What is an email QA checklist?

An email QA checklist is a repeatable list of checks a team completes before an email is approved. For Klaviyo agencies it works best split into two gates: production QA (is the template a faithful, usable build of the approved design?) and pre-send QA (is the campaign configured, personalized and rendered correctly?).

Does passing production QA mean the email is ready to send?

No. Production QA confirms the template matches the approved design and can be edited. Subject line, sender, personalization, audience, schedule and client-specific rendering are checked later, in pre-send QA.

How do I test an email in Klaviyo before sending?

Klaviyo's template editor includes a Preview with desktop and mobile views, previews with a real profile or event for personalization, and test sends to your own inbox. Its documentation describes these options in its preview and test send guide.

Which email clients should I test?

At minimum, check the clients your client's audience actually uses. Gmail, Outlook and Apple Mail are a common baseline. A rendering platform can show many clients at once; test sends to real inboxes still catch issues such as dark mode and link tracking.

Should all copy in a Klaviyo template be editable text?

Not always. Live text is easier to edit, translate and read with images off, but some design-sensitive areas are kept as images on purpose. What matters is that the team knows which is which and that images carry meaningful alt text.

Email production guide

Klaviyo Email QA Checklist: From Approved Design to Send-Ready Template

Short answer: run email QA as two separate gates. Gate 1, production QA, confirms the approved design became a faithful, editable Klaviyo template. Gate 2, pre-send QA, confirms the campaign is configured, personalized, rendered and approved. Passing the first does not mean an email is ready to send.

A design can be approved and still fail in production. The client signs off on a picture of an email; what subscribers receive is a Klaviyo template built from it, plus a campaign wrapped around it. Somewhere between the two, sections get sliced, copy gets rebuilt as text or left in images, links get assigned, and an account gets chosen. Each step can introduce an error that the visual approval never saw.

It helps to name three approvals separately. Visual approval means the client likes the design. Production approval means the template is a correct, usable build of that design. Send approval means the final campaign — subject, audience, personalization, schedule — is ready. In most agencies these belong to different people.

The two QA gates every Klaviyo agency needs

Gate 1 sits right after template production and protects the build. Gate 2 sits right before send and protects the campaign. Keeping them apart stops a common failure: a reviewer checks the subject line, sees a nice preview, and assumes the links and editable text were verified too.

Email production workflow and owners
Step	Stage	Typical owner
1	Approved design	Designer / client
2	Template production	Production specialist
3	Production QA (Gate 1)	QA reviewer
4	Klaviyo configuration	CRM / Klaviyo specialist
5	Pre-send QA (Gate 2)	QA reviewer
6	Approval	Campaign owner / client
7	Send	CRM / Klaviyo specialist

Gate 1: Production QA checklist

Production QA answers one question: is this template a faithful, usable build of the approved design? Run it before anyone configures the campaign. If you convert flat designs, see how image-to-template conversion decides between editable text and image sections, or follow the step-by-step Figma to Klaviyo guide for Figma sources. New to the category? Start with what an email slicer does.

1. Design fidelity

What to check: The exported template against the exact approved version of the design.
How to test: Open the approved file and the Klaviyo preview side by side; scroll section by section.
Pass: No missing, reordered or outdated sections; colours and type match.
Common failure: The template was built from v2 of the design after the client approved v3.

2. Slicing and structure

What to check: Section boundaries, gaps, columns, alignment, image quality and whitespace.
How to test: Preview at desktop width and zoom in on joins between sections and on multi-column rows.
Pass: No hairline gaps, cut-through text or misaligned columns; images are sharp.
Common failure: A slice line cuts through a headline, or a product row has a 1px gap in Outlook.

3. Editable content

What to check: Which copy is a real Klaviyo text block and which is part of an image.
How to test: Click into text blocks in the editor and change a word; undo afterwards.
Pass: Live text edits keep font, size, colour and line height; image-only copy is documented.
Common failure: A promo code was left inside an image, so the CRM team can't change it next week.

