Summary
Information emails landing in the promotions tab and experiencing a drop in open rates is a multifaceted problem influenced by sender reputation, email content, user engagement, and technical configurations. Gmail's algorithms filter emails based on these factors. Promotional language, excessive use of images and links, inconsistent sending patterns, and poorly designed emails can trigger these filters. A positive sender reputation, built on valuable and engaging content, is crucial. Email authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) is essential for verifying legitimacy and preventing spoofing. Low engagement signals a lack of value, emphasizing the need for segmentation, personalization, and cleaning inactive subscribers. Monitoring deliverability through tools like Google Postmaster Tools is also recommended.
Key findings
- Content is King: Email content, including subject lines and body copy, significantly impacts placement. Avoid promotional language and spam trigger words.
- Sender Reputation Matters: A positive sender reputation is critical for avoiding the Promotions tab. Focus on consistently delivering value to your subscribers.
- Engagement Drives Placement: High engagement (opens, clicks, replies) signals value, improving placement. Segment your audience and personalize messages to boost engagement.
- Authentication is a Must: Implement SPF, DKIM, and DMARC to authenticate your emails and prevent spoofing, improving deliverability.
- Technical Configuration Plays a Role: Inconsistent sending patterns and issues with email design can trigger filters. Warm up your IP and optimize for different email clients.
Key considerations
- Review Email Content: Carefully review your email content for promotional language, spam trigger words, and excessive images/links.
- Build Sender Reputation: Focus on providing valuable, engaging content that your subscribers want to receive.
- Improve Engagement Metrics: Segment your audience, personalize your messages, and clean your email list to boost engagement.
- Implement Email Authentication: Ensure SPF, DKIM, and DMARC are properly configured to authenticate your emails.
- Monitor Deliverability: Use Google Postmaster Tools to monitor your sender reputation and identify any deliverability issues.
- Maintain Consistent Sending: Warm up your IP address and maintain a consistent sending volume to build a positive sender reputation.
What email marketers say
12 marketer opinions
Information emails landing in the promotions tab and causing a drop in open rates can stem from several factors. These include sender reputation, email content, recipient engagement, and technical configurations. The use of promotional language, excessive images and links, inconsistent sending patterns, and poorly designed emails can all trigger Gmail's filters. Building a positive sender reputation by consistently delivering valuable content, personalizing messages, segmenting your audience, and cleaning your email list are crucial. Technical aspects like authenticating your email with SPF, DKIM, and DMARC, and monitoring your sender reputation via Google Postmaster Tools are also important.
Key opinions
- Content Matters: Promotional language, excessive images, and links in email content can trigger the Promotions tab filter.
- Sender Reputation: A positive sender reputation, built through consistent delivery of valuable content, is crucial for avoiding the Promotions tab.
- Engagement is Key: Low open rates and engagement metrics can signal to mailbox providers that your emails are not valuable, leading to Promotions tab placement.
- Technical Setup: Proper email authentication with SPF, DKIM, and DMARC is essential for verifying the legitimacy of your emails and improving deliverability.
- Personalization & Segmentation: Personalizing messages and segmenting your audience can improve engagement and reduce the likelihood of your emails landing in the Promotions tab.
Key considerations
- Review Content: Carefully review your email content for promotional language, excessive images, and spam trigger words.
- Improve Sender Reputation: Focus on building a positive sender reputation by consistently delivering valuable and engaging content.
- Boost Engagement: Segment your audience, personalize your messages, and clean your email list to improve engagement metrics.
- Implement Authentication: Ensure your email is properly authenticated with SPF, DKIM, and DMARC to verify its legitimacy.
- Monitor Deliverability: Use Google Postmaster Tools to monitor your sender reputation and identify any deliverability issues.
- Consistent sending volumes: Ensure consistent sending volumes to build a positive sender reputation.
Marketer view
Email marketer from Neil Patel Digital explains that Gmail's algorithm places emails in the Promotions tab based on several factors, including the sender's reputation, the content of the email, and the recipient's past interactions. Promotional language, excessive use of images, and links can trigger the filter. A drop in open rates often correlates with increased filtering.
