How can I prevent transactional emails like account verification links from landing in the Gmail promotions tab?
Summary
What email marketers say10Marketer opinions
Email marketer from Email On Acid Blog suggests carefully crafting the preview text of your transactional emails. Avoid promotional language or offers in the preview text, and focus on providing clear information about the transaction.
Marketer from Email Geeks suggests that the word "deals" would likely be a keyword used in a promotions tab filter.
Email marketer from HubSpot Blog recommends using a recognizable 'From' name for your transactional emails. Use a clear and consistent 'From' name that users can easily identify, such as your company name or a specific department.
Email marketer from StackOverflow emphasizes implementing SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records for your sending domain. Proper authentication verifies that your emails are legitimate and reduces the likelihood of being flagged as spam or promotional.
Email marketer from Sendinblue Blog recommends segmenting your email list and sending transactional emails from a separate IP address or domain with a dedicated reputation to ensure they are not mixed with promotional content.
Email marketer from SuperOffice Blog advises avoiding URL shorteners in transactional emails. Use full, direct links to your website instead of shortened URLs, as these can be associated with spam or phishing attempts.
Email marketer from Litmus Blog advises maintaining consistent sending practices. Send transactional emails from the same IP address and domain consistently, and avoid sudden spikes in sending volume that can trigger spam filters.
Email marketer from Reddit explains that maintaining a good sender reputation is vital. Ensure your domain is properly authenticated (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) and avoid sending unsolicited emails that could lead to spam complaints.
Email marketer from Neil Patel's Blog suggests avoiding promotional language in transactional emails, such as words like 'discount' or 'free', and focusing on clear, concise language directly related to the transaction.
Email marketer from Mailjet Blog advises using a simple, plain-text email design for transactional emails, avoiding excessive images, colors, and promotional banners that can trigger the promotions filter.
What the experts say5Expert opinions
Expert from Word to the Wise emphasizes the importance of using a separate and consistently maintained sending infrastructure specifically for transactional emails. This helps build a positive reputation for transactional mail, distinct from marketing campaigns.
Expert from Email Geeks explains that there's no real way to control Gmail tab placement on a per-email basis, and suggests focusing on user education, so users know to look in the promotions tab.
Expert from Spam Resource explains that emails need to be correctly authenticated using SPF, DKIM and DMARC. If these are not setup correctly then this reduces the chance of your emails being delivered correctly.
Expert from Email Geeks shares that plain-looking emails with minimal HTML and images may be more likely to land in the updates or primary tab compared to heavily designed, image-heavy messages.
Expert from Email Geeks explains that marking a message as transactional only impacts whether an ESP requires an unsubscribe link and doesn't influence mailbox provider filtering.
What the documentation says3Technical articles
Documentation from SparkPost suggests using a dedicated IP address for sending transactional emails. A dedicated IP helps build a positive sending reputation, making it less likely that transactional emails will be filtered as promotional.
Documentation from RFC explains that you must still implement a List-Unsubscribe header for transactional emails. Although this doesn't directly prevent emails landing in the promotions tab, it can improve user satisfaction which in turn improves the user rating of your domain and lowers the chance of being put into the promotions tab.
Documentation from Google Support recommends that users can create filters in Gmail to automatically move specific emails (like those from your domain) to the primary inbox, bypassing the promotions tab. Encouraging users to do this can improve deliverability for future emails.