4. Links and CTAs

What to check: Destinations, link assignment per region, product image links, UTMs and broken URLs.
How to test: Hover or click every button and linked image in a test send; check UTMs against the client convention.
Pass: Every clickable region opens the intended page with the agreed parameters.
Common failure: All four product tiles link to the first product.

5. Alt text and accessibility

What to check: Alt text, decorative images, text hierarchy, contrast and images-off behaviour.
How to test: Inspect each image's alt field and send a test to a client with images blocked.
Pass: Meaningful images describe their content or purpose; decorative images have empty alt.
Common failure: Alt text reads “image1.png”, or a hero image repeats its entire copy as alt text.

6. Desktop and mobile

What to check: Column stacking, spacing, image scaling and horizontal overflow.
How to test: Toggle desktop/mobile in Klaviyo's preview, then open a test send on a real phone.
Pass: Columns stack in a logical reading order with no sideways scrolling.
Common failure: A three-column row shrinks instead of stacking and the text becomes unreadable.

7. Correct Klaviyo destination

What to check: Client account, template naming, permissions and reused universal content.
How to test: Confirm the account name in Klaviyo before and after export; check the template name.
Pass: The template sits in the right client account and follows the naming convention.
Common failure: An agency exports to the wrong client account because two brands look alike.

8. Production handoff

What to check: Whether the next operator can actually use the template.
How to test: Hand it over with a short note: design version, editable areas, known limitations.
Pass: The CRM specialist can configure the campaign without asking the builder questions.
Common failure: Nobody knows which footer variant the client requires.

Gate 2: Pre-send QA checklist

Pre-send QA happens inside Klaviyo, after the campaign or flow is configured. Klaviyo's editor offers desktop and mobile previews, previews with a real profile or event, and test sends to your inbox. A blocker stops the send; a warning needs a documented decision. Production tools such as Email-Slicer stop at template export — campaign configuration and sending stay in Klaviyo.

Subject line and preview text are approved and contain no placeholdersBlocker
Sender name, from address and reply-to match the client brandBlocker
Personalization previewed with a real profile or event; fallbacks renderBlocker
Dynamic product or content blocks show the right itemsBlocker
Links still resolve after Klaviyo click tracking is appliedBlocker
Unsubscribe link works and required footer details are presentBlocker
Rendering checked in Gmail, Outlook and Apple Mail (or a rendering tool)Blocker
Dark mode and images-off views remain understandableWarning
Test send opened on a real mobile deviceWarning
Audience, segments, exclusions and suppressions match the briefBlocker
Send time and time zone confirmedBlocker
Named approver has signed off on the final test sendBlocker

Common email QA failures and how to fix them

Symptom	Likely cause	How to verify	Corrective action	Severity
Gap between two image sections in Outlook	Image heights or spacing differ from slice boundaries	Test send to Outlook or a rendering tool	Re-slice at a clean boundary; remove padding between image blocks	Warning
Every product tile opens the same page	One link copied to all regions	Click each tile in a test send	Assign a link per region and recheck	Blocker
“Hi ,” in the greeting	Personalization tag has no fallback	Preview with a profile missing first name	Add a default value to the tag	Blocker
Copy can't be changed without a designer	Text was left inside an image	Click the area in the Klaviyo editor	Rebuild that area as a text block, or document it as image-only	Warning
Template is in the wrong client account	Wrong account connected at export	Check account name in Klaviyo	Delete it there, export to the right account, log the incident	Blocker
Mobile layout scrolls sideways	Fixed-width content or non-stacking columns	Mobile preview and a real-phone test send	Enable mobile optimization / stack columns; resize images	Blocker
Logo disappears in dark mode	Dark logo on transparent background	Test send to a dark-mode client	Use a logo with a light outline or background	Warning

Who owns each QA step?

The person who built the template should not be the only person who checks it. For agencies running several Klaviyo clients, a named reviewer per client and a named approver on the client side keep sign-off fast.

Role	Responsibility
Designer	Delivers the final approved version, clearly labelled
Email production specialist	Builds the template; runs Gate 1 self-checks; writes the handoff note
CRM / Klaviyo specialist	Configures campaign, personalization, audience and schedule
QA reviewer	Independently runs Gate 1 and Gate 2; records blockers and warnings
Campaign owner / client approver	Accepts warnings and gives the final go/no-go

The final go/no-go checklist

Mark each item Pass once verified. Any open Blocker means no-go. Each open Warning needs a named person to accept it.

