Google recently made a few enhancements to their Spam folder in Gmail, providing end-users with information on why messages land there. As an email marketer, you want to know not only if your messages make it to the spam folder, but also most importantly, why they got there and what you can do about it.
Google has cranked up the anti-spam dial, which can affect legitimate email senders.
Ask any person who uses Gmail about the spam emails they receive in their inbox and they will likely reply, “What spam?” However, there’s another side to that story that Gmail users aren’t usually aware of – the otherwise good messages that land in their spam folder, often silently and undetected.
Email marketing pro, DJ Waldow, points out that legitimate senders are being placed in the spam folder and shares a helpful tip for marketers to inspect their Gmail spam folder carefully for clues to improve their inbox placement.
Google’s Gmail product now includes short note explaining why affected messages were delivered to the Spam folder a link to recommended solutions. I won’t be the first to admit that the reasons included aren’t quite as technical as email marketers would prefer, but it’s important nonetheless. The explanations offer action-oriented advice to improve deliverability. You can learn more about this enhancement to Gmail on their blog.
If you go to your Gmail folder, select one lucky message, you’ll see a notice located at the top of it:
To see what Google thinks of your messages, add your Gmail address to your email marketing database. Then carefully monitor where your messages land. If it lands in the Spam folder, read the advice that Google provides to fix it.
A good idea to improve your Gmail inbox placement is to politely ask your recipients on transactional emails, post-purchase or initial double-opt-in email messages to click “Always show images from [you].” This will allow future emails from you to be delivered and raises the level of engagement they have by showing images and improves open-rate tracking.
