Ad preview (Newsletter simulation)

What is the Newsletter Preview?

Newsletter Preview lets you generate a realistic preview of an ad as it appears in a specific newsletter and placement.

Instead of relying on manual checks or workarounds, you can send your newsletter to Passendo, let the platform process it, and then preview the ads exactly as they would render in the final email. You can also resend or share the preview with advertisers when approval is required.

This creates a clear, self-service way to validate newsletter ad setups before launch.

Why use Newsletter Preview?

This feature is designed to make campaign validation simple, visual, and reliable.

With Newsletter Preview, you can:

• Confirm that Passendo placement tags are implemented correctly
• Verify how creatives render within the actual newsletter layout
• Share visual proof with advertisers for pre-launch approval
• Reduce errors before campaigns go live
• Eliminate manual testing steps and internal support requests

Who is this for?

Newsletter Preview is useful for:

• Publishers validating newsletter ad placements and tags
• Advertisers reviewing how their creative appears in real newsletters
• Ad operations and editorial teams handling quality assurance and approvals

 

How to create a newsletter simulation

The video below walks through the full Newsletter Preview flow, from sending a newsletter to Passendo to previewing creatives inside a real sendout.

Use it as a visual reference alongside the steps below.

Prerequisites

Before creating a simulation, make sure that:

• Passendo placement tags are added to your newsletter
• sendout@passendo.com has been added as a subscriber in your ESP
  (or you send the newsletter directly to this address)

Step 1: Send your newsletter to Passendo

1. Prepare your newsletter as usual, including Passendo placement tags
2. Send the newsletter to sendout@passendo.com from your ESP
3. Wait approximately 10 minutes for the sendout to be processed

Step 2: Find your newsletter sendout

You can access newsletter simulations from two places in the platform.

From the SUPPLY side:

• Go to SUPPLY → Brand → Newsletter → Preview
• Open Sendouts history to see all processed sendouts
• Each sendout includes details such as sendout name, ID, date, and number of tags

 

From here, you can view, resend, or remove simulations linked to that newsletter.

From the DEMAND side:

• Go to DEMAND → Advertiser → Order → Line item → Preview

• Select:
  • The newsletter
  • The sendout
  • The placement
  • The creative you want to preview

Next, if you click "Preview in browser", Passendo will generate a simulation showing how that creative appears in the selected newsletter placement.

You can also send the preview in email, to your client, colleagues, by inserting the email address(es) in the "preview recipient(s)" field. 

What’s the value?

Newsletter Preview improves both speed and accuracy across newsletter campaigns.

Key benefits include:

• Time saved by removing manual preview steps
• Improved accuracy with real, in-newsletter rendering
• Greater control for publishers and advertisers
• Fewer setup errors before campaigns go live
• Higher confidence during approval and QA processes