You've built your email, you've tested it and re-tested it (and maybe re-tested that re-test), and now it's finally time to send your final email! This can be a stressful step, so we've assembled a checklist for you to make sure you have everything you need to get your message out to your audience. This list is divided into sections for each stage of the email creation process.
There's also a summarized, printable version here to keep nearby during your send.
Structure, Design and Copy
Some of our templates look similar, and sometimes there are outdated versions of a template you've been using. Check your "Email Properties" tab to ensure that the template does not contain any indicators that it is outdated or deprecated (such as an outdated time stamp, or a "do not use" tag).
Check that any specially formatted font is rendering correctly; if you did not follow the steps gone over in your initial training, your font may display incorrectly on some email platforms. Check this link for a possible solution to this problem.
The pre-header field is displayed as a preview in a user's inbox below the subject; if left empty, it may display garbled HTML code in our users' inboxes. If you don't have any specific copy written for the pre-header, paste the top paragraph of your copy into this field, and this will prevent any garbled-looking text from appearing.
Double check that images have a width of no larger than 600 pixels, and the "Scale to Fit" option is unchecked.
The default button in Marketing Cloud has a lot of issues in MS Outlook, so using the custom "standard button" is the best way to go.
Some templates have the footer already completed at the bottom, so make sure the footer you are using in your email is the appropriate one for your send. For example, Solicitation and Non-Solicitation footers use different addresses.
To help us track of our marketing activity, we request that you convert all of your URLs through Google's Campaign URL Builder. Specify the medium as "email" and use a short abbreviation to uniquely identify your campaign (example: An October 2020 Saturday Night Science invite might be abbreviated to "sns1020")
If you are using conditional content in your email, make sure your data source (email list) contains the fields your content is referencing. For example, if your conditional content is referencing a contact's preferred class, you want that field on your data source. Test this thoroughly for each variable that is available for this field. For example, if you are referencing a contact's preferred school, send test emails for each available school (Medicine, Pharmacy, Dentistry, etc.).
Similar to conditional content, if you are using any personalizations, ensure that data is available on your data source. For example, if you are using the %%First Name%% personalization, your data source needs to have a "First Name" field. Make sure your syntax matches the data source as well; if you send an email to a campaign and use a campaign-specific personalization like %%CampaignMember:Common:FirstName%%, but you use a PACE report as your data source, your email will either fail to send, or will send to your audience with a broken string of data. Sticking with more generalized personalizations (%%First Name%%, %%Last Name%%, %%Salutation%%, etc) is usually safest.
If you are referencing any dates or times, make sure they correspond correctly with the send date. For example, if you are sending on the 20th, but your newsletter is dated for the 21st, make appropriate corrections.
For accessibility reasons, please briefly describe the image in the Image Alt field.
Editing, Testing, and Confirmation
If you are using a template or block you're unfamiliar with, it's highly recommended that you send a test copy to a Marketing Cloud admin for integrity checks before sending the email. At the very least, send a copy to yourself, and proofread it carefully or have someone else proofread it, before you send out the final version.
Marketing Cloud admins have access to special tools to thoroughly check your email designs in multiple inboxes, essentially getting a preview of what your content will look like in MS Outlook, Gmail, on mobile, and more. If you want to check this, please contact [email protected] for details.
After sending a test to yourself, open all of the links in your email to ensure that they all function properly.
Take this time to make sure all of your content is the final version that you intend to send out.
Advancement Communications has copy editors on staff to read through your material and offer spelling and grammar checks, as well as provide accuracy on UCSF-specific topics. Please plan accordingly to give the editors at least 3 days to review your material.
Profiles, Targets, and Exclusions
If you are using an existing sender profile, check that the reply-to information is correct. These profiles often are recycled by other teams, and sometimes changes are made without notification.
Whether you are using a new profile or one that you've used many times before, make sure that the "From email" field shows the @our.ucsf.edu, not the @ucsf.edu domain. This is crucial to keeping our domain in good standing with spam filters. In addition, make sure the "Reply email" field is using the standard @ucsf.edu domain, or the replies will bounce back.
If you are using a PACE campaign or report, make sure they are marked "active" in PACE and they contain all of the data you will need to send your message (making sure contacts have email addresses, names, and proper IDs, etc.).
If you are using a data extension, make sure that you have cleaned the list of any contacts with opt-out or unsubscribed statuses, as you will not be able to use any of the exclusion reports from PACE.
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