Promotions…we’re talking Gmail here. It’s like spam with lipstick, because NOBODY wants to read their promotion emails. Well, some people do, just like the people the people that click the links in their spam emails, aka the idiot list. There’s ONE reason that you are there and it’s yoru domain reptuation.
You might say, “But my domain reputation is showing up as high on Postmaster Tools”. True dat! But do you think Big G is showing you everything? They are showing you what they want you to see. Hell, they don’t even have a feedback loop because they are above modern email standards. But it’s your domain reputation that’s keeping you in promotions.
This is a GIANT issue with most email service providers. Take Klaviyo. They have a jillion features and integration, but if your emails go to spam everytime you want to offer a discount…it’s worthless! I’ve spent a LOT of time digging to try to find an ESP that will also help you out with domain reputation. I’ve literally only found 1: Sendhive. They do NOT have the cool automations that Klaviyo has, which could be a deal-breaker for some of you, BUT they DO inbox. I would suggest talking to them and using them as a backup/marketing ESP and potentially keeping you Klaviyo account for your cart drops…if you need a lot of features.
But yeah, the key is fixing the domain reputation. You can fix fix it once and sometimes you are ok, and other times you can run into issues and need it to be fixed again and again. I think Sendhive fixes it ongoing, but I’m not totally sure, however, they do work great when you want a fast solution.
How to fix it? Email you most engaged audience for about two weeks. Don’t mail anything else. You should be able to pull out of promo. OH, if you did make the above “idiot list”, it will also help you out. I mean, it’s not the most fun solution. I can do it for you if you want. I have a HUGE active list that will get you out of promo in about a week, but I’m not cheap :)
If I were you, I’d either try fixing it yourself or going over to Sendhive. Both are great options.