If your emails are landing in Gmail’s Promotions tab, check out this article for helpful tips to increase the chances of your emails reaching your subscribers’ Primary inbox.

What is the Promotions Tab?

The Promotions tab in Gmail is a default, smart-filtering folder that automatically sorts marketing emails, newsletters, promotional offers, and bulk messages out of the Primary inbox.

Gmail uses algorithms to do this, keeping personal and important emails in Primary while grouping commercial or less time-sensitive messages in Promotions to reduce inbox clutter.

While this helps users keep their inbox organized, it can be challenging for businesses. Emails in the Promotions tab are less likely to be seen or opened, which is why it’s important to optimize your emails to avoid landing there.

While there’s no guarantee that your emails will land in the Primary inbox, there are a few things you can do to improve the chances of your emails reaching your subscribers’ Primary inbox in Gmail.

Crafting Personal Emails

Personalizing your emails can help increase the chances of them landing in the Primary inbox.

Here are a few quick tips to help set you up for success:

Use a personal tone: Write like you’re talking to a friend, not like a business.
Address recipients by name: Using the name variable to include the recipient’s first name can make a big difference. Check out this article for steps on how to do that.
Avoid using too many images: Emails with lots of images are more likely to land in the Promotions tab.

Avoiding Promotional Keywords

Certain words and phrases can cause Gmail to flag your email as promotional.

Here are a few things to keep in mind:

Avoid sales language: Try not to use words like “free,” “buy now,” or “discount.”
Keep subject lines simple and clear: Make sure your subject lines are straightforward and not overly flashy.
Limit symbols and exclamation marks: Using too many symbols can make your email look like a promotion.

Encouraging recipients to help

Sometimes, the easiest way to avoid the Promotions tab is to ask your recipients for a little help.

Here are a few ways they can help:

Ask them to move your email to the Primary tab: A simple request can go a long way. When someone manually moves your email to the Primary tab, Gmail may start placing your future emails there as well.
Ask them to add you to their contacts: Emails from saved contacts are less likely to be marked as promotions.
Include instructions in your welcome email: Add a short note explaining how they can make sure your emails land in the Primary inbox, such as moving your email to the Primary tab and adding your sending address to their contacts.

Using a custom sending domain

Using a custom sending domain is a crucial step in improving your email deliverability.

It helps build trust with email providers and reduces the chances of your emails ending up in the Promotions tab. You can learn more about this here.

FAQs

Why do my emails go to the Promotions tab?

Gmail categorizes emails based on their content and structure. Emails that appear to be promotional or of a marketing nature often end up in the Promotions tab.