Email Testing
Email testing includes in-app spam testing, inbox rendering previews, and link validation without leaving your workflow. You can preview how an email performs across a wide range of inbox providers, devices, and spam filters, before sending.
- Inbox Rendering Test: Displays how an email message gets rendered and appears across a select group of inbox providers and devices.
- Spam Test: Shows how an email performs against the world's most powerful consumer (B2C) and enterprise (B2B) spam filters.
- Link Validation Test: Tests all links within a message for validity. The test checks for redirects, domain reputation, and critical metadata, like title text. Your inbox rendering tests include this link validation test. Link validation tests don't deduct from your email testing credits. To learn more about link testing, see link validation testing.
The number of email testing credits that you have depends on your Marketing Campaigns or Email API plan.
To learn more about email plans, see pricing.
Both Inbox Rendering Tests and Spam Tests use Email Testing credits. All Email Testing credits (whether part of your plan or purchased as part of an add-on package) expire at the end of each month.
If you find yourself in need of more credits than your email plan offers, we offer additional Email Testing credit packages as add-ons to your monthly plan.
Twilio bills packages for additional Email Testing credits on a monthly, recurring basis. Unless removed from your account, they renew each month.
Both Marketing Campaigns and emails within API plans using Dynamic Templates include email testing.
Test emails need sender and subject
Before you can create a test, you need to specify a Sender and include a subject for your email. If the given subject includes handlebars syntax ({{{subject}}}), you must add a subject value under Preview > Test Data for the Email Test to run successfully.
To perform a basic email test:
- Log in to the Twilio SendGrid console.
- Go to Marketing > Single Sends.
- Click on the title of the Single Send you want to test.
- Under Test Your Email, type the email addresses you want to receive your message.
- Click Send Test Message.
Twilio SendGrid prepends Test - to the subject line. This informs your recipients that you sent a test message a test and not the real send.
To create an advanced test:
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Log in to the Twilio SendGrid console.
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Go to Marketing > Single Sends > Settings > Test Your Email.
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Click on the title of the Single Send you want to test.
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Click Create Test. The Select testing options page appears.
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Select either test or both tests to run.
- Spam Test
- Inbox Rendering Test
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For a Inbox Rendering test, select the clients.
Every inbox rendering test run includes a link validation test. These tests check the validity of all URLs within your message. Link validation tests don't use Email Testing credits.View clients -
Click Run Test.
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Your test begins. It may take a moment for the test to begin returning your results. Test results will appear on the View Test Results tab. Click any thumbnail of a rendering to open the image and view in greater detail.
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From the View Test Results tab, you can select the Inbox, Spam, or Links tabs to view all of the details for your test.
Link validation tests check links for the following:
- Link includes a title.
When you create links with the Twilio SendGrid console, you can't include titles. You can add the HTML anchor tag
titleattribute. The title text appears when a user hovers over the link and can help users get more information about the link before they go to it. - Link works and goes to a valid URL.
Even when valid, non-HTTP links such as
telandmailtofail this check, because they don't go to a website. If your link fails, but goes to anhttporhttpsaddress, validate the link target. It must go a publicly accessible site. - Number of redirects taken to resolve the link. Having links with a high number of redirects can increase the risk that your email is detected as spam and can increase load times for the user when they go to the link.
- Link reputation, or if the link goes to a domain that's on an email deny list. If your link's domain exists on a deny list, your email message likely gets flagged as spam.