Review and Test Personalized Emails
Learning Objectives
After completing this unit, you’ll be able to:
- Preview personalized variations to confirm rules and merge fields display as expected.
- Check that data connections and targeting rules use the correct attributes.
- Test personalized emails with sample recipients to verify how they appear in real inboxes.
Test, Tune, and Perfect Your Personalized Email
Isabelle’s personalized campaign at Northern Trail Outfitters (NTO) is nearly ready to send, but before she hits publish, she needs to make sure every variation, merge field, and data connection behaves exactly as expected. She previews each version, checks her rules, and tests real inboxes so customers get the message meant for them. In this unit, you’ll follow the same process to review, test, and refine your own personalized email.
In this unit, we show you the steps to preview and test your personalizations in Marketing Cloud Next. We don’t have a hands-on challenge in this unit, so your work won’t be verified, but you can follow along and try out the steps.
Preview Personalized Variations
Before you send your personalized message, take a moment to preview how it appears for different audiences. Previewing lets you confirm that each variation loads correctly and that merge fields resolve the way you expect—so every customer receives a version that’s accurate and meaningful.
Here’s how to preview your variations:
- Go to your August Birthday Campaign in the Marketing app.
- Click Select Segment in the Start Trigger section.
- Select Use Quick Filters and click Next.
- Choose Contacts, then click Create.
- It can take some time for the segment to populate. Wait until you see a number under Segment Population before proceeding to publishing.
- It can take some time for the segment to populate. Wait until you see a number under Segment Population before proceeding to publishing.
- Select Publish in the Start Trigger section so that the Publish Status displays as Success. It can take a few minutes for publishing to complete. If you skip publishing, you won’t be able to continue to the preview step.
- Once the segment is published, open the email editor.
- Select Preview from the toolbar to open the preview panel.
- Select the segment you just created to load a version of your email tailored to that audience’s data.
- Select a sample recipient to preview exactly how merge fields—like first name and city—populate for an individual.
- Review each variation to confirm that both dynamic rules and personalized data appear correctly.
If something seems incorrect during the preview, such as a variation not appearing or a merge field showing a placeholder, revisit your rules or confirm that the field exists in your connected data source.
Check Data Connections and Rules
After you preview your variations, take a moment to confirm that your personalization setup matches the audiences you want to reach. This quick check helps you verify that each rule uses the correct data and targets the customers you intend before you move on to testing.
Follow these steps to review your personalization setup:
- In your email editor, select the Rules tab in the properties sidebar to review the targeting conditions applied to your dynamic content.
- Select the General August Birthday variation to review.
- Make sure each targeting rule uses data from your connected data graph, and confirm that the attributes referenced in your merge fields exist and contain values for your sample recipients.
- If a value is missing, check whether the merge field includes default text or update the rule to exclude recipients without that data.
- Make sure each targeting rule uses data from your connected data graph, and confirm that the attributes referenced in your merge fields exist and contain values for your sample recipients.
- Click Edit to make any needed adjustments.
- Save your changes.
After this step, you’ll know your targeting rules are set the way you expect before sending test emails.
If a merge field doesn’t have a value for a recipient, the email can still be sent, but the result may be blank or rely on default text, if one is defined.
To avoid gaps in your message:
- Add default text to merge fields when available.
- Adjust your targeting rules to include only recipients with the required data.
- Verify that your data graph includes the fields you expect to use.
Test Emails with Sample Recipients
Sending a test email is a quick way to see your personalization in action. With a few clicks, you can check that merge fields resolve correctly and that each variation displays just as you planned.
Send out a test email by following these steps in your email editor:
- Click Preview.
- Select the Contacts segment you created and select a sample recipient.
- Select the Test tab and enter your email address in the Test Send Email Address field to receive the test email.
- Select your name and address in the From Name and Address field.
- Click Send Test to send an email to your own inbox to confirm the layout, images, and links display correctly.
Email sending is disabled in your Trailhead Playground. But you can still navigate through these steps to familiarize yourself with the process or try it in your production org. It is always a best practice to preview and test an email before sending.
If anything in the test email doesn’t display as expected—such as missing data, incorrect variations, or formatting issues—return to your rules or merge fields to update them, and then send another test. When everything is working as expected, you’re ready to publish and activate your email.
Wrap Up
Now you know how to preview your variations, check your rules, and test your email in real inboxes. These steps help you send a polished, reliable message that reflects each customer’s data and your personalization choices. Your email is ready to send.
Summary
Throughout this badge, you built emails the way Isabelle does at NTO by starting with a solid layout, then layering on data, rule-based variations, and merge fields that make each message personal. You previewed and tested your message to verify that every customer receives the version meant for them.
Now that you know how to personalize these details, you’re ready to send more thoughtful, targeted emails that put your content—and your customer data—to work.