Before you send that email, consider this

A successful email takes thorough preparation before it can reliably be read. The sixteen points below are a reference — run through them before you send a promotional email:

1. Do the name and address represent your brand?

Be careful with the sender address. A personal name is good; avoid sales@, marketing@, info@ and the like.

2. Is there a subject line?

Opening with a subject that represents the content is how you please a reader.

3. Is there a pre-header?

Before the reader opens anything, one line of pre-header can catch their curiosity.

4. Are there images?

Content that combines words and pictures is what holds readers.

5. Is there a button to switch to the web version?

When the reader’s client cannot support the eDM format, this button becomes very important.

6. Is a personal salutation loaded in?

This is where eDM works its magic — readers are very willing to open mail that addresses them by name.

7. Are there no more than three messages?

Modern readers have limited time. One email is best carrying no more than three messages.

8. Is there a call to action?

Readers want to develop their own experience, and a call-to-action invitation makes them look forward to every email you send.

9. Are the grammar and spelling correct?

Readers notice whether you took care in communicating with them. Typos and grammatical errors lose you points.

10. Is the company logo there?

This is your company’s image. Nothing substitutes for it.

11. Are all the images correctly sized?

This affects what readers see in their client. Consistent image dimensions display better.

12. Do all the links work?

Links lead readers into more information about you. A broken link is genuinely off-putting.

13. Are the company contact details stated?

Simple contact information is enough — but it cannot be absent.

14. Is there an unsubscribe option?

This is a legal requirement, and it is also a matter of respecting the reader. Add a line explaining why they are receiving this email, and you can also ask them to add your address to their contacts.

15. Did you test before sending?

Whether it arrives in the inbox, whether it displays correctly, whether the content reads clearly, whether the relevant information shows before opening — test all of it properly.

16. Did you test on a phone?

Whether it displays correctly, whether links work, whether the subject displays — test across phones running different systems.

If the promotional email you are about to send has passed all sixteen of these, you can press SEND with confidence.