The spam folder and Google Promotions tab has killed the email marketing campaigns of many businesses. It is discouraging when you spend a lot of time curating the best email, only for it to end in a place where the receiver can’t see it. This is something that you must work to avoid.

So, how do emails end up in the spam folder or Promotions tab? When people send emails, the Gmail service will do a quick scan of the email, and determine the type of information contained within the email. Once Gmail has determined the kind of information, it will put the email in the Promotions tab, the Social tab, or the primary inbox.

Your purpose is to find ways to put your email in the primary inbox. That is because users usually read the emails that are only in this inbox.

So, how can you avoid the spam or Promotions tab? Here are things that you should implement for your newsletter to arrive in the primary inbox.

Stay Away From Email Blasts

Gmail has a way of detecting and downgrading email blasts. For example, your email newsletter will end up in the spam folder if Gmail categorizes it as an email blast. An email blast is when you send the same email to all your subscribers. The solution is to use tools that make your emails look different, even if they have the same content.

Another option is to create personalized emails for each of your subscribers. You can send an email to each subscriber depending on how far they are in the customer conversion journey.

Reduce Links

Conversational emails tend to have very few links when compared with marketing emails. The Gmail algorithm knows this, and it will mark any email with too many links as a promotional email. This means that your email will end up in the Promotions tab if you use too many links.

The ideal situation is to use not more than three links in each email.

Boost Business Reputation

The email service provider will develop a different designation for each sender. Gmail will see the patterns and rank you as a business or essential entity as you keep sending more emails. If too many of your emails land in the Promotions tab or spam folder, your business reputation will take a hit.

You can quickly know your spam score and how to improve it. The aim is to have a very low spam score for your emails to be sent to the primary inbox. It’s also a good idea to authenticate your email. Authenticated emails have a better reputation and improved email deliverability.

Create Personalized Emails

You can personalize your newsletters to be more effective so that they don’t end up in the spam folder. When you personalize a newsletter, it will gain more engagement and have a better response. The secret to personalizing newsletters is to focus on the receiver instead of your business.

As a result, you should custom-tailor your messages so that they speak directly to the recipient. It is also a good idea to begin such emails by using the recipient’s name. You may then make comments about the recipient’s previous activity.

Avoid Too Many Images

Images are a vital part of your marketing operation, but they shouldn’t be too many. Gmail may assume that you are sending a promotional email if the newsletter has too many images. The best approach is to include one or two images in your newsletter.

Encourage Recipients to Save Your Email Address

The quickest and most convenient way to put your newsletter in the primary inbox is to request recipients to save your email address. If your email address is in your recipient’s contact list, your emails will automatically enter the primary tab. Several marketers have used this strategy to whitelist their addresses.

But how do you convince people to save your email address? The idea is to contact them outside the email channel. If people contact you on social media platforms such as Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook, you can request them to save your email address. In addition, visitors to your website can also be encouraged to whitelist your address.

Adding an email address to your contact list is not an easy thing. As a result, you must provide tutorials on how people can whitelist your address. For example, show them how they can drag and drop your email from the Promotions tab to the Primary tab. They will then direct Gmail to always send all messages from that sender into the primary tab.

Send the Newsletter From Your Email Address

Google and its Gmail affiliate are trying to prioritize personal communication. Their algorithm always prioritizes personal emails as opposed to business emails. Therefore, you should use your email instead of your business email.

Most consumers will prefer getting things from people instead of businesses. While doing this, you should know that you are not trying to cheat Google’s filters. You shouldn’t discard your business email for a personal email to gain somebody’s trust. You will lose your business’s reputation and begin building a personal brand from scratch if you do that.

Segment Your Contacts

Sometimes, it is not possible to create a personalized email for each of your subscribers. In this case, please segment your contacts by using some characteristics.

For instance, you can choose people who will read business newsletters and put them in the same segment. On the other hand, individuals who would rather hear about sports news will also be in a different segment.

Segmentation can happen if you manage to get marketing automation software. The marketing automation software will automatically segment your contacts using the available data. People will eventually begin to trust your newsletters if they can relate to the content. Once more people start to open your emails, Google will prioritize your newsletters and put them in the primary inbox.

Focus on the Recipients Who Read Your Emails

Gmail usually calculates the number of people who open your emails. If a significant percentage of your recipients open your newsletters, then your email is always a priority. On the other hand, if very few people read your emails, Gmail will start pushing your emails into the spam folder or promotions tab.

Therefore, you need to send many emails to people who are likely to read them. Of course, you can still send emails to people who don’t read your emails, but preferably once in a while. In addition, spread emails to inactive subscribers over a long period.

For example, if you have a new newsletter, you should start by emailing your most active subscribers. You will wait for a day or two and then send the same email to inactive subscribers. Since Gmail will have calculated the available ratio of the first batch, its algorithm will determine that you are a credible sender. As a result, your second batch will end up in the primary inbox of your inactive subscribers.

You can use exciting subject lines to hook the inactive subscribers. You should also know the right time to send your emails to the subscribers. Sending the emails in the evenings has proven to be a good strategy because their recipients won’t be reading other work emails.

Bottom Line

Email newsletters are an excellent way to reach potential clients and increase your sales. However, they won’t help if the emails end up in the spam folder or promotion tab. That is why you must use these strategies to place your emails in the primary inbox.

We can help you to improve your email marketing operations and enhance your ROI. Contact us for more information.