​​​​​​​How Do I Run A Spam Test?

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How Do I Run A Spam Test?

If you’re using an Email Service Provider to send emails, then your best bet is something called a seed list. A seed list is a list of internal emails you can send a test email to, such as co-workers, family members or friends.

Ideally, you’ll want the email address to cover a range of email clients and devices, so you can check if it makes it through the different email spam filters.

Before you send your email to the masses, you can send a test email that not only tests for spam filters (like Gmail spam filters) but also is a great way to test for email responsiveness in different clients. To best use seed lists though, there are many services designed just for this purpose such as Litmus, Email on Acid, and many more.

Each of these tools will provide you with a seed list of email addresses that you can cut and paste into your test email and send out to identify any issues with landing in the inbox. Spam testers will test for the following flags:

Email Server Reputation
Sender Email Address
Sender IP address
Email Server Configuration
Email Content and Subject Line
IP Blacklisting
As examples, both Email on Acid and Litmus are email optimization tools which include a spam filter test. Using any spam tester you can test your emails using the following easy step-by-step process:

Create your email and of course first check for any red flags in the content, subject line, and contact list
Once you think you’re ready to send, click on Send a Test Email
In your Spam Testing tool, select Start a New Spam Test or Start Spam Test
Copy and Paste all of the seed contacts that Litmus generates.
Send your test email
Go back to your Spam Test Tool to identify any spam warnings and understand how you can continue to optimize your campaign to ensure maximum deliverability.
These services will send your emails through all the major spam filters before sending to make sure that they pass the first test.

Then it will check your sender reputation by looking at your IP addresses and any domain names used in your email.

There are many known blacklists and if your reputation is at all compromised or flagged, you’ll get a notification before sending.Next it will verify that your email authentication, such as DKIM, DomainKeys, SenderID, and Sender Policy Framework, is set up properly.

Finally, some services even provide you with a spam score, so you can compare your campaigns against past campaigns and your colleagues campaigns. The root of all happiness? Quantifiable competition.