Are your CloudSpot emails landing in your clients' Promotions tab? Are you seeing on your Email History that emails are delivered, but not opened or clicked? Here are some ways to improve email deliverability and help ensure your clients see your email the first time!
Recently, Gmail introduced different inbox tabs to help improve deliverability and open rates and to decrease spam complaints from their users. Gmail delivers emails to these tabs based on constantly changing algorithms that take all sorts of variable data into account, like sender information, the content of the email, and how the recipient engages with the email.
First: Don't stress! 😅 These tabs in Gmail are actually additional inboxes -- NOT a spam box. Many Gmail users don't even take advantage of these tabs — many people disable them because they prefer a more "traditional" inbox experience, where all emails are just delivered to one place, regardless of whether they are marketing related.
Why is my CloudSpot email going to my client's Promotions tab?
Gmail automatically routes marketing emails—like deals, offers, and other promos—into the Promotions tab. Since CloudSpot is an Email Service Provider (ESP), your emails might land there, especially if they include promotional language or special offers. It’s totally normal and expected for messages sent through tools like ours. (Remember: The Promotions tab is not spam!)
While Gmail doesn’t share exactly how it decides which emails land in the Promotions tab (it's a closely guarded secret!), we do have a good idea of what factors play a role. Gmail looks at things like who the email is from (the sender), what the message says (the content), and how people typically engage with similar emails. All of these signals help Gmail figure out whether a message is promotional or more personal.
Benefits of the Promotions tab
Here’s the good news: people who regularly check their Promotions tab are usually looking for emails from their favorite brands and businesses. So if your clients are very engaged with your emails, they’ll know to check the Promotions tab to find your emails!
Getting emails delivered to the Primary tab
Gmail’s Primary tab is where emails from friends and important contacts usually land — but getting there isn’t something you can guarantee. In the end, it’s up to each person’s inbox settings.
Moving an email to the Primary tab
Your contacts may decide to move you into their Primary tab by clicking and dragging one of your emails from the Promotions tab. When they do this, they'll have the option to have all future emails from you delivered to the Primary tab.
Your clients may also disable these tabs altogether, allowing all emails to be delivered to the Primary inbox.
What you can do
Here are some things you can do to help your CloudSpot gallery emails land in the Primary tab:
Ask your clients, perhaps when you first book them through your Lead Form, to add your From email address to their contacts. This will add CloudSpot's specific sender address as a contact, and emails from a subscriber’s contacts always go to the Primary inbox!
In Gmail, this can be done by hovering over the sender's name in the top-left corner of the email, and then clicking Add to Contacts:
Personalize your email and address your contacts by name. Avoid sending generic emails that don't show Gmail that you know the recipient. Use the Smart Fields in your CloudSpot email templates to automatically personalize your emails without any extra work!
Write to your contacts as if they are your friends. Avoid sending spammy-sounding emails and use a warm, conversational tone—like you're chatting with someone you know and care about.
Avoid using spam-like subject lines: words like "click," "earn," "winner," "guarantee"; phrases like "call now," "click here," "open now"; writing in all uppercase letters; excessive use of "!!!!" or "?!?!?"