Design and structure

Exported template matches the approved design versionSide-by-side review shows no missing, reordered or outdated sectionsBlocker
Section boundaries and columnsNo cut-through text, broken rows or unexpected gaps between sectionsBlocker
Image qualityImages are sharp on retina screens and not visibly compressedWarning
Unexpected whitespaceSpacing matches the approved design on desktop and mobileWarning

Editable content

Editable vs image regions documentedThe team knows which copy is live text and which stays in an imageWarning
Live text edit testEditing a real text block keeps font, size, colour and line heightBlocker
Copy accuracyText matches approved copy, including prices, dates and legal linesBlocker

Links and accessibility

Every CTA and image linkEach clickable region opens the intended destinationBlocker
UTM parametersParameters follow the client naming convention and are not duplicatedWarning
Alt textMeaningful images describe their content or purpose; decorative ones are emptyBlocker
Images-off viewKey message and CTA are still understandable with images blockedWarning

Rendering and responsiveness

Desktop and mobile previewColumns stack as intended with no horizontal scrollingBlocker
Client renderingTest sends checked in Gmail, Outlook and Apple Mail (or a rendering tool)Blocker
Dark modeLogos, text and buttons remain legibleWarning

Klaviyo account and personalization

Correct client accountTemplate lives in the right Klaviyo account and naming follows conventionBlocker
Personalization variablesPreviewed with a real profile or event; fallbacks render when data is missingBlocker
Dynamic product or content blocksFeeds and conditional blocks show the right items for the audienceBlocker

Campaign configuration and approvals

Subject line and preview textApproved copy, no placeholder text, sensible length on mobileBlocker
Sender name, from and reply-toMatch the client brand and an address that is monitoredBlocker
Unsubscribe and footerUnsubscribe link works and required business details are presentBlocker
Audience and exclusionsIncluded lists/segments and suppressions match the briefBlocker
Schedule and time zoneSend time and time zone confirmed with the campaign ownerBlocker
Final approval recordedNamed approver signed off on the final test sendBlocker

Sign-off

Client
Campaign
Template URL
Reviewer
Review date
Open issues
Final decision (Go / No-go)

Download the one-page cheat sheet

Get the go/no-go checklist and sign-off box as a printable PDF to keep next to your review queue.

How to make email QA repeatable across multiple clients

Version the source. Label approved designs with a version and date so production never builds from a superseded file.
Name approval owners. One reviewer and one client approver per account, written into the brief.
Reuse one checklist. Keep a single master list; add client-specific lines (legal footers, UTM rules) as an appendix.
Standardise naming. For example CLIENT_YYYY-MM-DD_Campaign_v1 for templates, so the right one is easy to find in each account.
Write handoff notes. Editable areas, image-only areas and known limitations travel with the template.
Log recurring failures. When the same issue appears twice, turn it into a checklist line.

To see where review fits in a production pass, read how Email-Slicer works or the overview of Email-Slicer for Klaviyo.

Turn approved email designs into reviewed Klaviyo templates.

Email-Slicer proposes sections, recovers eligible text and lets you review links and alt text before export. It doesn't replace Klaviyo previews, test sends or your pre-send QA.

Try an approved design

Frequently asked questions

Sources

Klaviyo Help Center — How to preview and send test emails — https://help.klaviyo.com/hc/en-us/articles/115005081907
Klaviyo Help Center — Guide to the email template editor — https://help.klaviyo.com/hc/en-us/articles/4407911841435
Klaviyo Help Center — Preview panel for message personalization — https://help.klaviyo.com/hc/en-us/articles/27843522951707
Klaviyo Help Center — How to test and preview flow messages — https://help.klaviyo.com/hc/en-us/articles/115002774972
W3C — Understanding WCAG 2.2: Non-text Content (alt text) — https://www.w3.org/WAI/WCAG22/Understanding/non-text-content.html