A reference for myself. And maybe for others.

Pardot-specific

Sercante Creuz Your Data tool – when you are creating Pardot rules for matching prospects, you can create a string of semicolon-separated conditions up to 250 characters long. This tool splits up multi-condition rules that are longer than that into separate rules up to 250 chars each.

My own tool for embedding Pardot iFrame forms in a way that resizes the iFrame on the fly according to the content of the form. This prevents little scrollbars from appearing next to a form that gets longer during submission.

Deliverability

As of late 2023, the only tool you really need is About My Email. Go to the website, and you’ll be presented with a unique mailbox address. Send an email to that address, from the same system that you’re checking for deliverability problems – you will get information about every potential shortfall in your setup.

ReturnPath certification requirements from 2020 – a fantastic reference for best practices in email deliverability. ReturnPath was acquired by Validity as part of a monopoly roll-up in the email space. Yipee for less competition! Here is an archived version of this document. Hey let’s throw in a copy of the 2017 requirements just for fun.

Here are more basic guidelines for Gmail deliverability from Google.

The Kitterman SPF checker tool – tells you if your SPF record is set up correctly. Bonus content: a list of common SPF setup errors.

“Which Gmail tab will your email go into” tool from Litmus. Send an email to their address and they’ll show you whether you make it to inbox, social, promotions, updates, forums or spam.

Postmark spam check tool – tells you what parts of your email should be changed to avoid spam filters.

Gmail postmaster tools – like if Google actually cared about your mailings. Data only goes as far back as 120 days. Available metrics:

Gmail Feedback Loop (will be implemented by your ESP in their software).

Outlook.com Feedback Loop-type services: “Junk Email Reporting Program” and “Smart Network Data Services” (SNDS)

Design

Putsmail CSS inliner – for transferring CSS from a <style> block into specific HTML elements.

Really good emails – design inspiration from great emails. Can also kickstart the copywriting process by looking at emails that others are sending for similar purposes.