Does starring a promotional email directly move it from the Promotions tab to the Primary tab?

Starring an email does send a positive signal to Gmail, indicating user interest. While it primarily serves as a personal organizational tool for the recipient, collectively, many stars from multiple users can contribute to an improved sender reputation. However, its direct impact on shifting future emails to the Primary tab for all users is less significant than other engagement signals.

What are the most impactful user engagement signals for Gmail deliverability?

Gmail's algorithm considers various factors like opens, clicks, replies, adding to contacts, and manually moving emails to the primary inbox as stronger positive signals. While starring is a positive signal, it is generally considered less impactful on future inbox placement compared to these other direct engagement actions.

Is it bad if my promotional emails consistently land in Gmail's Promotions tab?

The Promotions tab is not inherently bad for promotional emails. It serves as a dedicated space for users to find deals and marketing messages. Many users actively check this tab. The key is to ensure your emails consistently land in a user's inbox (whether Primary or Promotions) and maintain high engagement within that tab. Read more about the impact of Gmail's tabs for deliverability.

What are the best practices to improve overall Gmail deliverability?

Focus on content relevance, email list hygiene (removing inactive subscribers), and strong email authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC). Encourage active engagement like clicks and replies through compelling content and clear calls-to-action. Also, monitor your sender reputation and avoid blocklists .

How does starring affect my sender reputation?

While starring primarily helps individuals organize their inboxes, it also signals their interest to Gmail. This contributes to the overall engagement metrics for your sender reputation. A good sender reputation can indirectly lead to better inbox placement for future campaigns by improving your standing with Gmail's algorithms.

How does starring a promo email in Gmail affect deliverability and inbox placement? - Sender reputation - Email deliverability - Knowledge base

Many of us instinctively star important emails in Gmail to save them for later or highlight them for quick access. This action helps keep our personal inboxes organized. But if you are an email sender, you might wonder what impact this seemingly small user action has on email deliverability and inbox placement, especially for promotional emails often sorted into Gmail's Promotions tab.

The Promotions tab is designed to help users manage marketing and promotional messages, preventing them from cluttering the primary inbox. However, it is essential to understand whether a user starring an email influences where future emails from that sender land, or if it is merely a personal organizational tool.

The basics of Gmail's tabs and user engagement

Gmail's inbox categorization, including the Promotions tab, is determined by sophisticated algorithms that analyze various signals to understand email content and user preferences. These signals include sender reputation, email content, and, crucially, user engagement. Understanding how Gmail categorizes emails is key to effective email marketing.

User engagement actions, such as opening, clicking, replying, moving an email to the primary inbox, or starring it, all act as positive signals to Gmail. These actions indicate that the recipient values the email's content and wishes to receive more like it. Conversely, negative actions like marking an email as spam or deleting it without opening send detrimental signals.

While individual actions like starring contribute to an overall engagement profile, their precise weight in Gmail's algorithms is not publicly disclosed. However, any positive interaction helps build a stronger sender reputation. Maintaining a good sender reputation is fundamental to improving Gmail inbox placement and avoiding the spam folder.

Starring as a positive engagement signal

Starring an email primarily serves as a personal organizational tool for the individual user. When you star an email in Gmail, you are essentially flagging it as important for your own reference, making it easy to find later in the Starred folder. This action itself does not directly move the email from the Promotions tab to the Primary tab for that specific email, nor does it guarantee that future emails from the same sender will land in the Primary tab for that user.

However, starring an email is indeed a positive engagement signal. Gmail's algorithms observe a wide range of user interactions to build a profile of user preferences and sender reputation. While a single star may have a minimal, isolated impact, it contributes to the overall positive sentiment a user has towards a sender. This cumulative effect is what truly matters.

It is important to differentiate starring from other Gmail features that explicitly tell Gmail an email is important. For instance, the Importance Marker (the yellow arrow next to the subject line) is designed to signal importance to Gmail's algorithm more directly. According to Google's support documentation, starring primarily helps users remember to look at emails later.

Starring an email

Purpose: Primarily for personal organization and quick access to flagged emails.
Impact on Placement: Contributes to general positive engagement. Unlikely to immediately shift future emails to the Primary tab for that user on its own.
Visibility: Adds the email to the Starred folder. Doesn't alter the current tab classification.

Marking as important (yellow arrow)

Purpose: Explicitly tells Gmail that the email is important to the user.
Impact on Placement: A stronger direct signal that influences Gmail's sorting algorithm for future emails from the sender for that user.
Visibility: Affects the email's perceived importance and can influence its visibility in the primary inbox.

