If you have Gmail you’ve noticed recently that there has been some changes. Instead of getting all your mail to one inbox your mail is now separated into three categories: Primary, Social and Promotions.
This is where those of us that send out email campaigns for our clients might start to do this:
Not to worry. Take a deep breath. Things are not be as bad as that, for a few reasons.
1. Even though your open rates may suffer, the people who find your email in the promotions area will most likely take the time to interact with it be it through a click, an action step, etc.
2. If you are mailing to a “house” file you can encourage people to move your emails over to the “Primary” tab since if they are opting-in to get your content then your really shouldn’t be in the “Promotions” tab in the first place.
3. If you stick to what works well in designing a good looking email with a solid call to action, keep it simple and uncluttered and have a good call to action you will still have the advantage over the email marketers who’s 15 year old cousin designs their campaign in Microsoft Word.
4. People receiving emails in the “Promotions” tab now have the chance to scan and read these emails separately from the emails in their “Primary” inbox. This will give people more time and patience to sort through the promotion emails and give them the time and in some cases lack of time that they deserve. Since the emails are no longer clumped with the important stuff and they get their own space they will now get more time that just delete, delete, delete….
In short, keep an eye on your next few email campaign stats with an eye on the Gmail accounts see what if any affect the new changes have.
And breathe, don’t forget to breathe. The alternative is not so great.