Why Are My Emails Going To Promotions & Spam? Here’s What You Need To Know

Looking for ways of how to get email out of Spam or Promotions folders? 

It’s not as easy as you may think. If you’re a business that is sending promotional emails to thousands of customers, chances are you’ll end up in the Promotions folder. 

However, there are some best practices that you should keep in mind to ensure that you are writing good emails and moving up in your customer’s inbox. 


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If you’d rather watch a 1 hour video instead of read this article you can watch Office Hours session #76 to get all the information!


Google, Yahoo & Outlook are smarter than you!

Before talking about exactly what lands you in the Promotions folder, it is important to understand one thing: Google is smart.  

Google, Yahoo, Outlook etc. all have engineers, developers and data that will tell them whether or not you are trying to sell or promote something through your email. 

They know if an email is sent to someone personally or from a service, and can also understand how people interact with the mail that is being sent to them. 

Google will use this information and give you a “score” which will determine your inbox placement. 

Because of this, it is impossible to get an 100% inbox rate. You cannot beat the Promotions folder. 

However, the better email you write, the better chance you have of landing in someone’s primary inbox. 

What gets you in the Promotions folder?

There are quite a few things that will warn Google that something you are trying to send is promotional. Whether it be key words, or even the address you are using to send from. 

Here is a list of things, that when enough are checked off, can land you in the Promotions folder: 

  • There are too many images in your email. 
  • Too many links in your email. 
  • Too much HTML formatting. 
  • Email is too long. 
  • Not personalized (missing the name of the recipient etc.) 
  • Poor sender IP reputation. 
  • Poor domain reputation.
  • Links in the email dont match the link of the sender. 
  • You’re using emojis in subject lines. 
  • Your email address has “noreply” in it. 
How to get email out of spam

What does better email look like?

If you want to land in the primary inbox, then you want your email to be short, simple and sweet. 

However, it is important to note that promotional email is unavoidable. For a majority of companies, you want to send out these types of emails to inform your customers of sales or encourage them to buy something. 

For those cases, you shouldn’t be focused on staying out of the Promotions folder. Instead, you should do your best to maximize your email to ensure that it’s one that your readers choose to open. 

What does better email actually look like? These are a few steps below: 

  • Plain text or very little formatting. 
  • Very few links.
  • Content is short and sweet. 
  • Personalized. 
  • No Images. 
  • Leave out “salesy” words. 
How to get email out of spam

How to get email out of Spam folders?

If you find that you are actually landing in the Spam folder, there are a few steps that you can take to change this.

Including: 

  • Set up SPF and DKIM, provided by your SMTP service. Some SMTP services won’t even let you send emails until this step is done. 
  • Use a trusted SMTP service, like MailHawk.
  • Do not use Gmail. You will end up in spam. 
  • Do not use your server. You will end up in spam. 
  • Do not use a dedicated IP. You will end up in spam. 

You can build better emails with Groundhogg!  To get started with Groundhogg today, make sure to register for our free Official Quickstart Course.

Have any other ways of writing better email? Or how to get email out of spam or promotional folders? Leave your ideas and comments below.

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Picture of Adrian Tobey

Adrian Tobey

Adrian is the founder and lead developer of Groundhogg. He believes that marketing automation should be simple and accessible so any business can use it to grow.

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