Email marketing checklist for MailChimp

I’ve worked with and tested quite a few email marketing software’s through the years. Everything from home built programs to specialist software. I’ve written about and recommended MailChimp before as a brilliant email marketing tool to help you get started with your email marketing activities. (However if you are for say a larger online retailer, I would suggest looking at solutions such as dotMailer or similar).

I’ve worked quite a bit in MailChimp, and here is my checklist, prior to campaign send out – that I always tick off. The key is –  you can never test a campaign to much!

I hope you find this useful.

Email marketing checklist for MailChimp:

1. Have you previewed your newsletter in the most relevant email clients and web-based email clients? (or even better if you run an inbox inspection)

2. Have you sent yourself a test?

3. Have you tested that all the links are working?

4. Have you inserted your personalization code from your distribution list? (and tested this?)

5. Have you used the Google URL builder to create your links?
(http://www.google.com/support/analytics/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=55578)

6. Have you set-up a plain text version?

7. Does your plain text version include the personalization codes?

8. Does your plain text version include links?

9. Have you imported your distribution list?

10. have you made sure all the unsubscribes from the last campaign are removed from this distribution list?

11. Have you entered a subject line, from to name and reply-to email address?

12. Have you run a delivery doctor on your email? (you can also notice that something is WRONG if your email does not get through any of the web-based email clients such as BT/Yahoo Mail for example)