Your emails belong in Promotions — and that’s a good thing

Let’s start with a conversation I have more often than I’d like. 

Them: “We think we have a deliverability issue — can we talk?”

Me: “Sure! What’s going on?”

Them: “Our emails are landing in the Promotions tab instead of the Primary inbox.”

Cue the sad trombone.

Marketers, let’s be clear: The Promotions tab is not the spam folder. It’s part of the inbox. And if you’re sending promotional email? Then guess what — that’s precisely where it belongs.

But I get it. Marketers love the Primary tab. It feels like front-row access. When your email ends up elsewhere, it feels like you’ve been shown the side door or, worse, the back alley.

To help us through this mindset shift, I present the five stages of grief — email inbox edition.

Overview of the tabbed inbox

Google introduced its inbox tabs in 2013, and Apple followed suit in 2024. It’s important to consider how Apple and Google define their inbox tabs to understand why your emails land where they do.

Here are the definitions, straight from Apple and Google: 

The Promotions tab isn’t a penalty box. It’s a purposeful place for marketing messages.

Stage 1: Denial

“This can’t be happening. Why did our email land in the Promotions tab? We don’t belong there.”

Denial usually shows up wrapped in excuses.

“This isn’t a sales email — it’s an invitation to a free webinar!”

“This email is a resource. It’s educational!”

But let’s be honest: it’s also mass-mailed, not time-sensitive, not personal and often promotional in nature if not in offer. It’s not a fit for the Primary tab. And it doesn’t belong in the Updates, Forums, Social or Transactions tabs either.

It belongs in Promotions. Let’s stop denying it and start optimizing for it.

Stage 2: Anger

“We worked hard on this email! Why are we being punished?”

You’re not. The email marketing messages you send are being sorted and categorized. Frankly, every other organization’s email marketing messages are as well.

Inbox tabs don’t exist to hurt marketers — they exist to help users. When an email is relevant and wanted, users look for it. A Return Path study, done soon after Gmail launched its inbox tabs, backs this up: Gmail users who already engaged with marketing email? Their read rates increased after the introduction of tabs. That’s not a punishment. That’s a preference.

Anger tends to flare when we feel like we’ve lost control. But this isn’t about control — it’s about context. Tabs reflect the kind of experience the recipient wants. And if they want your promotional email, they’ll find it — and even read it more often when it’s grouped with other offers they care about.

Dig deeper: Apple and Gmail make it harder for email campaigns to get to the inbox

Stage 3: Bargaining

“Can we tweak the subject line? Add a first name? What if we make it plain text?”

Ah, yes, the bargaining phase. This is where we get crafty. “Maybe if we use different language or strip out the formatting, we can sneak into the Primary tab!”

Spoiler: you can’t. Or rather, you might — once. But inbox providers are smarter than your hacks.

Chad White said it best in his 2024 piece for the Only Influencers blog, “Don’t fight the power.” Tabs aren’t the enemy. They’re sorting tools. And trying to game the system? That just irritates the very people you’re trying to reach.

You don’t want to be the brand that tricks someone into opening an email — only for them to realize it’s just another promo. That ends up with future messages ignored or the recipients unsubscribe, meaning you can never email them again — or perhaps even a spam complaint, which can damage your deliverability.

My friend Scott Cohen of Inbox Army recently shared a great insight. He’s seen promotional emails for his clients landing in the Primary tab, and yes, he often sees a lift in open rates, but clicks and conversions? No change. Why? Because context matters. People in the mood to shop? They’re in the Promotions tab. That’s where the browsing, shopping and buying happens.

Dig deeper: 3 keys for better email engagement in Gmail

Stage 4: Depression

“Performance is down. Maybe email just isn’t working anymore.”

Let’s be real: when opens and clicks drop, it hurts. But before you blame the Promotions tab, take a beat.

Are your messages relevant? Are you sending too often — or not often enough? Are you offering value?

In my experience, what marketers call a “deliverability problem” is often just a relevance problem. The Promotions tab didn’t negatively impact your email performance — your content just didn’t connect.

If your email’s underperforming, it’s not because of one inbox view. It’s likely a combination of frequency, messaging and expectations.

Stage 5: Acceptance

“OK, we’re in Promotions. How do we make the most of it?”

Now we’re getting somewhere.

Marketers who embrace the Promotions tab often find it liberating. Instead of trying to “trick” the inbox, they focus on crafting content that converts — wherever it lands.

Email isn’t about sneaking into a tab. It’s about showing up with value, relevance and consistency.

Think of the Promotions tab as a storefront in a busy shopping district. The people walking by are already shopping and in the mood to browse offers. Make your storefront irresistible instead of begging to be placed in another neighborhood.

Use dynamic content. Personalize your promotions. Test your timing. Respect your audience’s preferences. That’s how you win in the Promotions tab — and beyond.

Final thoughts

You don’t need to grieve the Promotions tab. You just need to get strategic about it.

Tabs are a feature, not a bug. They’re not the end of email marketing performance — they’re the evolution of it.

And as always, when marketers adapt, they thrive.