Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Gmail Tabs

As an email marketer we work each day to ensure our emails are properly received, viewed, and responded to by our recipients. So what happens when Gmail, now the world’s largest Email Provider, makes a decision that could change how we view deliverability to the inbox? We adapt. Below is what you need to know about Gmail's recent inbox formatting change: TABS.

What is it?
Gmail users now have the option to group incoming emails into tabs like Primary, Social, and Promotions. The primary tab is the first tab seen by users and holds all the important emails while all marketing emails are filtered into the Promotions tab, include Google’s own ads.

The Effect on Engagement
With the original inbox, Gmail’s open rates average at around 13% to 15% since 2012 (according to Mailchimp). Since the introduction and adoption of the new inbox, Gmail’s opens has dropped by about 18% (according to Litmus).

What can we do about this?
Email marketers have tested dozens of configurations and have yet to find a way to get their “Promotions” into the “Primary” tab. At the moment, the only solution is to ask your subscribers to drag your email into the Primary tab manually.