by Jimmy Kim THE Gmail “Promotional Tab.” To an email marketer, it’s almost as bad as landing in a spam or junk mail box. But, her...
by Jimmy Kim
THE Gmail “Promotional Tab.”
To an email marketer, it’s almost as bad as landing in a spam or junk mail box. But, here’s the good news: it’s not AS bad. Statistically, your emails will still get read and clicked on, just expect a decrease in interaction.
Let’s start here, because first of all, you have to determine the moment you started seeing your emails end up in the folder.
It’s time to “fight your way” out of the promotional tab… with WORDS! And it can be done, I’ve seen it done over and over (including with my own emails).
So use this as a guide. It’s not the 100% definite way to remove yourself from the promotional tab, but if you follow these 6 guidelines, you’ll have a better chance of going back to the primary tab in gmail.
Here are the main reasons why you could end up in promo:
1. Set Templates and Signatures
I know they look nice. The same format every time, the same look.
Guess who else does this? Large companies like Apple or Facebook. Why? Because it’s the corporate look.
If you own a company that requires this type of branding, then the promotional box will most likely be your home.
2. Big “Company or Keywords”
Just to list a few: Google, Facebook, Bing, Yahoo, Twitter, and Youtube… all these are “authority” key words. Avoid them. Try to be creative.
Here’s some creative ways to avoid it:
Google = The Big G or The Largest Search Engine in the World
Facebook = FB or The largest social media platform or
YouTube = YT or Th Tube or something that is more vague
3. Google for SEO
Copy and pasting no longer works in email marketing.
Think about this… you are promoting a product that probably 100-200, or maybe 500 affiliates are promoting.
10% of them copy and paste and based on 500, that’s 50 people who just copy and paste the “email” and hit send.
Gmail sees 50 people with an average list of 2,500… that means 1,250,000 million emails get sent out with the SAME exact email copy!
What do you think your chances of hitting the promotional or spam box are?
They just GREATLY increased!
4. Pictures and Images
They HAVE to be unique.
With the recent release of Google and Image Search, every image is now scrubbed through Google’s system when you send an email. If the image is considered a stock image or non-unique it’ll increase your Promotional Tab chances!
5. Symbols or Formatting
We’ve been taught that symbols are great!!! If I use the RIGHT exclamation points with tons of question marks with bolding and highlighting, people will pay more attention right?
Well… Gmail finds it as obnoxious as I do if you use too many. Here are a few examples:
==> Click Here
Check this out!!!
Are you READY????
FIND OUT MORE HERE!
Make $215 a day!!
6. Email Curse Words
You know the words, I’ve made a great post here about them!
You really need to stop using them as much as possible, because… first – it’s going to first land you in the promotional box… then – most likely in the spam box!
You get the point, if it looks “spammy,” it’s going to affect your delivery. Think before you use it!
Now these 6 tips aren’t the MUST DO’s… as if you have a strong enough interaction, I can do all 6 of these and still maintain presence in the primary inbox. But chances are you don’t… as most people don’t. I’ve even seen Facebook end up in my spam box!
So take these tips as general knowledge and apply them to your email marketing – it’s good practice either way.
Oh and these things ALSO apply to subject lines as well, not just the body.
I hope this helps! Take a minute and let me know what your favorite tip was or what your best “AH HA” moment was from this list!
COMMENTS