6 Jun 2023 - Neil Patel Digital
Marketer view
Email marketer from GMass answers that placement in the Promotions tab can also stem from inconsistent sending patterns. They suggest warming up your IP address and maintaining a consistent sending volume to build a positive sender reputation.
28 Jun 2024 - GMass
What the experts say
2 expert opinions
Emails ending up in the promotions tab, resulting in lower open rates, is often due to a combination of sender reputation, email content, and user engagement. Building a positive sender reputation through valuable and engaging content is crucial, and low engagement metrics signal to mailbox providers that emails aren't valuable, leading to potential placement in the promotions tab or spam folder. Segmenting audiences and creating targeted content helps increase engagement.
Key opinions
- Sender Reputation: Gmail's promotions tab placement is influenced by sender reputation; a positive reputation is key.
- User Engagement: Low user engagement signals a lack of value to mailbox providers, impacting tab placement.
- Content Relevance: Targeted content increases engagement, improving overall email placement.
Key considerations
- Content Strategy: Consistently create valuable and engaging content to improve sender reputation.
- Engagement Metrics: Monitor open rates, clicks, and replies to gauge email value and adjust strategies.
- Segmentation: Segment audiences and tailor content for higher engagement rates.
Expert view
Expert from Word to the Wise explains that Gmail's promotions tab placement is influenced by factors like sender reputation, email content, and user engagement. They suggest focusing on building a positive sender reputation by consistently delivering valuable and engaging content to your subscribers.
15 Jun 2023 - Word to the Wise
Expert view
Expert from Spam Resource responds that consistently low engagement metrics (low open rates, clicks, and replies) signal to mailbox providers that your emails are not valuable to recipients, leading to placement in the Promotions tab or even the spam folder. They recommend segmenting your audience and sending targeted content to increase engagement.
2 May 2024 - Spam Resource
What the documentation says
5 technical articles
Information emails landing in the promotions tab and experiencing a drop in open rates can be attributed to various factors, with sender reputation, email content, user feedback, and technical configurations playing significant roles. Gmail's machine learning algorithms filter emails based on these elements, and high spam complaint rates can negatively impact deliverability. Implementing email authentication protocols like SPF, DKIM, and DMARC is essential to verify email legitimacy and reduce the risk of being marked as spam. Incorrect or missing SPF records can lead to deliverability issues, while DKIM uses cryptographic signatures to ensure message authenticity. DMARC builds on SPF and DKIM, providing a policy for handling emails that fail authentication checks, ultimately protecting domains from spoofing and phishing attacks.
Key findings
- Machine Learning: Gmail's spam filters use machine learning algorithms to identify and filter unwanted emails based on sender reputation, email content, and user feedback.
- Email Authentication: SPF, DKIM, and DMARC are essential email authentication protocols for verifying email legitimacy and improving deliverability.
- Spam Complaints: High spam complaint rates can negatively impact email deliverability.
- SPF Records: Incorrect or missing SPF records can lead to deliverability issues as they specify authorized mail servers for a domain.
- DKIM Signatures: DKIM uses cryptographic signatures to ensure that email messages are authentic and haven't been tampered with.
- DMARC Policy: DMARC provides a policy for handling emails that fail authentication checks, protecting domains from spoofing and phishing.
Key considerations
- Monitor Spam Complaints: Actively monitor and address any spam complaints to maintain a positive sender reputation.
- Implement SPF: Ensure SPF records are correctly configured to authorize mail servers for your domain.
- Implement DKIM: Implement DKIM to digitally sign email messages, verifying their authenticity.
- Implement DMARC: Implement DMARC to define a policy for handling emails that fail authentication checks, improving security.
- Review Email Content: Regularly review email content to avoid triggering spam filters, ensuring a balance between text and images.
Technical article
Documentation from Microsoft shares that to improve email deliverability, authenticate your email with SPF, DKIM, and DMARC. These protocols help verify that your emails are legitimate and reduce the risk of being marked as spam.
5 Mar 2025 - Microsoft
Technical article
Documentation from RFC explains that Sender Policy Framework (SPF) records are used to specify which mail servers are authorized to send emails on behalf of your domain. Incorrect or missing SPF records can lead to deliverability issues.
15 Oct 2022 - RFC-Editor
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