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Gmail changes. Does it change anything about email marketing?

by sbmonsey1
8 replies
Hi. With the new Gmail layout you get all "Promotions" in the Promotions box that makes me think that less people will open my emails and i think this is what Google is targeting with that. Is there any solution, discussion about that anywhere ?

Thanks
#change #email #gmail #marketing
  • Profile picture of the author Mitch Barber
    Google are definitely keeping us on our toes aren't they?! I heard somewhere that Aweber customer support has allegedly said that the first 'confirmation email' will end up in the Promotions tab. And then maybe other messages will get into their main inbox - but who knows?!

    It does seem to be a reason to perhaps go with Single Opt-In and make your first message more personal and less 'promotional'. We'll just have to test and tweak as usual. I think that, as marketers, we're going to have to be more original in the way we communicate with our customers and potential customers. For example, having multiple ways of contacting them, and not just email (Skype groups, text/sms messaging, etc).

    Also if the majority of our emails are of the nature of building a relationship and giving useful advice and content (which I believe they should be!) - and not just constantly promoting stuff, then we'll not only have more of a chance of NOT ending up in the promotions tab, but also our subscribers will actually WANT to see our emails. AND we'll be leaving our competition in the dust.

    So it could actually be a bonus for the smart marketers out there. Time will tell :-)
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    • Profile picture of the author Mark Hess
      Originally Posted by Mitch Barber View Post


      Also if the majority of our emails are of the nature of building a relationship and giving useful advice and content (which I believe they should be!) - and not just constantly promoting stuff, then we'll not only have more of a chance of NOT ending up in the promotions tab, but also our subscribers will actually WANT to see our emails. AND we'll be leaving our competition in the dust.

      So it could actually be a bonus for the smart marketers out there. Time will tell :-)
      If you're using any of the major autoresponders, there's a very high chance of your email ending up in the promotions tab regardless of what you're sending out.

      Not everyone using gmail will keep this setup and I suspect a lot of people will go back to the old format just because there's a resistance to change (personally I found the tabs very annoying and switched immediately).

      I'm also not sure if the promotions tab is actually a bad thing, people opening the tab are obviously going to expect some sort of promotion. But to counter that, if you do put a useful email in there, it will seem like a 'bonus' because all the emails around you are pitches, coupons, etc.

      Honestly, I'm not worried about it, this isn't the 'death of email marketing' or anything like that.
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      • Profile picture of the author kudu
        To add on to Mark's response, if you emails deliver real value to your clients, then they can easily move you to a different tab (Primary - hopefully).

        Still trying to get my head around this too - and thanks for this thread.
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        • Profile picture of the author Mitch Barber
          Originally Posted by kudu View Post

          To add on to Mark's response, if you emails deliver real value to your clients, then they can easily move you to a different tab (Primary - hopefully).

          Still trying to get my head around this too - and thanks for this thread.
          Yes Kudu, that's pretty much what I was saying. I think we'll have to do some testing to find out more about how different emails with different content might be treated. Hopefully Google aren't just lumping everything that comes from an Auto-Responder in the Promotions tab. That would be pretty unsophisticated, so I doubt it.
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  • Profile picture of the author Snow_Predator
    I've posted about this before. I guess it means we'll just have to work harder. You'll have to let your subscribers know when and how often they can expect to receive your emails, and they have to look forward to reading your emails enough to look for them in their Promotions tab.

    I recently heard somewhere that if one day you don't send your email out by mistake, and your customers don't ask you "Hey, where's your email today?" Then you're doing something wrong.
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  • Profile picture of the author tiroberts
    It just dawned on me! That's why my email open rates have dropped - Duh!

    I sent out an email yesterday and hardly any of my list opened it. I was wondering why and then I see this thread.

    Okay, I was kind of thinking the new layout would be alright, but now I'm thinking hell no! SO not cool!

    It looks like we're all definitely going to have to work 10x's harder with list building and email marketing.

    Heck, with this change, is list building still really worth it?

    I can only imagine what this is doing to solo ad vendors.

    Ti
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  • Profile picture of the author Brian Tayler
    Unfortunately the only "solution" I've found is by violating CAN-SPAM laws and removing the unsubscribe link and/or address from the bottom of the email (Usually this is what Google appears to be looking for regarding the "Promotions" section).

    Things have changed... sure. But email marketing certainly isn't "dead" as the over sensationalized threads here would have you believe.
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  • Profile picture of the author salegurus
    Originally Posted by sbmonsey1 View Post

    Is there any solution, discussion about that anywhere ?

    Thanks
    Yes, right here:

    http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...marketing.html
    http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...new-gmail.html
    http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...ail-users.html
    http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...yet-again.html
    http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...list-long.html
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    Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.

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