Gmail sorts incoming messages to the Primary Inbox, Promotions tab, Social tab, and any other folders subscribers have set up. Google has a very advanced algorithm that manages this sorting, and it's impossible to trick it. If you are sending bulk emails, Gmail will almost certainly put your messages in the Promotions tab.
Only 1 in 5 Gmail users use the Promotions tab, and of those, about 60% check it daily. Most studies show that the Promotions tab has almost no impact on lowering open rates overall. For some industries, it can actually boost those rates.
However, if you want to try to influence the algorithm so that Gmail places your campaigns in a subscriber’s inbox, there are a few things you can try. However, note that the following tips are not a guarantee that your email will be sorted to the Primary Inbox.
- Remove all images
- Personalize your campaigns as much as possible. This can be done by inserting personalization tags into your email copy. To learn more, visit the “Personalization tags” help article
- Remove promotional language
- Make sure the “Reply to” and “From” email addresses are the same
- Ask your subscribers to move your email from the Promotions tab to their Primary Inbox. Gmail is more likely to place your campaigns in the Primary Inbox moving forward. This is because Gmail pays attention to how each subscriber interacts with your emails
- Ask your subscribers to disable their Promotions tab
To learn more about Gmail tabs, read the “Hype and Truth about Gmail tabs” help article and this blog post from Kickbox.