The Tactical Send :: Don't Rush It

Once you have verified that your message has met the basic quality assurance guidelines, you are probably pretty confident that you are ready to send your message to your subscriber list. While you may be anxious to get the message out the door, slow down and review the final steps to ensure there aren't any errors in the sending process. Unlike most other interactive projects, there are generally no take-backs once your message has been sent.

Even after a rigorous quality control process, review your subject line one last time. Make sure that it reads how it was intended and that every word is spelled correctly.

You should know roughly about how many people are on the subscriber list you are sending to. If you are expecting to send your message to 20,000 subscribers and your sending confirmation screen shows your message will be sent to 100,000 subscribers, chances are you have the wrong groups selected and you should not proceed until you verify or reselect your groups.

When performing A/B testing take special precaution in selecting your subscriber lists. You want to be certain that each group is only receiving one message instead of the multiple message fiascos I'm sure we all have encountered from a subscriber perspective.

And finally, don't ever become over-confident when sending an email message. Rushing through the tactical steps of sending your message is a sure-fire recipe for a mistake. Don't wait for a mistake to humble you. Slowing down and checking each step as you go will help ensure a successful error-free send.