5 Ways to Reduce Your Anxiety When Sending an Email Campaign

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Do you randomly wake up in the middle of the night worried you messed up the email campaign???

?Did I select the correct list while creating the campaign? ??

Oh no, wait, I chose the wrong template! ??

Did I put the correct link? ???

Does any of that sound familiar?

Yes?!

Well, join the club. I’ve been sending email campaigns for more than 1.5 years now, but there are still times when I am struck with anxiety when I have to send one.?

Although, now it’s better. I didn’t trust myself to send a campaign without supervision the first few times.?

If you are struggling with this overwhelming anxiety around sending an email campaign, here are some of my tips to slowly reduce it over time.

#1: Get an outsider to proofread your email

We usually go through at least 1-2 rounds of reviews before sending the email. But despite all that, there are times when you can still miss some things.?

So, get a “new” person to proofread your email. Someone who does not have the context and is looking at it for the first time. They are less likely to skim your email or glance over small mistakes.

#2: Send yourself a test?email campaign

Don’t just test the email, but send yourself a test campaign. Even though everything looks good in your test emails, there might be issues when the campaign goes out.?

For example, your template might render well in the inbox, but if there were issues with your sender email, it might not reach people’s inbox in the first place. So, create a test list with yourself and a few colleagues and send a test campaign.?

When you do this, check if it lands in the inbox and how it renders on all possible devices and major email clients. Ensure it looks good on mobile, desktop, dark and light mode, Gmail, Outlook, etc.

Bonus: If you have already sent yourself a test email, add a “+” to your email ID and keep testing. (E.g. [email protected])

#3: Read it out loud

When we create the email template, we sometimes become blind to our mistakes. So when you read the email out loud, either yourself or using a screen reader on your computer, the mistakes become glaringly obvious. You'll feel more confident knowing that you've thoroughly reviewed your content.?

#4: Check the fallbacks

If you use interactive AMP elements like a referral, carousel, add-to-calendar, etc., you’ll have to check the AMP version and HTML fallback to ensure there aren't any problems.

There are instances where I completely forgot to design the fallback. ?? (Don’t be me)

If you used personalization in the email, check the fallback for that as well. Ensure that you set up a generic fallback if the personalization parameter is unavailable for that individual.?

For example, if ‘Hey &[firstname]’ doesn't work, it should show something like ‘Hey there’.

#5: Have a checklist

Despite doing all of this, if you still feel anxious, have a checklist for sending a campaign. Include everything you need to check and ensure it works before you send the campaign. This way, you can tick off each item as you go, giving you a sense of accomplishment and control.?

If you want a premade checklist to take inspo from or use for yourself, check out this?checklist?that we made.?

That's all, folks! I'll see you next month with more tips and ideas. If there is something we can do better for you, please let me know by replying to this email.