1. Know Before it Goes
Testing For Your Email Design

2. Normal People’s Worst Nightmare.Normal People’s Worst Nightmare.

3. Email Marketer’s Worst Nightmare.Email Marketer’s Worst Nightmare.

4. Why test?
• Preserve your brand and reputation
• Retain conversions and revenue
• HTML and CSS are not always well
supported
• Dozens of different email clients
and devices out there

5. Good QA is good
customer service.
- Chad White, The Retail Email Blog

6. Lay a Solid FoundationLay a Solid Foundation11

7. Email HTML ≠ Web HTML
• Use table-based layouts
• Inline CSS only
• Limited or no support for:
• Forms/surveys
• Video
• Javascript
• Flash
• Background images
• Animated .gifs

8. Verify ContentVerify Content22

9. Triple check spelling and pricing
to avoid embarrassing errors
Format the plain text version for
readability and usability

10. Your testing checklist
• Remove/convert symbols and nonstandard characters
® © “ • ™ £ ¢ € °
• Ensure images and URLs start with http://www
• Proofread & spell check
•Preheader, from name, subject line, body copy, text version
• Are prices and other critical information correct?
• Replace default or placeholder values
• Verify personalization or dynamic content
• Does email content lead to relevant landing pages?
• Perform a spam check

11. Confirm FunctionConfirm Function33

12. Add “style=display: block;” to
sliced images to prevent gaps
Be sure to include ALT text to
combat image blocking

13. Test your emails in
a variety of
programs to be
sure they display
as you expected.

14. Your testing checklist
• Tested in common/popular email clients
• Set up test accounts or use an online tool
• Preview with images on and images off
• Check rendering in desktop, mobile and webmail
• Verify all links work and go to the correct pages
• Verify web analytics tagging is in place and working
• Are CAN-SPAM elements in place?
• Working unsubscribe mechanism, mailing address, etc.

15. Create (and Follow!) a ProcessCreate (and Follow!) a Process44

16. We are by nature flawed
and inconstant creatures.
- Atul Gawande, The Checklist Manifesto

17. Your testing checklist
• Makes you a smarter, more systematic decision-maker
• Creates a culture of discipline and teamwork
• Gets the dumb stuff out of the way

18. Creating checklists
• Short and simple
• Use task checks for ‘dumb’ but critical stuff
• Did you select the right setting? Press the red button?
• Use communication checks for complex stuff
• When coordination or knowledge sharing is necessary, communication
checks a balance between freedom and discipline
• Pick the right type of list:
• READ-DO (read each step, then do it)
• DO-CONFIRM (do the steps from memory, then pause and check)

19. Tools & ResourcesTools & Resources**

20. Validation
http://validator.w3.org/

21. http://validator.w3.org/
• Look out for ‘Start tag’ or ‘end tag’ omitted errors
• End tag for TABLE / TD / TR omitted
• End tag for element A which is not open
• End tag for P which is not finished
• Empty elements are okay
• “NET-enabling start-tag requires SHORTTAG YES”
• Deprecated tags are okay
• “there is no attribute BACKGROUND”
full details: https://litmus.com/blog/validating-html-for-email

22. Innovyx Campaign Audit
Runs your email through a
series of checks and balances;
emails you a report.

23. Industry Guides
from Campaign
Monitor, MailChimp,
etc. are written by
experts and chock
full of information

24. Litmus
Takes screenshots of what
your emails look like on a
variety of email programs
and mobile devices, performs
spam check, validates links,
etc.

25. emailchecklist.org
performs 7 quality
and best practice
checks on your
HTML

26. EmailMonday.com Checklist
Provides a framework for
following best practices and
starting your own QA process

27. Happy testing!

28. Justine Jordan
Marketing Director
e: justine@litmus.com
t: @meladorri