What should you check before sending a newsletter?
Short answer
Send yourself a real test email, not just the platform preview. Then check four things: the subject and preview fit in one or two lines, the email isn't so link-heavy that Gmail clips it, images are sized for a phone, and every listing is still current and honest. Make the test send a required step every time.
One issue we worked on went out with every button rendered as a small black square. It looked fine in the platform preview.
Why isn't the preview enough?
Because the preview isn't the inbox. After that send, my ops lead and I agreed the final QA step before scheduling has to be a full test email, every time. Not optional. Systematized.
The checklist
- Send a real test email to yourself and open it on your phone.
- Read the subject and preview text as they appear in the inbox.
- Scroll to the bottom and make sure Gmail didn't clip it.
- Check image sizes on the phone screen.
- Tap the buttons and graphics. Do they render, and do they link where they should?
- Check the listings. No canceled events, sold homes or rentals in the wrong section.
How long should the subject line be?
One line in the inbox, two at most. Never four. The subject and preview have one job: get the open. If that's all they see before opening, anything that doesn't fit is wasted.
Why is my newsletter getting clipped in Gmail?
Usually links, not images or text.
"I was working with a guy whose newsletter was half as long as yours and was getting cut off because he just had link, link, link, link."
You have roughly a hundred kilobytes to use, and links take up a ton of it. Watch the link-heavy sections.
How big should images be?
Smaller than you think. On a phone, one image can take up your entire screen. Shrink them so people can keep scrolling.
For calls to action, I like a graphic made in Canva where the whole image is clickable. Some people don't realize they can click an image, so make anywhere they tap work.
Is everything in the issue honest?
Check two kinds of stale content:
- Events: I've caught canceled Eventbrite events still sitting in an issue.
- Real estate: no homes already sold, no land, no whole-complex listings, no rentals.
And make sure the issue delivers what your marketing promised. If your ads say you'll keep people up to date on events, there had better be events in it.
Does it sound like a robot?
Last read. An em dash in every line is the fastest way to look AI-written. Anyone savvy sees a bunch of em dashes and is already annoyed.
Answered by TJ Larkin. From Local Media HQ podcast episodes and client calls in 2025 and 2026. Last updated .