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Previewing as a Contact

See how your email looks for a specific subscriber

Previewing as a Contact

The “Preview as Contact” feature lets you see exactly how your email will render for a specific subscriber, with all merge tags replaced by their actual data. This is essential for verifying personalization before sending.

How to Preview as a Contact

  1. In the campaign builder, navigate to the Review step.
  2. Click the Preview as Contact button.
  3. A search field appears. Type a contact's name or email address to find them.
  4. Select the contact from the search results.
  5. The email preview updates to show the email as that specific contact would see it:
    • All merge tags ({{first_name}}, {{custom.company}}, etc.) are replaced with the contact's real data.
    • Fallback values are shown if the contact is missing data for any merge tag field.
    • The subject line and preheader preview also update with the contact's data.

What to Check

  • Merge tag rendering — confirm that personalization fields show the expected values. Look for empty spots where a merge tag might have no data and no fallback.
  • Content length — a long first name or custom field value might break your layout. Check how the email looks with real data of varying lengths.
  • Conditional content — if you have conditional blocks, verify they show or hide correctly based on the selected contact's attributes.
  • Subject line — check how the personalized subject line reads for this contact.

Preview Multiple Contacts

After previewing one contact, you can search and select a different contact to see how the email renders for someone else. This is useful for checking edge cases — for example, previewing a contact who has a long name, no first name, or unusual custom field values.

Tips

  • Preview at least two or three different contacts before sending, including one with minimal profile data to catch missing fallback values.
  • The preview shows the email at the current moment. If a contact's data changes between preview and send time, the sent email will reflect the updated data.
  • Use “Preview as Contact” alongside a test email send for the most thorough pre-send quality check.
  • This feature is read-only — it does not send anything or affect the contact's data in any way.

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