Your Email Campaign Launch Checklist

To avoid nasty email campaign mistakes we created an easy to use checklist internally here at VR that we're happy to share. Never make a mistake again (or at least come close to never, no one is perfect.)

Print this out and pin it up!

Newsletter Dates - If you copy a campaign and include a date in your content make sure the date has changed.

From Label - Make sure that the From label is correct for the email you're sending.

Postal Address - Ensure the correct postal address for the sender is at the bottom.

Preview for Images Turned Off - View what the email looks like with images on AND off (you can do that in VR) - I will send myself a test with my images turned off to see it as well.

Image Text - Make sure all images have alternative text so that when images are turn off your recipients have some context of what should be shown.

Links - Test that all links go where you want them to - click on each and every one.

Images Linked - Make sure all images are linked that need to be.

Subject Line Review -

• If you copy a previously send campaign make sure you change your subject line.
• Make sure the subject line relates to the content of the email.
• Make sure your most important information is at the beginning so it won't get cut off in the email reader.

Preview in Email Readers - View in email clients Yahoo!, Gmail, Outlook, MacMail and AOL.

Forward to a Friend - Make sure this feature is turned on, it can't hurt to get a few more subscribers.

If you've got any you'd like to add, let's put them on the list!

Download this in PDF.

Comments

[Ken]

We all know how important testing is. I have used Outlook Express for years and thus that is my test email client. I send tests to others using different versions of OE or Outlook. However, they only see what they see. I just installed Office 2007 on a new XP computer and migrated to Outlook. Wow! The emails that looked great in OE fall apart in Outlook 2007. My suggestion is to have testers send a screen shot since only you know what the email should really look like.

[Katie]

Yeah, a PDF or something similar would have been nice. Good content though - I can make my own printable checklist from it and add a few of my own behind-the-scenes items.

Thanks!
Katie

[Paul]

Hey Janine

This would've been even better with a print style sheet so I could print out your checklist for the next email campaign I run....

Great work!
Paul