How do Gmail tabs affect political and advocacy emails, and what are potential solutions?

Email marketer from Email Geeks suggests creating another tab for "non-marketing" bulk emails or helping Gmail users understand how the tabs work. Providing on-email guidance could empower users to manage their inbox preferences.

Email marketer from Email Geeks explains that Google's "promotions" tab was built for "deals and offers," but the algorithm marks most bulk, non-transactional mail as promotional, even if it isn't. This forces advocacy and political content to compete against retail marketing, undermining political messaging.

Email marketer from Technology & Marketing Law Blog suggests that Gmail tab sorting might be discriminatory but notes that the only solution is to change user behavior by encouraging users to manually move emails or disable tabs. Another suggestion is litigation, but he doesn't rate this approach.

Email marketer from Quora suggests that the single best thing to do is to make sure the email is wanted and not spam, by using double opt-in subscription confirmation to verify the users email address is correct. This also limits the likelihood of being flagged as spam.

Email marketer from Reddit suggests users should focus on creating engaging and valuable content. u/EmailExpert explains that if the content is engaging, subscribers are more likely to move emails to the primary tab, signaling to Gmail that the emails are important.

Email marketer from Mailjet shares advice on improving Gmail deliverability by ensuring proper authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC), maintaining a clean email list, and avoiding spam triggers to help ensure emails land in the primary inbox.

Email marketer from EmailOversight shares that the best way to avoid the spam folder or promotion tab is to first verify that you are authenticated to the mailbox provider, then ensure a high sender reputation by not spamming or getting your IP address blacklisted. Finally, focus on engagement by making sure emails are opened and read.

Email marketer from CMDI explains that Gmail tabs can hurt political campaigns, especially when important emails are filtered to the Updates or Promotions tab. This can impact fundraising and volunteer recruitment and they suggest strategies like testing subject lines and calls to action.

Email marketer from Contently explains that Gmail's algorithm learns what you consider promotional over time. This means political campaigns are at a disadvantage because people may not flag political emails as important, leading them to be filtered into the promotions tab.

Email marketer from Forbes shares that it's up to the user to decide how they want their email sorted in Gmail and what is the best way is to set up filters. This will ensure that the email lands in the correct folder.

Expert from Word to the Wise shares that you should make sure people who want to receive your mail can easily do so, and make it easy for those who don't, to unsubscribe. They suggest you should authenticate your mail and that you need to ensure you’re not sending spam. If people are engaging, the AI will learn and place your messages correctly.

Expert from Email Geeks shares a link to Google's blog stating the Promotions tab is for “Deals, offers, newsletters and other “call to action” emails” and explains that the tab sorting is not related to spam filtering.

Expert from Word to the Wise says if your email is not opened/acted on, it's more likely to be sorted into the Promotions tab. They recommend sending wanted, relevant emails and to focus on building a relationship with subscribers.

Documentation from Google AI Blog share that Gmail uses AI and machine learning to filter spam and categorise emails. The algorithm improves over time by analysing user interactions, such as moving emails between tabs.

Documentation from Google Support explains how Gmail automatically sorts emails into categories like Primary, Social, Promotions, Updates, and Forums. Users can customize these categories and move emails between them to train Gmail's algorithm.

Documentation from Google Workspace Admin help describes how administrators can manage Gmail settings for their organization, including whitelisting senders and setting up routing rules to ensure important emails are delivered to users' inboxes.