Message Check
Message check runs two analyses on your message before you send it: a layout preview in popular email clients and on devices, and a spam score check. Running Message check before every campaign is a reliable habit. It catches rendering and deliverability problems that are not visible in the standard editor preview.
Open Message check
You can start a Message check from two places:
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From the message list: click the gear icon next to a message and select Message check.
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From the message preview. This option is only available for Wizard and editor messages.
Layout preview
The layout check shows thumbnail previews of your message as it would appear in a range of email clients: Gmail, Outlook, Apple Mail and various mobile clients. Click any thumbnail to open a full preview.
At the top of each preview, you can toggle between a version with loaded images and a version with blocked images. This is an important check: many email clients block images by default and your email needs to be readable in both states. Verify that your alt texts are descriptive enough to convey the message when images are hidden.
Support tip Check your campaign reports under the Email clients section to see which email clients your contacts actually use. Pay extra attention to those specific clients when reviewing your Message check results.
Spam
- Scroll down to see whether your message passes the spam filters of the most popular email providers and web clients.
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If you see the tag Failed in red, you can read why your message did not pass the spam test and adjust your content.
Warning Passing these checks does not guarantee inbox delivery. Spam filtering at major providers like Gmail uses many more signals than content analysis alone, including your sender reputation, engagement rates and authentication settings. Message check is a useful baseline check, not a delivery guarantee.
Pro tips
- Run Message check after any significant change to your message content or layout, not just before the final send.
- Use the preview with blocked images to check whether your alt texts communicate the message clearly. If the email makes no sense without images, your alt texts need improvement.
- If you have a persistently high spam score, review your subject line first. It is the most common source of spam-triggering words.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Skipping Message check entirely. The preview in the email editor shows how your message looks in an idealised rendering environment, not in real email clients. Message check shows how it actually appears.
- Ignoring the view with blocked images. A significant proportion of contacts never enable images. If your message is incomprehensible without those images, you lose those readers.
- Treating passing checks as a delivery guarantee. Passing these filters reduces risk, but does not override a poor sender reputation or authentication issues.
Next steps
- See "Alt texts" for guidance on writing descriptive alt text that makes your email readable when images are blocked.
- See "Why send a test campaign" for why sending a test to yourself before going live is also important.