Preview messages and send a useful test
Catch missing fields, awkward formatting and wrong sender details before launch.
On this page
Prepare a test that represents the real message
Previewing fills the message with a real contact’s data. Sending a test lets you inspect the result in an actual email client. Use both: an editor preview can reveal a missing company name, while a received message can reveal an awkward subject, broken link or difficult mobile layout. Select an address you control for the test, and keep the intended sending inbox selected in the campaign.
Choose representative contact records, including one with optional fields left blank. If the sequence contains follow-ups, inspect each step rather than approving only the opening message. Text variations also need review because a single preview shows only one selected variation.
Inspect the preview and received test
Open the preview
While editing your campaign email, open the preview to see how it renders with personalization variables filled in for a real contact.
Expected result: The preview displays the email with real contact values.
Check personalization
Confirm that variables like {{firstName}} and {{companyName}} resolve correctly and that nothing looks broken or empty.
Expected result: The subject and body contain the intended names and company data.
Send a test to yourself
Use the test option to send the email to your own address. This is the best way to catch formatting issues, broken links, or typos.
Expected result: The test action targets your own intended test address.
Review in your real inbox
Open the test in your own email client to see exactly what recipients will see, including the subject line and how the message displays on mobile.
Expected result: The received email is readable in your email client, including on mobile.
Fix, then launch
Correct any issues and review the preview again. Start the campaign only after the selected audience, sender and sending settings are also ready.
Expected result: Any correction has been previewed before the campaign starts.
A practical message review sheet
| Item | How to use it |
|---|---|
| Sender | Does the From name and address identify the business or person handling the conversation? |
| Subject | Does personalization resolve, and does the subject accurately describe the message? |
| Greeting | Does it still make sense when an optional value is absent? |
| Body | Are the claims true, the offer clear and the question easy to answer? |
| Links | Do they open the intended destination, with no draft or wrong-business URL? |
| Opt-out | Is the selected instruction visible and in the audience’s language? |
| Mobile reading | Are paragraphs short enough and links usable in the received message? |
Example test record
Campaign: operations review pilot
Step tested: first email, then each follow-up
Contact data: complete example and optional-field blank
From identity: checked in received email
Links and opt-out wording: checked
Corrections: record the exact issue and revised version
Result: ready for audience and schedule reviewThis is a review template. Fill it with observed results instead of copying “checked” without doing the check. A test email is not a campaign launch, and a successful delivery to your own inbox does not prove how every recipient’s system will handle the message.
If the test reveals a problem
For an unresolved tag, confirm its spelling and whether it is a supported contact variable or a saved organization snippet. For an empty known field, inspect the imported record. For a wrong link, correct the source snippet if several messages share it, then re-preview affected steps. If the test never arrives, compare the app’s send result with the receiving mailbox and spam folder before repeatedly clicking the test action.