Review, Test and Send Your Email

Use Review & Send in the Email Composer to check your message for issues, send test copies, and choose how and when the final email will send.

Open Review & Send

1. Go to Outbound > Draft and open your email, or create a new one in the Email Composer.
2. Finish your design and content in the Design tab.
3. Click Review & Send in the upper right.

The Review email screen opens. You will see a preview of your message on the right and a validation summary below.

Validate your email

Before you send, Act-On checks your email against several requirements so it is deliverable and compliant with regulations such as the CAN-SPAM Act.

Validation shows the status of:

• Sender details (From name and address)
• Subject line
• Recipients (segment, suppression lists, test vs live send)
• Content (links, images, tracking, plain text, dynamic content)
• Anti-spam requirements such as a valid physical address and opt-out link
• Deliverability checks such as spam score and link validation

Each check is marked as:

• Error – must be fixed before the email can be sent.
• Warning – recommended to review, but the email can still be sent.
• Passed – ready on that requirement.

From the Review email screen you can also:

• Back to editing – return to the designer to change content.
• Preview – open Preview Mode to see how the message looks on different devices and with personalization applied.
• Run spam check – scan your email for common spam triggers.
• Check personalization – verify that fields such as first name or account owner will resolve correctly.

For a full breakdown of the validation checks and icons, see How to Validate an Email for Sending.

Send a test email

Once validation looks good, send a test email to yourself and any stakeholders who need to sign off on the message.

Send a test from the Email Composer

1. If you are not already on Review & Send, click it in the upper right of the Email Composer.
2. In the top right, click Test email.
3. In Add recipients…, enter the email addresses you want to receive the test. Separate addresses with commas.
4. To use contacts from a Test List:
   • Click + Add Test List recipients.
   • Select your Test List or a segment, then click Next.
   • Select or clear individual contacts as needed, then click Add recipients.
   • If you need to update the Test List, click Manage Test List.
5. Open Test email options:
   • Update the Subject line prefix (up to 20 characters) so test emails are easy to spot in your inbox. The default is TEST-, and Act-On remembers the last prefix you used.
   • Add Optional instructions or comments (up to 600 characters). These appear above the email in the test and are useful for telling reviewers what to check, such as personalization, links, mobile layout, or tone.
6. If needed, select Send plain text version only to send a text-only test.
7. Click Send. A confirmation appears and your test email is delivered shortly after.

When you receive the test, open it on several devices and email clients (for example, Gmail, Outlook, mobile phone, and tablet) to see how your design, fonts, and images render in real inboxes.

For full details, FAQs, and troubleshooting tips, see Send a Test Email.

Choose how to send your email

After you have validated your email and tested it, decide how and when you want the final message to send.

1. In the Email Composer, open the Send Details tab.
2. Choose your Recipients segment and any additional suppression lists.
3. Under Send Method, pick how the email should send:
   • Send now – send immediately to all selected recipients.
   • Send later – schedule a one-time send at a specific future date and time.
   • Send in recipient’s time zone – deliver at a local time (for example, 9:00 in each recipient’s time zone).
   • Send over time – spread sending across a date range and daily window to smooth out traffic.
   • Use Adaptive sending – let Act-On choose the best time within a window based on each contact’s past engagement.

For deeper guidance on each send method and how they affect recipients and timing, see Choosing an Email Send Method.

Send or schedule your email

Send now

1. Review the summary of Recipients, Subject, From details, and Send Method.
2. Confirm that validation shows no unresolved errors.
3. Click Send.
4. In the confirmation dialog, verify the details and confirm the launch.

Act-On queues and sends the email to all eligible contacts in your selected segment.

Schedule for later

1. In Send Details, choose a scheduled send option (Send later, Send in recipient’s time zone, Send over time, or Adaptive sending).
2. Select the date (and time or date range) for the send.
3. Review the summary of who will receive the message.
4. Click Schedule (or Submit Launch Request if approvals are required).
5. Confirm the launch in the confirmation dialog.

Approvals and launch requests

If your account uses approval workflows, you may see Submit for approval instead of a direct send option. In that case, your email must be approved before it can launch. For details, see Email Launch Requests and Approval.