Here at Litmus, we may seem biased towards email testing, but it’s because we’ve seen what happens when a carefully crafted email goes off the rails in the final moments. Email mistakes are costly (and embarrassing), so you’d think marketers would do whatever they can to avoid them and protect their brands.
But when we surveyed nearly 2,000 marketers about their email testing routines, we were a bit surprised. That’s because a larger percentage of the email community than we expected is risking a bad email experience by not testing their emails every time.
The good news is that 57% of email teams test every time…
While we’d love to see 100% of marketers checking their emails every time, 57% is a solid start. Nearly six in ten email marketers understand that testing each email is like an insurance policy for all their hard work. Testing every email doesn’t have to be as time-consuming as it sounds, either. There are power user hacks that save you precious time when writing an email’s code.
… but that means 43% are risking a bad email experience.
If 57% of email teams are testing emails before every send, that means 43% aren’t. 21% of respondents said they occasionally test the emails they send, and 19% only test new and updated templates. The email marketers who only test sometimes may share some misconceptions we hear often. Some common email testing myths include thinking that as long as you work with a template, you can test it once and be done.
Unfortunately, every single time you send an email without testing, you risk a sub-par subscriber experience. Email client updates can happen as often as every two days, so an email that looked great yesterday might be broken today. Templates can speed up your workflow, but they aren’t a guarantee that every send will be perfect. Therefore, the 19% of email marketers who only test new templates may be taking on risk without realizing it. The other 21% who occasionally test may only do so before their most important campaigns. While it’s understandable to take an even finer-tooth comb to your most important sends, every customer deserves a great email experience year-round.
Some companies don’t test at all
3% of companies don’t test their emails at all. Teams who don’t do any email testing won’t catch issues—and risk sending broken campaigns that can be damaging to their brand.
The good news: it’s never too late to start email testing. If you’re part of the 3% that never tests, let’s begin today. Not sure how? Let’s look at how your peers test their emails.
Most marketers use special tools, like Litmus Email Previews
Of all the third-party testing tools used, Litmus was the most popular among respondents. 59% of email marketers shared that they use Litmus Email Previews to preview their campaigns across email clients before hitting send.
The data also shows that email marketers aren’t afraid to roll up their sleeves and make their own solution. 58% of respondents test their emails by sending emails to fellow employees. 26% take it a step further and set up email accounts at a variety of inbox providers and have several devices on hand on which to test rendering and functionality. While this works, manually testing your emails can be cumbersome. If you’re spending a lot of time sending and checking test emails, consider using a tool like Litmus to automate the process while covering a broader range of email clients than you can handle with manual testing.
Say goodbye to manual rendering testingSee screenshots of your emails across 90+ apps and devices to ensure compatibility in all environments with Litmus Email Previews. |
Ready to give your email program the investment it needs?
Are you ready to get your team the resources they need to run a flawless email program and help them test their emails before every send? Litmus is here to help. Reach out to one of our email specialists at Litmus and learn how Litmus can help you streamline your email workflow so you can get better emails out the door, faster.
Brooke Freedman is the VP of Sales at Chameleon.