Email marketers are increasingly grappling with emails landing in the Gmail Promotions tab instead of the Primary inbox. You’ve probably tried all the usual solutions—tweaking subject lines, reducing CTAs, switching to plain-text emails—but the results still aren’t improving. 

So, what’s going wrong and how can you fix it?

Let’s break it down.

1. The Real Impact on Campaign Performance

When your emails land in the Promotions tab, the effect is immediate—lower open rates, fewer clicks, and ultimately, less revenue. Shashwat, Founder at Lyftcurve, observed a 30-40% drop in performance metrics after his emails started landing in Promotions.

For brands depending on email-driven revenue, this drop is more than an inconvenience—it’s a direct hit to the bottom line. Research shows that emails landing in Promotions cause a 16% drop in campaign revenue on average. That’s a substantial loss when you factor in high-volume campaigns.

Key takeaway: Gmail’s Promotions tab significantly impacts both engagement and revenue generation.

2. Plain Text vs. Reduced CTAs: What Actually Works?

Plain-text emails and reducing CTAs are often suggested to improve inbox placement. However, Shashwat’s experience shows that while plain-text emails did improve deliverability slightly, they didn’t lead to increased engagement.

Amit Desai, Retention Marketing Manager at Purplle, also found that reducing CTAs did little to help deliverability and engagement. Instead, he recommends a balanced approach—keeping a 40-60 ratio of text to images. This approach not only improves deliverability but also ensures emails are engaging enough to drive action.

Key takeaway: A holistic content strategy—including a balanced text-to-image ratio—works best for improving inbox placement and engagement.

3. Domain Health: The Unsung Hero of Deliverability

If you aren’t monitoring your domain health, you’re missing a critical piece of the puzzle. SPF, DKIM, and DMARC are the key email authentication protocols that Gmail uses to verify whether your emails are legitimate. Without them, your emails won’t make it to the Primary inbox.

Shashwat and Amit both emphasize the importance of regular domain checks. Shashwat uses Google Postmaster to track domain health and real-time reputation. Amit also tracks domain reputation through ESP panels and emphasizes targeting verified email data for better engagement.

Amit further highlights that maintaining a strong domain reputation is imperative for avoiding spam traps and being flagged as a low-quality sender.

According to Mailgun, 70% of emails exhibit at least one issue that could prevent them from reaching the inbox. Without regular monitoring, you risk your emails being filtered as spam or landing in Promotions, which would cost you significant revenue.

Key takeaway: Domain health is essential—regularly monitor your domain’s reputation and follow email authentication protocols.

4. Warm-Up Flows: A Long-Term Strategy for Success

Building domain trust with Gmail is a gradual process. Warm-up flows are necessary to establish your domain’s legitimacy. Shashwat explained that it typically takes 12 days of gradual email volume increases to gain Gmail’s trust.

Starting with highly engaged users (e.g., those who frequently open and click on your emails) allows you to build credibility before scaling up. Shashwat also emphasizes the importance of consistency and scaling up gradually.

Amit also shared a similar approach, suggesting that cohorting—targeting specific, active users early on—helps the brand improve inbox placement without risking spam filters. Consistency is key: scale your warm-up gradually while maintaining relevant content for each user group.

Key takeaway: Warm-up flows are essential for building Gmail’s trust—start small with highly engaged users and scale gradually.

5. Fallback Strategies: When Email Doesn’t Deliver

Even with the best-laid plans, sometimes emails won’t land as expected. This is where fallback strategies come in. Shashwat uses WhatsApp as a backup channel for promotions and reminders. However, he acknowledges that WhatsApp lacks the same capacity for delivering detailed content like emails do.

Amit also leans on Push notifications as a fallback, especially when email performance is down. While Push notifications can drive traffic, they often lack the depth of content available through email, which is especially important for long-format communication.

Key takeaway: While alternative channels like WhatsApp and Push notifications are valuable, nothing beats email for delivering detailed, personalized content.

6. The Cost of Promotions Tab: What’s at Stake?

If you’re still unsure about how much this problem could cost you, here’s a clearer picture. Emails landing in the Promotions tab can significantly reduce both visibility and engagement. Research shows that only 2.41% of emails to Gmail users land in the Primary tab, with over 90% ending up in Promotions or Updates (source: SalesHandy).

Studies show that emails in Promotions experience a 19.9% lower open rate and 19.9% of Gmail users never check the Promotions tab (source: Return Path). This could be a serious revenue loss for your campaigns.

Key takeaway: Promotions tab placement leads to lower open rates and a direct drop in campaign revenue.

7. No Quick Fix: A Process of Continuous Refinement

It’s clear that there’s no single fix for Gmail deliverability issues. Instead, it’s a continuous process of monitoring, experimentation, and refinement. Whether it’s improving domain health, testing email content, or running consistent warm-up flows, success takes time.

Start by ensuring your domain reputation is solid, test your email content, and have fallback strategies in place. Consistency is key to long-term success.

Key takeaway: Gmail deliverability is a long-term game—don’t expect instant results, but with the right approach, performance will improve.

Conclusion: What’s the Solution?

If your emails are landing in the Promotions tab, it’s time to start implementing domain health checks, warm-up flows, and consistent content testing. Don’t forget to have fallback strategies ready. As Shashwat and Amit both emphasize, consistent efforts and strategic refinements will ultimately pay off.

In a world of aggressive CRM tactics and shrinking inbox attention, getting your emails into the Primary inbox is key. But it’s not just about inbox placement—it’s about building long-term engagement and trust with your audience.

 

We thank the following for their contributions to this article:

• Amit Desai, Manager – Retention Marketing, Purplle.com
• Shashwat, Founder, Lyftcurve Marketing Pvt Ltd