Whether you have a professional copy writer or you do it in-house, you should always complete a final check of a marketing email, and landing page come to that, before going live. There is one fail-safe way of doing so.

I used to check official documentation, material that might go before a court or be used to make decisions that would impact on the lives of others. When I took over the department I was given one clear direction. I could see what my predecessor meant on my first day.

It was clear that the writers had not read the documents they had submitted. There would be repetition, words missed and poor, well dreadful, grammar. I would return the documents with the instruction; ‘Read the form out loud to yourself before returning.’

There is a suggestion that you take on board only about 10% of what is told to you. This might be right. However, I reckon that if you say something out loud you hear it all. Mistakes become clear. Repetition stands out and grammatical errors are, all of a sudden, embarrassing. 

Despite the fact that readers will only glance at your marketing email or landing page, mistakes will stand out. Modify the document, but save it with another name; I just add a number. Every copywriter has had the feeling that the original was better; if only they’d saved it.

This goes for copy from professional writers as well as material produced in-house. You will know your subscribers and might feel that a split infinitive will appeal more than correct grammar that sounds a little ponderous. 

Read the whole marketing email, from Subject Line to CTA, out loud. Be bold and don’t whisper. Typos, such as ‘that’ instead of ‘than’, become glaringly obvious, as will a phrase that is merely a rewording of one you used earlier?

Make corrections as you go along and then read through the whole thing once more until everything is just as you want it. It might seem a lot of work, but then you are asking your subscribers to your email marketing list to do just that.