Getting ready for a swim? Some people like to jump right in to get used to the water quickly, whatever it holds in store. Many people, though, test the water out so that they know what is in store. For a competitive swimmer, testing the water is more than just a casual endeavor, it can help you tailor your strategy to seek a win.
With email, testing your email is much the same.
You can just hit send and trust in whatever happens, or you can send some test emails to make sure your strategy will come out the same on the other end.
ExactTarget has two tools to help you in preparing to hit the send button for your email. Both have their advantages, but which should you pick, and when?
The Send Preview Test Send
This option gives you the most robust test. You can pick out a certain subscriber and get the copy that particular subscriber would receive, complete with personalization, dynamic content, and working links.
While viewing your email, you can view a preview of your email by clicking on "send preview". picking a subscriber, and then clicking "generate preview". once in the preview, you can click on "send test send" to have a test email like this one sent to you.
When should you use this option?
This option was recently released in our 137 release and is designed to allow a quick test to multiple email addresses with the intent of being able to test the rendering of the email in different email clients (Outlook, Yahoo, Gmail, etc).
While in your email, click send and then select "test send". You will then be able to select up to 5 email addresses to send the email to.
When should you use this option?
Both of these options have a role in helping you to get your email program out the door and may be useful in different situations. Check them out and see which works best for your email marketing program!
With email, testing your email is much the same.
You can just hit send and trust in whatever happens, or you can send some test emails to make sure your strategy will come out the same on the other end. ExactTarget has two tools to help you in preparing to hit the send button for your email. Both have their advantages, but which should you pick, and when?
The Send Preview Test Send
This option gives you the most robust test. You can pick out a certain subscriber and get the copy that particular subscriber would receive, complete with personalization, dynamic content, and working links.
While viewing your email, you can view a preview of your email by clicking on "send preview". picking a subscriber, and then clicking "generate preview". once in the preview, you can click on "send test send" to have a test email like this one sent to you.
When should you use this option?
- when you want to preview dynamic content or AMPScript elements in an email
- when you want to test active links (be aware that any links you click in this test register to the subscriber...so if you unsubscribe, the subscriber is unsubscribed as well)
- when you want to test rendering and links in the same testing plan.
- You only need to send the test to one email address
This option was recently released in our 137 release and is designed to allow a quick test to multiple email addresses with the intent of being able to test the rendering of the email in different email clients (Outlook, Yahoo, Gmail, etc).
While in your email, click send and then select "test send". You will then be able to select up to 5 email addresses to send the email to.
When should you use this option?
- when you want to test how the content you've designed will appear in several different email clients
- anytime you want an easy-to-access quick test email when link testing is not the goal.
Both of these options have a role in helping you to get your email program out the door and may be useful in different situations. Check them out and see which works best for your email marketing program!
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