If you haven’t heard already, Gmail is throwing another wrench into the email deliverability gears. Gmail’s newest update, the “tabbed inbox,” consists of five automatic tabs: Primary, Social, Promotions, Updates, and Forums. Gmail automatically sorts incoming messages and places them into relevant tabs. In case you’re wondering, your bulk emails are probably heading to the Promotions tab.
GOOD OR BAD NEWS?
Despite the best efforts of some internet bloggers to convince us otherwise, this is probably bad news for most marketers. Instead of seeing emails as they are sent, users now must navigate directly to the promotions tab to view marketing emails. This means more competition, less engagement (on average messages), and less likelihood of conversions for most users. To confirm this feeling, large studies have generally shown a decline in email open rates following the new changes.
Of course, there is a silver lining: the new tab means that users will view emails when they want to, rather than being bombarded by promotional content while trying to email family members, for example. This is good news for campaigns that already enjoy a high level of engagement and trust. Users who are engaged with your brand will now seek out your emails when they’d like to view them, upping conversion rates. This increase in conversions and click-throughs has also been shown in large studies.
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR YOU?
1. Build trust – This means staying out of the spam folder by employing email verification and other anti-spam tactics. It also means building engagement with your users by sending high-quality, highly-targeted emails.
2. Try to move to the primary inbox – If you have enough trust with your readers, encourage them to move your emails to their primary inbox. This will set you as a trusted sender and will allow your emails to show up alongside a user’s personal emails. This is a big win for you.
3. Do the little things – Things like email validation, working links, and seamless internet ordering send messages to users that your brand can be trusted. Making one mistake in your email process can send the opposite message – and cost you consumer trust in the process.
4. Send fewer emails – How can you focus on building trust while providing great content? Send less stuff but make sure it is better stuff. Spending a day crafting one email is now more important than before, so take your time, do it right, and send the best emails you can.