Flimpbruary Day 5: Testing and QA

I believe that Testing/QA is perhaps the most important part of creating a web video marketing campaign.  Testing, when done correctly, places the marketer in the audience’s seat.  While it is important to QA each element of a web video marketing campaign on its own merits, it is also extremely important to review everything in a simulated environment.
While many people feel that QA can be done by evaluating a flimp video landing page (VLP) within the “Preview” view or my reading the email body copy within a campaign set-up window, to effectively gauge if everything is working properly, you need to evaluate all components outside of either the FLIMP Platform or your Email Service Provider (ESP).  Depending on the distribution type, the flimp VLP may be evaluated by

  1. Creating a weblink to test the flimp in a web browser.
  2. Sending a test email from either Flimp Email or an integrated ESP.
  3. Integrating the HTML, Embed as Flash or Optimized for Search Engine Marketing source code into your website or blog.
When I discuss Testing/QA with Flimp’s clients, I recommend evaluation the following components:  Video, Video Landing Page, Email, and Embedded Content.
Video:
  • Watch the video to completion.
  • Make sure the video runs smoothly and the audio is clear.
  • If the progressive download appears to stop or stall, then the video bitrate may be too high. The video should be re-coded at a 400 bitrate.
Flimp Video Landing Page:
  • Watch the video to completion.
  • Check for spelling and other typographical errors.
  • Make sure text added as either a Single Line Text or a as Rich Media Text renders correctly. This is especially important if the copy has been directly “cut and pasted” from a Microsoft Word document. Word is a powerful tool. However, Word and the HTML format do not always play well together. You need to be on the lookout for broken characters, such as quotation marks, apostrophes, dashes and other symbols may appear broken if you copy directly from Word and paste into either the Rich Media Text.
  • Look at any image or photo to make sure you are using the correct image.
  • Click on each link to make sure it is pointing to the correct web page, PDF or email address.
  • If you have added activated either the Forward to a Friend or the Response Form or created a Form using the Form Builder, fill out each form and make sure the data is appearing in the flimp report.
     

Email:

  • Send a “test” email directly from either Flimp Email or your ESP. The “test” email should contain all the information that will be included in the actual distribution. This includes the email sender’s name, email sender’s address, actual subject line, actual body copy, and any personalization that will be included in the email.
  • Look to see if your email message was delivered directly to your inbox or if it was sent to your email’s spam/junk folder. Sometimes emails with the word TEST in the Subject line may be sent to a spam/junk folder. If this is the case, re-send the email without the word TEST in the subject line.
  • Use a spam identifying tool to make sure the subject line and/or body copy does not trip off any spam filters. Certain words can trip off spam filters.
  • Check for spelling and other typographical errors.
  • Make sure the message renders correctly. This is especially important if the copy has been directly “cut and pasted” from a Microsoft Word document. You need to be on the lookout for broken characters, such as quotation marks, apostrophes, dashes and other symbols may appear broken if you copy directly from Word and paste into your email set-up.
  • If personalization is being used, such as Dear FirstName, make sure that the copy presents as Dear Jennifer, and not Dear FirstName or Dear ,.
  • Click on the link to the flimp. Watch the flimp to completion. Go into either the Distribution Report or main Report to make sure your at individual email address information appears in the reports.

Embedded Content:

  • Watch the video to completion.
  • Check for spelling and other typographical errors. Make sure text added as either a Single Line Text or a as Rich Media Text renders correctly.
  • Make sure that the flimp appears correctly within a web page.
  • Watch the video to completion.  Make sure it appears in the flimp report.  While at individual level email address information will not appear, video viewing minutes and any other functionality will appear.

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