Email marketing checklist for campaign managers
A marketing email can't be edited after it's sent, so all the quality control has to happen before the send is scheduled. A campaign that goes out with an untagged link, a stale segment, or a dead promo code costs you the following week: you send an apology email, rebuild the click report by hand because the UTM tags never fired, and answer complaints from contacts who had already unsubscribed.
This email marketing checklist covers a single campaign from the moment the brief is approved to the point the results are logged, and it's written for the campaign manager who owns the send. It fits newsletters and one-off promotional sends; recurring automated flows have a different shape and need their own checklist.
Frequently asked questions
How far ahead of the send date should the checklist start?
Start it as soon as the brief is approved, which for most teams is five working days before the send. Segment building and copy sign-off take the first two to three days, and the test send should land at least 24 hours before the scheduled send so there's time to fix rendering problems.
Who should run the pre-send checks?
The campaign manager owns the checklist, but the test-send review should be done by someone who didn't build the email. The builder has read the copy too many times to spot a wrong date or a swapped link, so a second reviewer clicking through the test catches errors the owner can't.
Should every campaign include an A/B test?
No. A subject-line split test only tells you something when each variant reaches enough inboxes, and on a list under a few thousand contacts the winner is mostly noise. Run tests on your large recurring sends, apply what you learn to the smaller ones, and don't let a test delay a time-sensitive campaign.
What should you do if you spot an error after the send?
Fix the destination first: a broken link or wrong promo code can often be repaired with a redirect or by extending the code, which fixes the email for everyone who clicks later. Send a correction email only when the mistake blocks the call to action or misstates a price or date, and send it to the affected segment rather than the full list.
Do you need special software to run an email campaign checklist?
A spreadsheet is enough when one person runs the whole send. Once copy, build, and review sit with different people, a shared checklist with an owner per step works better, because each person marks their own checks done. Teams that coordinate in Slack can run each campaign's checklist there with a tool like Chaser.
