Gmail Promotions Tab

What is the Gmail Promotions tab?

The tab system within Gmail offers its users the ability to classify their email appropriately based on five types of messages: Primary, Social, Promotions, Updates, and Forums.  Promotions tab contains marketing emails and promotional offers, and, sometimes, that's where your newsletters might end up.

Why does an email land in the Promotions tab?

Only Google itself knows what algorithms are used to decide what emails go into each tab. By using Google Algorithm as a filter system, it goes through all your email and separate incoming emails into specific categories, so there's no way MailPoet could control which Gmail tab your email will appear under.

If you send bulk emails or marketing messages to an email service provider, the Promotions tab can be used to organize them. It detects if your messages contain promotional content and sends your emails to the promotions tab.

Why the Promotions tab can be good for you?

Although the Promotions tab is an extension of Gmail, it doesn't replace the Junk or Spam folder. Instead, it serves as a place where subscribers can find promotional and business emails. It helps keep your emails out of the Junk or Spam folders. Because of this, the addition of this tab has improved deliverability, open rates, and lowered spam complaints.

You can read more about it in this blog post on "Why You Should Aim for the Gmail Promotions Tab".

However, if you'd like to avoid having your emails going to this tab, you can use some tips to reduce the chances to be on the Promotions tab:

• Mention the subscriber's name: Use the subject line and one of the first lines of the email to greet your recipient by the first name by personalizing it with shortcodes . Using first names can also improve open rates and click-through rates for those not using Gmail. The more personal the email, the more likely it is to get delivered to the correct place. 

• Reduce the number of links and images in the email: The more links and images there are in an email, the more promotion it looks like. Google Algorithm seems to be based on links, phrases, and picture count. Plain text emails can work great!. 
• Test before sending: You should test content and preview it before officially send it to your subscribers. You can do it use this great tool from the team at Litmus to do it.
• Ask subscribers to move your email from one tab to another: All they need to do is drag and drop your message from one category to another. When a subscriber moves one of your campaigns from the Promotions tab to the Primary tab, Gmail asks whether it should always deliver your campaigns there.
• Avoid using spam trigger words in your subject line and email content: Try to avoid writing subject lines ALL IN CAPS and using spammy phrases like "Limited time only", "Act now! Don't hesitate", "Save big money".
• Ask your subscribers to add your sender email address to their contact lists or to drag your email to their Primary tab. You can ask this in your confirmation or welcome emails.

Just remember: there's no guarantee that following these tips your email will not end up on the Promotions tab. As explained above, it's not up to MailPoet decide in which tab your email will appear. It's up to Google Algorithm.