Why are my emails going to the promotions tab in Gmail? - Knowledge Base

Summary

Improving Gmail inbox placement involves a holistic approach that combines technical configurations, content strategy, and audience engagement. Establishing a strong sender reputation through proper authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC), consistent list hygiene practices (removing unengaged subscribers, using double opt-in), and providing valuable, personalized content are key. While some suggest focusing solely on providing value regardless of tab placement, others recommend tactics like encouraging subscribers to add the sender to their contacts or even educating clients on disabling tabs. Avoiding spam triggers, optimizing email design, and continuously monitoring deliverability metrics are also essential to ensure emails reach the intended recipient's primary inbox.

Key findings

Authentication is Paramount: Implementing SPF, DKIM, and DMARC is crucial for verifying your sending domain and signaling trustworthiness to Gmail.
List Hygiene Drives Engagement: Regularly cleaning your email list and using double opt-in ensures you're sending to an engaged audience, improving deliverability.
Value-Driven Content Matters: Providing valuable, relevant, and personalized content keeps subscribers engaged and reduces the likelihood of emails landing in the promotions tab.
Sender Reputation is King: Building and maintaining a positive sender reputation through consistent sending practices and low spam complaint rates is essential.
Technical Optimization is Required: Optimizing email design, avoiding spam triggers in content and subject lines, and using direct links instead of URL shorteners contribute to better inbox placement.
Embrace Promotions or Educate Users: Some argue focusing on value regardless of tab placement is sufficient, while others suggest educating users (especially clients) on customizing their Gmail settings.

Key considerations

Implement Full Authentication Suite: Configure SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records to authenticate your email and prevent spoofing.
Maintain a Clean & Engaged List: Regularly remove inactive subscribers and use double opt-in to ensure you're sending to a receptive audience.
Personalize & Segment Content: Tailor your email content to the interests of your subscribers and segment your lists for more targeted messaging.
Monitor & Analyze Deliverability: Track your sender reputation, spam complaint rates, and authentication status to identify and address any deliverability issues.
Optimize Email Design & Content: Ensure your emails are mobile-friendly, have a good text-to-image ratio, and avoid spam trigger words and URL shorteners.
Educate Users or Accept Promotions: Decide whether to focus on educating users on customizing their Gmail settings or accept the promotions tab and focus solely on providing high-value content.

What email marketers say

11 marketer opinions

Achieving Gmail primary inbox placement involves a multifaceted approach, balancing technical configurations with audience engagement and value delivery. While some suggest embracing the promotions tab due to minimal CTR differences, many strategies focus on building a positive sender reputation through authentication, relevant content, list hygiene, and interactive engagement. Email design optimization, avoiding spam triggers, and monitoring deliverability metrics are also crucial. Ultimately, prioritizing subscriber value and building trust are key to improving inbox placement.

Key opinions

Sender Reputation: Building and maintaining a good sender reputation is critical. This involves authenticating emails (SPF, DKIM, DMARC), keeping spam complaint rates low, and providing easy unsubscribe options.
Content Relevance & Value: Providing valuable, relevant content tailored to subscriber interests increases engagement and reduces the likelihood of emails being marked as promotions.
List Hygiene: Regularly cleaning email lists by removing unengaged subscribers improves deliverability and signals to Gmail that you are sending to an interested audience.
Engagement Tactics: Encouraging subscribers to add your email to their contacts or reply to welcome emails can improve inbox placement.
Design & Optimization: Optimizing email design for readability, mobile-friendliness, and a good text-to-image ratio can boost engagement and reduce the likelihood of being filtered.
Promotions Acceptance: Some argue that the impact of being in the promotions tab is minimal, suggesting marketers should focus on the quality of their campaigns regardless of tab placement.

Key considerations

Personalization: Personalize email content based on recipient's interests to increase engagement.
Testing: Continuously test different subject lines and email formats to optimize for engagement and avoid spam filters.
Spam Triggers: Avoid spam trigger words, excessive punctuation, all caps, and clickbait language in subject lines and email content.
Image to Text Ratio: Maintain a balanced image-to-text ratio in emails to avoid triggering spam filters.
Deliverability Monitoring: Regularly monitor sender reputation, spam complaint rates, and authentication status using tools to identify and address deliverability issues.
Embrace Promotions: Consider that the promotions tab may not significantly impact CTR and focus on providing valuable content.

