How to manage test email addresses and domains for email marketing client engagements?
Summary
What email marketers say10Marketer opinions
Email marketer from Quora suggests segmenting test email lists based on email client type and engagement level to get more accurate deliverability insights. This helps identify potential issues before sending to the entire list.
Email marketer from Litmus provides a checklist for email testing, including testing email rendering across different devices and email clients, checking for broken links, and reviewing email content for errors.
Email marketer from NeilPatel.com suggests using a separate domain for testing to avoid damaging your primary domain's reputation. This allows for experimentation without risking your core deliverability.
Email marketer from Email on Acid recommends using a pre-send checklist to verify all links, images, and content before sending test emails or client campaigns, catching potential errors early.
Email marketer from Email Vendor Selection advises setting up a system for managing test accounts and seed lists. This ensures you can consistently monitor deliverability and rendering across different clients.
Email marketer from Gmass recommends using a separate domain that's as close to the root domain as possible. e.g. if the root domain is example.com, then use exmaple-test.com for testing
Marketer from Email Geeks shares that he gives each client unique test addresses, unsubscribes them after the engagement ends, and then sets a custom 5xx error. He finds looking at the bounces enlightening, even 18 months later, noting re-subscribes.
Email marketer from Mailjet advises cleaning test email lists. Suggests regularly scrubbing test lists to ensure that there aren't lots of old or invalid test addresses that could impact deliverability.
Email marketer from Reddit suggests using dedicated IP addresses for different clients to isolate reputation and prevent issues with one client from affecting others. This also recommends warm up strategies for new IPs.
Email marketer from StackExchange recommends creating a list of seed email addresses across different providers (Gmail, Yahoo, Outlook, etc.) to test deliverability and rendering. They also advise checking email headers.
What the experts say5Expert opinions
Expert from Word to the Wise notes that a key part of their domain management strategy is to pull the entire domain out of DNS when a client engagement ends.
Expert from Email Geeks shares that she uses a shared domain for testing and short engagements. The design point is to pull the whole domain out of DNS when the engagement ends.
Expert from Word to the Wise answers by sharing his practice of giving each client unique test addresses, unsubscribing them after the project, and implementing a custom 5xx error to monitor bounces.
Expert and Marketer from Email Geeks discuss methods for detecting if former clients have gone rogue. Laura mentions they have automated DNS and could disable individual addresses or the entire domain. Ken checks test addresses from previous engagements when a former client returns in a panic.
Expert from Word to the Wise explains the usefulness of shared domains for testing purposes, particularly for short client engagements or helping others, to keep overhead low.
What the documentation says5Technical articles
Documentation from Mailchimp explains the practice of using a subdomain for testing. This isolates the test environment and allows for safe experimentation with email campaigns before sending them from the main domain.
Documentation from RFC explains the structure and function of the Domain Name System (DNS), which is crucial for managing email domains and subdomains for testing purposes.
Documentation from Google recommends setting up SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records to authenticate your email and improve deliverability to Gmail users, which is crucial for testing and client management.
Documentation from Microsoft explains how to implement SPF records to prevent spoofing and improve email deliverability, helping ensure your test emails reach their intended recipients.
Documentation from DKIM details the technical specifications for DKIM, a crucial authentication method for email that verifies the sender's domain and ensures the message hasn't been altered, improving deliverability for test emails.