Create a Pre-send Checklist to Help Send The Perfect Email
No need to be a scaredy-cat when you’ve got a solid checklist by your side.
We’ve all felt it: butterflies, sweaty palms, even the paralysis of fear as you get ready to hit Send on your latest email. Because what if you didn’t do something right? What if you forgot something? What if Mars retrogrades in Aries at the exact moment you push that button and you knock the planet off its axis?
All right, so that last one is a little less likely, but I’m not going to lie—sometimes it feels that way, doesn’t it? Luckily, you’re not alone. As marketers, we’ve all been there. I sure have. And even those who have been doing this for years have days when their finger hovers uncertainly over the Send button.
So, because we’re a group who loves to make things better for our email marketing and marketing automation friends, I put out a call for tips on putting together the ultimate pre-send checklist. As I knew they would, a wealth of colleagues who cumulatively represent years and years (and years!) of experience responded to my call with some of the best tips and suggestions you’ll find. (In fact, many of the tips went onto my own pre-send checklist which I will fancy-up and link here soon.) So settle back and get ready to raise your pre-send checklist game!
“I love Test Mode for SFMC journeys, especially when testing decision splits. I almost always catch some weird data corner case when I use it.”
Ryan Hernalsteen | Salesforce Consultant | 9x Salesforce Certified | SF Trailblazer Mentor | 2x Trailhead Ranger
“One thing I always do is read all the written words out loud or put it through a reader to listen to. It helps to catch any last-minute grammar issues! I have to say, I learned this hack from my husband who isn’t a native English speaker, but it’s a good one! I like to use https://www.naturalreaders.com/online/”
Samantha Cibelli | Seeking humanity in B2B Marketing | Strategy & Ops Marketing @ Klearly
“A similarly useful way of proofing copy for spelling is to read it backwards. It forces your brain to consider each word fully, and stops you from skimming, even inadvertently.”
Rainer Gromansperg | Salesforce Marketing Cloud Automation Specialist at Telstra
“We have a checklist you can download here (Don’t worry, it’s not gated): https://www.cs2marketing.com/downloads/qa-checklist-for-emails”
Charlie Saunders | Co-Founder CS2 | B2B Marketing & Revenue Ops | fwd:thinking Podcast
“Find a colleague for a scheduling huddle and talk through the motions of confirming what may seem like the obvious. You’d be surprised how many times you find something big in those last few moments. The support is also great and it’s nice to have someone to celebrate or drink with no matter what happens. And check every link... even the unsub/pref center... especially the unsub/pref center.”
Donna Redmond | Marketing Solution Architect at Coastal Cloud
“I call this ‘Buttonitis’—when seasoned marketers get nervous to press the send button (even when they have run through their checklists)! I always read every word of the email out loud to help catch silly grammar mistakes. I also make sure to review the lists I am using, test each permutation for personalization, check how the email renders in multiple email clients, and ensure the sender profile is set up correctly. The best way to resolve buttonitis is to have a colleague review the pre-send checklist right before sending; ideally someone who hasn’t seen the email before the distribution date.”
Sterling Williams | ‘20 Salesforce Marketing Champion | 2x Salesforce Certified | Digital Marketing Leader | Customer Experience Manager
“1. Provide yourself with a tool that checks several email clients on your email design.
2. Make sure your email renders properly for the email data extension you would like to send to.
3. Analyse open rates and clicking behavior to learn for future sendings. Then start optimizing your email copy!”
Margaux Decremer | Digital Marketing Consultant bij FORWARD (HIRING) | Salesforce Marketing Champion 2020 | SFMC (2x) Certified
“If you edited a spreadsheet before importing, visually inspect the data to make sure it still looks correct. Use UTF8 wherever possible. Never assume all users will fill out a form the way they’re ‘supposed to.’”
