Is it always better for marketing emails to land in the inbox instead of the promotions tab?

Email marketer from Campaign Monitor Blog adds that its important to understand your audience. You will need to test and track deliverability rates, and overall ROI from the channel. Use A/B testing to validate the best route.

Email marketer from Reddit states that it depends on the audience and the email's purpose. A personal email to a customer should be in the inbox. An email that is part of a sequence of marketing emails that are expected is fine in the promotions tab. The key is not to annoy the user.

Email marketer from Mailchimp Resource explains that that while many believe the inbox is always better, the promotions tab can be effective if your emails offer genuine value and are targeted to users who are actively looking for deals. Focus on creating compelling content that resonates with your audience, regardless of which tab it lands in.

Email marketer from Litmus Blog suggests that its more important to create value for your subscribers and measure metrics, such as engagement rate, conversion rate, and return on investment (ROI), to gauge the success of your email marketing efforts, regardless of placement.

Email marketer from Email Geeks says that they can't in good conscience tell you why the inbox is preferable because it's not necessarily, so it's misleading.

Email marketer from HubSpot Blog explains that landing in the inbox is generally better because it ensures higher visibility and immediate engagement. However, they also acknowledge that some users prefer the promotions tab and actively check it for deals and offers. The best approach depends on your audience and the type of content you're sending.

Email marketer from Sendinblue Blog shares that the primary inbox is preferable for important, personal communications, so promotional emails can be disruptive. The promotions tab is designed for marketing content, and users who check it are often in a buying mindset. Consider whether your target audience actively engages with the promotions tab.

Email marketer from Email Geeks explains that when marketing emails find their way into their primary tab they proactively move them to promotions or updates (depending on the email) in an attempt to train their inbox. The primary tab is for important things like emails from friends or family. They do not want one single marketing email mixed in there or they might miss important emails.

Email marketer from ActiveCampaign Blog suggests that a healthy email list that is engaged with a particular type of content means that the promotions tab is a good place to be. Being in the primary inbox is better for deliverability metrics, but it can harm engagement and overall brand perception.

Email marketer from Neil Patel's Blog emphasizes that while landing in the inbox is ideal, the promotions tab isn't necessarily a failure. It's about crafting valuable content that encourages recipients to move your emails to the primary inbox or engage with them within the promotions tab itself. Engagement is key.

Expert from Word to the Wise responds that "If the customer experience you're providing with your commercial email meets consumer expectations and the promises you made when you signed them up, you should probably be in the promotions tab. That's where people expect you to be."

Expert from Email Geeks shares that if people wanted promotions in their primary tab, they’d turn off the promotion tab.

Expert from Word to the Wise explains that inbox placement is not always the goal. She suggests that senders should instead focus on whether their message is being read and engaged with. Getting into the inbox does not guarantee success if recipients don't find value in the email.

Expert from Email Geeks finds that it’s mostly bad email marketers who are obsessed with getting their promotional email out of the promotions tab. The ones who don’t believe their message is compelling and wanted by the recipients, but who believe that if they can get the one perfect message in the inbox of one recipient at the perfect time of day then this time they’ll buy something. He also shares a link to a mailchimp blog <https://web.archive.org/web/20140105144802/http://blog.mailchimp.com/how-gmail-tabs-affect-your-email-marketing-an-update/>. He also adds he'd expect an email marketing goal to be more more like “maintain long term relationship with recipients, so they’re excited to see our mail and more likely to buy from it”.

Expert from Spamresource.com details that deliverability is about more than just getting to the inbox. Being in the promotions tab is not necessarily bad. Some subscribers will go to the promotions tab looking for deals. Spamresource states that engagement is the key point.

Documentation from RFC explains the technicalities of DMARC and its role in allowing domain owners to specify how email receivers should handle messages that fail authentication checks. Proper implementation of DMARC is crucial for improving email deliverability and ensuring that legitimate emails reach the inbox (or at least avoid the spam folder).

Documentation from the IETF details that Sender Policy Framework (SPF) is a crucial email authentication method. Implementing SPF correctly helps email servers verify that the sender is authorized to send emails on behalf of the domain, which improves deliverability and reduces the likelihood of being marked as spam.

Documentation from Google Support details that Gmail's tabbed inbox is designed to help users organize their emails. Promotional emails are automatically filtered into the promotions tab, which is intended for deals, offers, and marketing messages. Users can customize these tabs, but the default behavior is to separate personal and promotional content.

Documentation from DKIM.org suggests that DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM) uses cryptographic signatures to verify the authenticity of email messages. Implementing DKIM helps email servers confirm that the email has not been altered during transit and that it genuinely originated from the claimed sender, improving deliverability.

Documentation from Microsoft explains that email deliverability is based on a number of things, including IP reputation, email authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC), content filtering, and user interaction. Landing in the inbox vs. junk folder (or promotions tab) depends on how well you manage these factors and how recipients engage with your emails.