Marketer view

Email marketer from Reddit shares that asking new subscribers to reply to your welcome email can help signal to Gmail that your emails are important. Also they say to be careful about the ratio of images to text in your emails, as too many images can trigger the promotions filter.

6 Aug 2023 - Reddit

Marketer view

Email marketer from Email on Acid shares that optimizing email design for readability, ensuring a good text-to-image ratio, and making sure your emails are mobile-friendly can help boost engagement and avoid the promotions tab. They advise to always test emails across different devices and email clients.

2 Feb 2023 - Email on Acid

What the experts say

3 expert opinions

Gaining primary inbox placement in Gmail involves a combination of technical best practices and understanding user behavior. Experts recommend focusing on list quality, avoiding practices associated with spam, and, in some cases, even educating users on how to customize their Gmail settings to ensure receipt of important emails. Ultimately, building trust and ensuring a positive user experience are key.

Key opinions

List Quality: Maintaining a clean and engaged email list by removing inactive subscribers is essential for good deliverability.
Avoid Spam Practices: Avoid using URL shorteners as they are often flagged as spam and can negatively affect deliverability. Using direct, reputable links is recommended.
User Education: Educating users (especially clients) on how to customize their Gmail settings, such as disabling tabs, can ensure that important emails reach their primary inbox.

Key considerations

Confirmed Opt-in: Implement a confirmed opt-in process to ensure subscribers actively want to receive your emails, improving engagement metrics.
Direct Links: Use direct links to reputable domains instead of URL shorteners to build trust with mailbox providers.
Client Communication: Communicate with clients about Gmail settings and provide guidance on how to ensure they receive important emails from your organization.

Expert view

Expert from Word to the Wise explains that maintaining list quality by regularly removing unengaged subscribers and using confirmed opt-in helps improve inbox placement and avoid the promotions tab. They emphasize that engagement is a key factor for mailbox providers.

24 Feb 2022 - Word to the Wise

Expert view

Expert from Spam Resource recommends avoiding URL shorteners in your email campaigns, as they are often associated with spam and can negatively impact your deliverability. Using direct links to reputable domains improves trust and inbox placement.

29 Oct 2022 - Spam Resource

What the documentation says

5 technical articles

To improve Gmail inbox placement, technical documentation emphasizes adherence to sender guidelines, proper email authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC), and proactive list management. A gradual IP warmup for new IPs and understanding DMARC policies are also critical. The goal is to establish a legitimate sending reputation, minimize spam complaints, and ensure subscribers actively want to receive emails.

Key findings

Authentication is Key: Implementing SPF, DKIM, and DMARC authentication protocols is crucial for verifying your sending domain and proving your email is genuinely from you.
Sender Guidelines Matter: Adhering to Gmail's sender guidelines, including maintaining a low spam complaint rate and providing easy unsubscribe options, is essential for inbox placement.
List Hygiene is Crucial: Regularly removing bounced and inactive addresses from your email list improves engagement and reduces the chances of being flagged as spam.
IP Warmup: Gradually increase the volume of emails you send from a new IP address to establish a positive sending reputation.
DMARC Policy: Implementing DMARC allows you to specify how recipient servers should handle emails that fail authentication, helping to protect your domain from spoofing.

Key considerations

Implement Authentication: Set up SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records for your sending domain to verify your identity and improve deliverability.
Monitor Spam Complaints: Actively monitor and address spam complaints to maintain a positive sender reputation.
Double Opt-in: Use a double opt-in process to ensure subscribers genuinely want to receive your emails, improving list quality.
Gradual Sending Volume: If using a new IP address, gradually increase your sending volume to avoid triggering spam filters.
DMARC Reporting: Utilize DMARC reporting to gain insights into email authentication failures and potential spoofing attempts.

Technical article

Documentation from Microsoft explains the importance of list hygiene, removing bounced and inactive addresses, and keeping up-to-date subscriber data for better engagement and inbox placement. They highlight using a double opt-in process to ensure subscribers genuinely want to receive your emails.

5 Aug 2024 - Microsoft

Technical article

Documentation from RFC explains DMARC works by allowing the owner of a domain to indicate that their messages are protected by SPF and/or DKIM, and tells a receiver what to do if neither of those authentication methods passes – such as quarantine (move to spam) or reject the message. DMARC also provides a reporting mechanism, where email receivers can provide feedback to senders about messages that pass and/or fail DMARC evaluation.

2 Jul 2021 - RFC