Bill Fetter | Digital Marketing & Sales Process Expert: B2B Marketing Automation, MOPS, CRM & Demand Generation Strategic Advisory Services
“1. Grammar and typos
2. Images and buttons rendering
3. Preheader text
4. Personalisation
5. Test links
6. Mobile rendering
7. Correct list
8. Text version”
Conor Ebbs | Digital Transformation | Marketing Automation | 2020 Salesforce Marketing Champion | 5x Salesforce Certified
“Double-check your messages and workflows before hitting send: Did you know that there are different ways to write ‘one thousand’ with numbers? In the United States, they would write it as follows: 1,000. However, in Spain they would do it as follows: 1.000. In short, what for some people is a dollar, for others it is a thousand dollars. The legal consequences of such an error can be devastating.
“If it is not a plain text email, use buttons for your CTAs. Make the CTA obvious.
“Use video to increase CTR and even better if the lead can land on a focused landing page.
“Use personalized video to get even higher CTR (around 164% more effective than generic videos).
“Testing, testing, testing.
“Create follow-up messages (and retargeting or any other type of remarketing): Here is where you win the game. So you created this absolutely amazing campaign. You double-checked everything. It’s perfect. The audience, hand-crafted. The message moves hearts, minds, and pockets. You hit ‘send.’
“That’s it. Campaign sent. Mission accomplished. :-/. Always, always, always make sure to create follow-up stages or campaigns based on user behavior.
“Here I share some personalized marketing mistakes: https://bit.ly/2RZspI0, based on my mistakes.”
And…
“Here are a few recommendations, focused on personalization: allocate the appropriate time: Creating a personalized marketing campaign that makes sense takes time. Often, creativity takes time, and production does too (copywriting, videos, images, research, etc.).
“Create buyer personas (and augmented buyer personas): It is tempting to just keep the [First Name] field and say ‘Voilà!’ There is a lot more behind that [First Name] dynamic tag. There is, actually, a person. Use the power of context to create robust anchor messages. (This is what I call ‘translating’ the data into something that makes sense to the individual, aligned with your business goals.) Easy example: Room for two adults and 1 baby = ‘Did you know that your room has a microwave?
“Choose the right channel, even if sometimes it’s not email. Choosing the wrong communication channel can cost you a lot of money. Sending personalized emails is really cost-effective but you don’t want to send emails or any other type of message to people that won’t actually read it. Right? For example, SMS marketing seems to be back, WhatsApp marketing is huge nowadays. In the end, it’s a numbers game.”
Josías De La Espada Sempris | CEO at Pirsonal | Personalized Video Marketing Software
Let's be honest, Josias pretty much wrote a blog on his own and I. Am. LOVING. It.
“Has anyone said time zone yet? Time zone, target audience, real subject line, proper personalization, any necessary exclusion criteria.”
☁️ Steven Baxter | Salesforce Marketing Cloud guy
“Buddy system—two system users, one does all setup of assets and workflows and the other checks everything. Devil is in the detail and the checklist is long so never rush. Biggest mistakes are always made when a campaign is urgent and assumptions made to save time. Always, always quality over quantity. Marketing automation platforms are powerful and every system has its weaknesses and workarounds, which is why a checklist is vital. EG. who loves email buttons and Outlook—bulletproof buttons are brilliant but code must be checked.”
Chris Woodward | Technology Consultant | Volunteer | CRM and Marketing Automation best practice
“Previews and reporting are crucial to this process and common to all technologies. It would be interesting to have some points on these.”
Federico Melella | Analyst at Deloitte Digital | Salesforce Consultant | Campaign Manager & Blog Content Writer at CatobiStrategy | ISIPM, Salesforce certified
1. Proper segmentation of your audience
2. Sender and reply to
3. Signature consistency
4. One CTA with a link that opens
Axel Baran | Senior Manager Global Marketing Operations (Worldwide Team Lead) at Alfresco
“The ‘Executive Eyeball’ has been the last step in my QA process for years and saved many embarrassments... Somebody senior who has not been involved in setup must review the final automated flow and email designs before it can be sent or set live.”
Dan Hare | Chief Operating Officer at Trustbox & e-shot™
A grateful shoutout and a heartfelt “Thank you!” to all of my contributors for so generously sharing their expertise. I hope their tips help you create your own ultimate pre-send checklist, one that will help you hit “Send” without fear—even on the days that darn Mars retrogrades in Aries!