The broader impact on sender reputation

While a single star may not drastically alter your deliverability, the collective action of many subscribers starring your emails can send a powerful signal to Gmail. When a significant portion of your audience actively engages with your emails, it positively reinforces your sender reputation. Reputation is a key factor for inbox placement.

Gmail's algorithms are designed to deliver emails that users want to see. High positive engagement rates across your subscriber base signal to Gmail that your content is valuable and relevant. This can lead to improved inbox placement not just for individuals who starred your emails, but potentially for your audience as a whole, increasing the likelihood of landing in the primary tab for a broader segment of your list.

It is crucial to note that no single action guarantees primary inbox placement. Gmail's filtering system is complex, weighing multiple factors. However, consistent positive engagement, including starring, contributes to a robust sender reputation over time. This makes it more likely that your emails will bypass spam filters and land in the desired inbox location, whether that is the Primary or Promotions tab, depending on user preference and email content classification.

Engagement signal	Impact on deliverability	Typical sender goal
Opens	Strong positive signal. Indicates content relevance and interest.	Higher visibility and sender trust.
Clicks	Very strong positive signal. Shows direct interaction and value.	Improved sender reputation and potential primary inbox placement.
Replies	Extremely strong positive signal. Human interaction indicates high interest.	Significant boost to sender reputation and inbox placement.
Moving to primary	Direct positive signal for inbox preference.	Likely to place future emails in the primary tab for that user.
Adding to contacts	Strong indication of trust and desire to receive emails.	High likelihood of future inbox placement.
Starring	Positive signal, contributing to overall engagement metrics.	Minor but helpful contribution to sender reputation.

Strategies for better inbox placement

While encouraging users to star your emails can be a small part of your strategy, focusing on broader email deliverability best practices will yield more significant results. Prioritizing relevant content, maintaining a clean email list, and ensuring proper email authentication are paramount. Neglecting these can lead to emails landing in spam or even on a blocklist (or blacklist).

For promotional emails, the goal should not necessarily be to avoid the Promotions tab, but rather to ensure consistent inbox placement and strong engagement within whichever tab Gmail deems appropriate. For many users, the Promotions tab is a dedicated space they check for deals and updates. Therefore, success is measured by overall engagement, not just primary inbox placement. You can read more about the impact of Gmail tabs on deliverability.

To maximize your email deliverability, focus on these key areas:

Content relevance: Send emails that your subscribers genuinely want to receive and engage with.
List hygiene: Regularly clean your list to remove inactive or invalid email addresses.
Authentication: Properly configure SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records to prove your legitimacy.
Engagement strategy: Encourage positive interactions like opens and clicks, which are stronger signals than starring alone. Read about whether email clicks improve deliverability.

Understanding the overall deliverability landscape

Positive engagement signals

While starring an email is a positive indicator of user interest, its direct influence on future inbox placement is part of a larger, more complex system. Gmail considers a multitude of signals to determine where an email lands. Focusing on overall sender reputation and consistent positive engagement is more impactful than relying on a single action like starring.

Starring a promotional email in Gmail does contribute to your overall engagement metrics. However, it is a subtle signal compared to explicit actions like moving an email to the primary inbox or consistently opening and clicking links. For senders, the key takeaway is to build a strong sender reputation through consistent positive interactions and adhering to best practices. This holistic approach is what truly enhances your email deliverability and ensures your messages reach their intended recipients, regardless of the specific tab.

Ultimately, the Promotions tab is not inherently bad. Many users actively use it to manage their subscriptions and offers. The goal should be to ensure your emails are placed where users expect them and that they continue to engage with your content there. Focus on providing value, maintaining a healthy list, and authenticating your emails to secure your overall deliverability success.

Views from the trenches

Best practices

Encourage overall engagement, not just starring, to improve sender reputation.

Segment your audience based on engagement to send more targeted emails.

Maintain a clean email list by removing inactive subscribers regularly.

Common pitfalls

Assuming a single user action like starring guarantees primary inbox placement.

Neglecting broader deliverability best practices while focusing on minor signals.

Sending emails to unengaged subscribers, which can harm sender reputation.

Expert tips

Actively encourage subscribers to add your email address to their contacts.

Provide clear calls-to-action that drive clicks and engagement within emails.

Test different content types and sending frequencies to optimize engagement rates.

Expert view

Expert from Email Geeks says starring an email is an engagement signal that helps surface the message, especially on the web interface, so it is a good action.

2023-01-18 - Email Geeks

Marketer view

Marketer from Email Geeks says any positive signals from users indicating they want the email can feed into overall deliverability.

2023-01-18 - Email Geeks