Validating an email containing test variables

The Email Builder lets you use test variables to simulate the real preview of an email with personalization.

To find out more about using test variables, see Managing test variables.

To guarantee the correct display of this type of emails and avoid any errors in personalization, it's essential to check your emails thoroughly before sending them. 

Here are some good practices to adopt:

When using test variables in the Email Builder, it is essential to ensure that :

• The variable you enter actually exists in your Email Services Provider  
  Make sure that the variable set in the Email Builder corresponds to existing data in your Email Services Provider (routing email tool). Otherwise, the email will not be able to retrieve and display the expected values.
• The variable syntax is correct   
  Check that the syntax of your variable complies with the defined rules. A syntax error would prevent the real values from being called up resulting in an incorrect display or a personalization failure.

To ensure that your email will be displayed correctly in all situations, we recommend that you apply test variables with:

• A short word (with few letters) to check that the display remains legible and balanced.
• A long word (up to the maximum number of characters) to check if the text fits correctly or if it risks being truncated or badly formatted.

This check enables you to anticipate any display problems and optimize the layout of your email before sending it out.

Finally, the most important check to make is to perform a test email via your Email Services Provider to ensure that the test variables are correctly replaced by the real values, and that the email is displayed as intended for the final recipient.

This step is crucial to detect any personalization errors before sending your final email. We therefore recommend that you always carry out this test to guarantee optimal rendering.