The planning is long over and the email is ready to send. Before clicking the button, one last check can stop you wasting your investment in the campaign. Read through the email putting yourself in the frame of mind of the type of subscriber that that particular section of your email marketing list is aimed at.

Check that the words and images do not contradict. Ensure that if the point of your campaign is that the product will enhance your customer’s lifestyle then the effect of a picture showing a view across Lake Geneva would be negated by a caption concentrating on the 50% reduction.

Read it as one of your customers would: scan it. Does the sense and emphasis still come through? Do you have to look for relevant information or is it there, clearly and boldly?

Each email should be aimed at a particular sectioned email marketing list. Would they like the tone of voice, the familiarity and the vocabulary? Are you talking over their heads or, worse still, patronising them? Are you friendly but not overly so? Is it clear that you know them?

Have you said anything that is not true? Is there anything ambiguous that one of your customers might misinterpret? Telling lies or misleading is a major cause of unsubscribes.

Does it conform to all legal requirements? This goes for inclusions, such as an unsubscribe method being readily available, as well as justification for any claims you make. With our margins, any legal penalty will be painful.

Check for any wasted words or phrases. However, be careful of cutting repetitions. Research has shown that reinforcement works well in email marketing campaigns and there should be a click-through at every window a customer might have on their screen.

Does the whole email engage? It can appear perfect but if it does not strike a chord with the reader then it will be deleted. Your email marketing software will show what your readers want but that extra little bit, the one that connects, is all important. The only way of finding if your email marketing campaign has that little extra is to read it as if you are a subscriber.