November 6th, 2017
How to Fail at Email – Testing is for Amateurs
I’ve decided to start something new–the “How to Fail” Series. While we can all read how-to articles, sometimes it’s fun to see the exact opposite. Like the thousands of fail videos on YouTube where people try ridiculous stunts and fall off their skateboards, bikes, and even off of their own roofs.
Why not check out some epic fails in digital marketing?
Sitting at my desk this morning, I was trying to decide what I wanted to write about. And then this dropped in my lap. Actually, my inbox, but you get it.
At first glance, I thought it might be a display issue since Microsoft Outlook likes to protect me and not display the images on all of my emails. I took a screenshot, pushed the button to display pictures and nope, still nonsense.
So how did this happen? At a guess, some of the code could have been placed as text instead of being behind the scenes. Honestly, I don’t know for sure. What I do know is that an email blast with such a huge mistake, sent from the domain “makingemailsgreatagain.com”, could have been sent with success if the writer had sent a test email to themselves.
So, my suggestion for the day is this: before sending out a mass email, make your email truly great and always send a test email. Check how it looks. If possible, view it on various devices. Send a test to different types of accounts such as your own domain as well as a gmail or yahoo account. Check the links. Review the header, footer, and all the social links.
After all, you don’t want to see your email fail on someone’s blog.