Email Post-Launch Checklist: 15 Things to Check After Sending

Email • Email MarketingAndrian Valeanu and Nataly Birch • Published: May 12, 2025 • Updated: May 12, 2025 • 6 minutes READ

After checking all the things on your email campaign pre-launch checklist, you finally hit the submit button and sent your handcrafted, thoroughly checked email newsletter to your beloved subscribers. Now, what? It is not time to lean back and relax, now it is time for email marketing post-launch stage.

So it is time to clear your mind and get ready. 
The post-launch stage is all about collecting the data, analysing the data, making improvements, altering the design, changing content, rethinking the layout and arrangement of focal points and conducting A/B tests.

Its main aim is to provide you with a base for polishing and perfecting your email marketing strategy to make the next campaign better and more productive. Much like in the case of the pre-launch phase, it also has many tiny details to take into account. In this article, we will share all the important details you should care about as a checklist for the post-launch phase of an email marketing campaign.

Email Marketing Post-launch Checklist: To-Dos After Hitting Send

After you have collected all the data, or your marketing automation platform has done all the heavy lifting, it is time to analyse metrics. Metrics will present the overall picture, as well as give you hints on how to improve your next email newsletter and email campaign in general. There are a whole bunch of factors to consider, but we are going to focus on the most important ones.

✅ Checking Deliverability Rate

It’s one of the most important variables of success. It shows how many emails reached the destination, serving as a solid foundation for analysing the campaign’s performance and success.

✅ Analysing Open Rate

Although some experts may consider it unreliable, the fact is that it still provides helpful information that may partially influence a marketing strategy. It shows how many recipients actually opened an email. If an open rate is low, then you need to analyse your subject line and pre-header line as well as reconsider the targeting and segmentation. It can also help to determine the best day of the week and time of day to send an email.

✅ Exploring Read Time/Time Spent on the Email Newsletter

These two factors, along with engagement rate, paint a general picture of what your audience likes or dislikes.

• If recipients spend more than 4 seconds reading your newsletter, there is a high probability that the content has found its audience.
• If not, then it is time to revise the email content as well as the email design. Also, your targeted settings require reconsideration.

✅ Inspecting Click-through Rate

CTR shows how many recipients clicked on one or more links in your email newsletter, which, alongside conversion rate, is one of the most important measures of success in achieving your marketing goals. It gives you a key insight into your audience’s level of engagement.

It is here where you need to start some thorough analysis. Ask yourself: Why are some links more “clickable” than others? Is the offering appealing? Is this audience interested in your content? Is the email design winning your audience over or turning them away?

✅ Checking Conversion Rate

While the click-through rate is very important, the main goal is, of course, to turn those clicks into conversions: generating leads, selling products, building a subscriber base or whatever it is your business does. The conversion rate gauges how many people have done one of these things. If your conversion rate is in decline, it’s time to reassess both your email marketing campaign and your website’s landing page or homepage.

✅ Look Over the Lead-to-Customer Conversion Rate

This metric is typically fairly low, but do not worry –  that’s normal. It’s worth checking the benchmark for your industry, so you can check whether your lead-to-customer conversion rate is in line with that of your competitors, and if it’s lower, it may be time to rethink your purchase funnel.

✅ Analysing Email Sharing Rate and Email Forwarding Rate

These two factors do what they say: they show a number of recipients who share your email newsletter with others, and those who forward your email to their friends and colleagues. This may lead to new subscribers and potential clients.

Both rates inform you about your content and audience. If the rate is high, then you have chosen the right audience, as well as included interesting and engaging content. If the rate is low, then you should rethink these two.

✅ Exploring Soft Bounce Rate

Soft bounce rate tells about a number of emails that were not delivered. As a rule, this occurs due to some technical problems, so you can stop tearing out your hair. You can try to re-send it in a little while or simply wait until the recipient’s server eventually delivers your email.

✅ Exploring Hard Bounce Rate

Much like the previous metric, this one tells you how many emails were undelivered because the email address is invalid, or closed, or non-existent. It is here where you need to say “goodbye” to these addresses and immediately remove them from the list.

✅ Considering People who “Marked Email as Spam”

Unfortunately, this happens sometimes. Immediately remove these subscribers from the list and concentrate on those who are interested in your offering.

✅ Counting List Growth Rate

The list growth rate is a metric that is certainly music to your ears. Expanding your audience is a vital thing to do since the more people hear about you, your brand and your products, the better. However, it still should be of a healthy size and you should not chase big numbers. Quality is the key to success.

✅ Counting List Decline Rate

Realizing the exact list decline rate is an unpleasant thing, but do not take it personally. Like it or not, there will always be a natural decline, so you should be ready for it. However, it does not mean that you should sit back and do nothing.

If the unsubscribe rate is too high, it is time to reform your marketing strategy.  If people do not like your email newsletter, you need to act and sort this out quickly.

✅ Checking Overall ROI

ROI stands for return on investment. This metric is valuable for your boss, sales team or your personal budget. If an email marketing campaign is economically unprofitable, then it is a sign to change the strategy, increase the subscription list, make better offers and so on.

Also see: How to Measure the Success of Your Email Campaigns

✅ Checking Device Type Statistics and Email Clients Statistics

These two factors are necessary for improving the technical side of your marketing strategy. You can have the best email copy, use the most amazing pictures in the world and offer the best deal, but if your recipients are unable to open your email properly or experience problems with reading it, then all your efforts are worthless.

It is here where you need to analyse your design, filter subscribers by device and email clients or try to find the optimal balance to please everybody.

✅ Doing A/B Tests

A/B testing lets you decide which campaign is more suitable for the targeted audience and more effective in terms of encouraging recipients to click on links. So, be ready to spend some quality time testing.

Wrapping Up: Closing the Loop on Email Campaign Success

Hitting “Send” may seem like the end of your campaign, but it’s only half the battle.

The smartest email marketers treat the post-launch phase as an opportunity to sharpen their instincts. It’s the opportunity to inspect the real numbers that confirm or challenge your predictions.

Your job in the post-launch phase isn’t to celebrate or panic; it’s to figure out what the data is telling you. Then use that insight for your next email campaign. Adjust your tone. Adjust your layout. Rethink your segmentation.

Great email marketing doesn’t happen overnight; it happens through analysis and improvement. So take what you learn and make the next email even better. Your subscribers will thank you—not necessarily out loud, but with clicks, engagement, and maybe even a purchase.