How to Send Email Campaigns and Avoid Gmail Spam

Emails not delivered to users result in wasted marketing budgets, lost revenue, and reduced customer loyalty because they don't receive important information on time. Companies need to work on the correctness of campaigns so that the spam folder does not become a destination for emails.

Google's algorithms change frequently and make things difficult for marketers, but the general rules are known. Let's figure out why emails end up in Gmail spam and what to do about it.

Why emails end up in Gmail spam

If emails sent by your company are already in spam, start by looking for the reasons. Emails are not reaching your prospect’s primary inbox because of incorrect settings, poor communication with users or irrelevant content. If Google marks too many messages as spam, it will dramatically lower the open rate of your newsletters. This is the first sign that it's time to analyze your email campaigns.

Here are the reasons for getting into spam:

How to bulk send in Gmail without getting spammed

Set up DNS records

You also should select a separate mailbox for each type of email: promotional, transactional, announcement and so on.

Email authentication

Limit the number of emails

Track domain and IP reputation

The reputation of the domain and shared IP address affects the deliverability of emails. Exaggerated limits, suspicious content, sending from a different domain are likely to result in blacklisting. The reputation score is made up of the actions of all senders that use the same sending IP address. That’s why you need to keep an eye on the reputation of the shared IP.

Where to check domain reputation:

• Safe Browsing site status by Google. If there are hacking attempts, the system tells you about this.
• Postmaster Tools generates a report on the reputation of the domain and IP address, and also provides information about the reasons for undelivered messages and the number of messages marked as spam.
• Blacklists of domains and IP addresses. If your data is included in such a database, there is a high risk of ending up in spam.

Solve issues

Communicate with users

Instruct users in advance when subscribing. If they do not receive the email, they should check their spam folder and mark it as "Report not spam". Tell your users about this. Ask them to add the company email address to their contact list. You can also suggest creating a filter for such messages so that future messages do not fall into spam.

Do not forget the unsubscribe button. If users can't find a way to unsubscribe, they mark your messages as spam. The same happens if you annoy users with advertising content and constantly change topics. In this case, subscribers choose a quick way to get rid of spam. They complain and block your address, which negatively affects the sender reputation.

Design email

Thoughtful design of content in messages affects getting into spam. Start with a user-friendly sender name and a relevant subject line that doesn't conflict with the content. Gmail monitors open rates and clicks. That’s why it is important to make links in the message body prominent, easy to read, and with appealing CTA.

Don't overload emails with HTML, URLs and heavy design. A lot of media files for Gmail algorithms is a sign of advertising content.

• amphtmltest@outlook.com
• postmaster_amp@corp.mail.ru
• ampforemail.whitelisting@gmail.com

Test emails

Check emails before sending a campaign. Make a list of addresses to test emails. There is no guarantee that real recipients will see messages in the same way. But some mistakes can be corrected.

Conclusion

There are no perfect methods to keep emails from going into Gmail spam. However, compliance with mailing rules, technical requirements and work with clients increases the chances of delivering messages to recipients.

To avoid the Spam folder, set up a reverse DNS record, SPF, DKIM and DMARC. Stick to Gmail limits and do not drastically increase the number of emails you send. Regularly check the reputation of your domain and IP address, monitor the deliverability of emails through special services.

Ask users to add your address to their contact list, send only content that is relevant to the stated subject of the newsletter and do not forget the unsubscribe link in the emails.