When it comes to Gmail deliverability, Gmail is one of the strictest email inbox providers and getting information to reach your contacts if not properly prepared can be difficult, which is why we want to talk about it.
Is Your DKIM/SPF Set Up?
If you haven't already, the first place to start is ensuring your DKIM/SPF is set up correctly, which can be done easily through your email service provider (and through our platform as well). Getting your DKIM/SPF authenticated is one of the quickest ways to boost your email deliverability and is paramount in ensuring your sends do well. More often than not, this is the first pain point to investigate when seeing low deliverability scores.
Design and Gmail Deliverability
How the email is laid out is key to making sure it reaches its destination. When it comes to making an email send and Gmail deliverability, the focus should be on making the campaign look as human as possible. This means minimal images if any, using merge tags to personalize the information, and keeping the HTML as simple as possible. The more it looks as though the email is coming from an actual person, the easier it will be to get into any email inbox.
Your Subject Line
The subject line is one of the most important pieces of any email marketing campaign simply because the wording and grammar you use can decide whether the email goes into the inbox or spam folder. Don't send anything in all caps or with more than one capital letter as you can't quite looking more like spam than that. "HUGE SALE THIS WEEKEND" will go into the spam folder, while "Join us for a special sale this weekend" will get to its destination. Keep it short and concise, and don't use any spammy keywords.
Before You Send: Opt-in Best Practices
Before you hit that send button, compliance can also play a large part in ensuring your email makes it to the right location. Make sure that you have an unsubscribe link in the footer of your email. If you're sending to a new list of contacts, make sure they have opted in to receive information from you and that it is tailored to their needs. If they signed up for information on your new sale on dresses or bikes and you send an email about new shirts and skateboards, that email will go straight into the trash (or junk folder).
External Factors
It is important to also note that while this guide will help you increase your Gmail deliverability to Gmail-associated email addresses, there are outside factors you should look into as well such:
- Existing IP reputation, especially if you are on a shared IP
- High failed or hard bounce rates from previous sends
- Sending to bulk ‘info@' email addresses
- Not performing proper list cleaning
It is also important to look at your existing emails and see if they meet current best practices, which will be outlined in this checklist.
Gmail Deliverability and Primary and Promotion Tabs
Speaking directly to Primary and Promotion tabs, the best way to make sure your contacts have emails sent to their Primary tab is to ask them to move it there. Trying to be automatically placed in the Primary tab is difficult with no tried and true method able to do this.
Interested in more Gmail deliverability information?
Still on the hunt for more help with your Gmail deliverability? Check out our Gmail Deliverability Checklist.
