.
You should also take the time to test your campaign on various email clients and web-based services. HTML coding may shift text or tables from client to client. But customers, unfamiliar with the complexities of design and coding, will only see an unprofessional design, which reflects negatively on your company. Testing is simple as all you have to do is set up free email accounts on Google, AOL, MSN Hotmail, and Yahoo! Mail and then send the message to yourself to be sure that all of the formatting is in place. Even better, you may set up the different email accounts for a small in-house test group. That way, the group may examine the email for formatting errors while reviewing the content. Distributing the message to colleagues for feedback is a best practice that provides valuable information that will turn a good campaign into a great one.
Another best practice for email marketing is performing A/B split tests on email campaigns. Especially if you are new to email marketing, A/B split testing will provide practical information that will greatly enhance your campaigns. To perform a test, create two variations of your email campaign using different subject lines, different headers, different graphics, and different content. Select a small percentage of your list as the test group and split the group into two equal parts. Send Group A the first email and Group B the second. Track the results of each group carefully, paying close attention to items such as open and read rates, click throughs, and conversions. This will show you without doubt which email was responded to more favorably and will allow you to send the better performing email to the rest of your list.
Finally, prior to sending out the message, be sure to review a pre-flight checklist as it will give you a step-by-step review process for all of the main areas of your email. Areas to focus on include: goals, logistics, tracking tools, segmented database hygiene, subject line, content, design, tests, and launch date. Reviewing all of these areas in advance allows you to make any necessary changes and confirm that the email is ideal for your audience. To review Listrak’s pre-flight checklist, read Email Marketing Pre-Flight Checklist.