We are now more than halfway through the deep dive into my Email Automation 4-Part System, and today we’re going to talk about QC, also known as “quality control,” also known as “not the sexiest part of this system”.
Sure, “Quality Control” doesn’t conjure up many exciting feelings, but Control? Sexy, just ask Ms. Jackson.
Take control of your automation programs with the comprehensive checklist available on page 3 of my Automation Resource Bundle. Sleep better at night knowing that your automation programs have passed more than just the eyeball test for both form (images and text look beautiful) and function (links and calls to action are in working order and make complete sense).
Are you ready?
I hope you enjoy this as much as I do.
The EWW Quality Control Checklist
(that’s EWW like, Erica Walter Writes, not like, Jimmy Fallon EW!)
Send yourself a test email
Any email service provider worth its salt is going to have a “send a test” function. DO NOT rely on “preview mode” for your quality control! when you send yourself a test, you can see how all of the elements work together (subject line, preview text, how much content is displayed at first glance), take a peek on both a mobile device and your desktop, click through links, etc.
Check spelling and grammar
Another one that might seem obvious, but you’d be surprised how often this gets overlooked. Check for missing letters, incorrect punctuation, the dreaded their vs. there, etc. I cover my bases on this front by creating all my drafts in a Word document first, where spelling and grammar errors are highlighted and fixes suggested. You can ensure the content flows cleanly by reading it aloud. This might seem silly, but you’ll identify repetitive word usage or find the “a” instead of “an” errors easier by hearing your own dulcet tones recite them aloud.
Review the test on your computer to make sure that the email renders as you expect
Here are some things to look for: do the images load automatically? If not, does the email still function, or do you need to add alt text to your images to help your content make sense?
Here’s an example of alt text in action in my recent invitation to join Email Essentials 101.
You also want to review formatting to ensure that your images are showing up in the right location (e.g. centered instead of right aligned) and your text renders in the fonts and sizes you expect.
Review the test on a mobile phone to ensure the email is responsive and functional on a tiny screen
When your content is displayed on a screen that is 600 pixels wide, is it still easy to read? Do the fonts + images resize and adjust their orientation to accommodate fat thumbs and old eyeballs?
Check out this simple example from Target.
Do a mental check to ensure any images load quickly (under 2 seconds)
You only have a few seconds to capture your subscribers’ attention, because apparently, we have the attention spans of goldfish. If your strategy to capture attention includes a stunning image, but that image takes forever to load, you’re going to lose your subscriber’s interest and they might even delete your email before getting a chance to find out all the wonderful things you had to share with them.
Click through ALL the links to verify they work and are logical places to send your customers
Does your email include calls to action, or a site navigation, or social media links to encourage readers to join you elsewhere? Click on all of those links, baby. I mean it. Make sure that the page you’re taking your subscriber to actually loads, and makes sense based on the link they click. For instance, if your email features a specific product but the link takes them to a generic shop page, you’re probably going to have a lower conversion rate than if you’d landed them directly on the item that their click indicated interest in. Nobody wants to navigate through pages of inventory to find the thing they want.
If your ESP offers inbox preview, USE IT and see how your email looks in other email clients
Many Email Service Providers offer you the ability to preview how your content displays on top adopted email clients like Gmail, Hotmail, Outlook (and its various iterations), iPhones, Androids and more. This service often comes with a small price tag, but it is worth the peace of mind if you’re intending to send email to a large audience. You can also hack this if you have multiple email accounts from different clients; just send yourself multiple tests to different email accounts. If you’re a high volume sender, you would probably benefit from investing in a service like Litmus or Email On Acid* to get a more comprehensive preview per campaign (plus tons of bonus features and great hands-on support).
*I don’t get paid to talk about Litmus or Email on Acid, I just think they are great products and encourage you to check ’em out if you are sending lots of email. That’s it.
Verify that personalization works, and that appropriate fallbacks are in place if you don’t have the data
If your email has a salutation, make sure your test says “Dear [ACTUAL FIRST NAME].” If name data isn’t required for all of your subscribers, make sure your system has an appropriate fallback (essentially your back-up plan for when a data point is blank for a subscriber), such as “Avid Runner” or “Beer Enthusiast” or even the super generic “Friends.” You can also test this by inputting dummy data during testing, or having a few different dummy accounts with different data, so you can validate everything is functional when utilizing more advanced content personalization such as purchased products, stated preferences, and the like.
Validate your triggers in the email marketing system
This can be a simple reference to the workflow overview. In MailChimp for instance, you can view and adjust your triggers based on a specific default recipe… here’s an preview of the “Workflow Recipe” for the first two emails in my Email Essentials 101 course.
If your automation program is triggered based on a form completion or other action, go through the entire process (from action to email) if possible
If you want the email to go out immediately upon a form submission, go through the process of submitting the form and see how immediate that trigger actually is. If you have an email series that needs to launch over the course of a week, give yourself that much time for testing before launch, and follow along to ensure your triggers are actually functional before you open the programming up to your larger audience.
If you have a team, have one or two other members take a gander and provide feedback
Our brains can correct mistakes before we even process them, especially when we’re familiar with the content. Having an outside party that hasn’t been looking at this email for the last 45 minutes take a look at a test and see if they catch anything you didn’t.
Absent of having a team, have your significant other or a trusted friend be your 2nd set of eyeballs
I often have the Hubs give me feedback before I send anything major out into the universe. This has the added benefit of giving me a total outsider’s perspective, which, when you’re trying to teach something, is incredibly valuable!
When this checklist is complete, activate your triggered message.
This is a given, but I’ll just go ahead and say it aloud: pour yourself a nice cocktail and pat yourself on the back for a job well done. Sleep like a baby knowing your work was thoroughly reviewed before you launched.
The next day (or whenever is logical based on the triggers/data in your automation program) take a look at the report
If you aren’t already obsessing over this in the back of your mind, then go ahead and set yourself a calendar reminder. A quick review will give you the first win (seeing people receive and engage with your email content), validate the right people are getting the message, AND serve as an early alert if something slipped through the cracks.
Check again after 1 week.
Getting several days’ worth of data in your email marketing system is valuable for verification purposes as well, and if your automation is a series that spans a week or more, this is another great way to have visibility early on as to whether the program is behaving as expecting, identify any red flags, or simply celebrate your success as you watch those super high open and click through rates!
Go through this process again at least 1x per quarter, or whenever you update your Data Dictionary or add an Automation Program
I love me a 90-day cycle. It aligns with the seasons to a certain extent, so if your color scheme or image/product selection needs to be updated to align with fall instead of summer, a quarterly quality control check will help you catch this. Also, depending on your database size, you will have a good sample of data to review and see if there are any adjustments you wish to make to your content and strategy while you’re at it. Do not just set it and forget it. This isn’t a rotisserie chicken.
No, seriously. Set yourself a calendar reminder if you have to.
You have enough to worry about in the day-to-day of your business. Create a handy reminder on your calendar roughly every 90 days and then let your automated programs work their magic while you focus on other things.
Summin’ it up
This process takes roughly 30 minutes total, sometimes more or less depending on how much content you have and the complexity of the personalization and triggers. That is time well-spent, as it will save you clean-up time down the road AND ensure your campaign is as effective as possible!
If you haven’t already downloaded my Automation Resource Bundle, do it now. Run your first, next, or current automation programs through the Quality Control checklist on page 3 and let me know what you think. Does Quality Control have just the slightest bit of sex-appeal now?
My goal was for this post to leave you feeling confident about launching multiple automation programs. Do you?
I’d love your feedback! Did I miss anything important? What tools are you using for email quality control?