Challenges of Tabbed Inboxes in Email Marketing

Checked my spam folder yesterday and found SO MANY DTC brands that used to be in my promotions tab. Even found double opt-in messages in there. Seems like Google/Yahoo updates are working hard to protect consumers from receiving unwanted messages 👏 For us, email marketers that means taking time to update our sending strategies and tighten the engaged segments. If segmentation was not your top priority before, it definitely should be now! Segmentation allows you to target people based on their intent, their interests, the stage of their customer journey, demographics, location and more. Some basic tips: 1. Check your flow filters. Make sure that people are not receiving your Browse, Cart and Checkout Abandonment flows all at the same time. Think about whether people in your Welcome or Thank You flows need to receive your email campaigns. 2. Make sure to send to your Engaged Segment only. And remember, Open Rates are not the true indication of engagement. 3. Send relevant content. Engaged segment is great, but imagine how many different customer personas are there! You have VIPs, prospects, one-time buyers, low AOV, high AOV, and discount shoppers - they all resonate with a different message. So take the time to really look at your audience and craft compelling offers for them. 4. Send more text-based emails. It is not a secret that text-based emails tend to land in the inboxes more frequently than the image based. So utilize that knowledge, especially if you need to fix your reputation among inbox providers. Plain text emails have the power to stand out among the other promotions tab messages and feel much more personal than the image-based sent-to-everyone flashy email. 5. Clean your list and set up proper exclusion segments. Remove spam trap accounts, unengaged, chronic bouncers, and those who have long story of not opening. What else will you add here?

Your emails are getting ignored because they're landing in promotions tabs...not because your content isn't compelling. Sounds simple, but ecommerce brands lose thousands monthly because their messages never hit the primary inbox. The brutal part? They're completely unaware it's happening. What's destroying your inbox placement: - Overloading emails with tracking pixels (major red flag for Gmail) - Using sketchy sender domains that don't match your brand - Ignoring unengaged subscribers for months (clean your lists) - Zero monitoring of your domain reputation Your clever copy and beautiful designs are useless if they're invisible. The gap between 60% and 90% inbox placement could mean a 40% revenue jump for your email program. When did you last audit your delivery rates? Most brands we work with can't even find this data. Three clicks in your email platform will show you everything. Under 85%? That's a backend issue that can multiply revenue without creating a single new campaign.

“How do I avoid the Promotions tab?” It’s one of the most common questions I get when guest speaking. And it’s no wonder: there are thousands of hacks, threads, and tutorials treating the Promotions tab like a death sentence. But here’s what they never tell you: Let’s say you have 1,000 subscribers. Step 1: Gmail users ~55% use Gmail → 544 people Step 2: Where they open – 50% use mobile apps (Gmail app, Apple Mail, etc.) → 272 – 40% use Gmail in a browser (where tabs exist) → 218 – 10% use desktop apps → 54 Only 218 people could even see tabs. Step 3: Who has tabs enabled? ~1 in 3 Gmail users → 72 people Step 4: Who actually ignores the Promotions tab? Half → 36 people So out of 1,000 subscribers, just 36 might miss your email because it landed in Promotions. That’s 3.6%. And yet… You’ve been told to rebuild your emails. Rewrite your subject lines. Re-engineer your entire strategy… For 36 people. Here’s what the guru playbook won’t say: ➡ Some people like tabs. They expect sales emails there. Force your way into Primary, and you look like a pushy guest barging into the living room. ➡ Some don’t check Promotions. For them, maybe it matters. But do you know who’s who? If not, why are you contorting your content for a tiny slice of your audience? Stop optimizing for gimmicks. Start optimizing for what actually matters: ✅ Being welcome—wherever you land ✅ Getting opened—because you’ve earned attention ✅ Playing the long game with reputation, not tricks You don’t need hacks. You need trust. Sources: Inbox Monster, Net Atlantic, Inc., Litmus