I have a confession. Although I have a fantastic habit of keeping my work email neat and tidy, my personal Gmail lives in a different world. Really\u2026 it\u2019s embarrassing.<\/p>\n
Currently my phone glares at me: 249 Unread Emails. And that\u2019s actually REALLY good for me. In 2019, it was up in the thousands at one point. \ud83d\ude2c<\/p>\n
Why all the unread emails? Because I\u2019m TERRIBLE about subscribing to email lists for those 15% off coupons (PS – I usually decide I don\u2019t really need to buy anything after all\u2026 anyone else guilty?). \ud83c\udd98 I have a problem; I\u2019m aware.<\/p>\n
Okay okay, stop judging. So my personal Gmail splits emails into three tabs:<\/p>\n
1\ufe0f\u20e3 Primary<\/p>\n
2\ufe0f\u20e3 Social<\/p>\n
3\ufe0f\u20e3 Promotions.<\/p>\n
Not everyone uses this \u201ctabbed\u201d inbox setting, but some surveys have approximated that between 34-60% of gmail users have certain tabs enabled.<\/p>\n
And just because you\u2019re interested, here\u2019s my current \u201cunread\u201d breakdown:<\/p>\n
Primary – 110<\/p>\n
Social – 1<\/p>\n
Promotions – 138<\/p>\n
Overwhelming, right? Yes, but here\u2019s the thing. That promotions tab will be at 0 in like .5 seconds when I hit \u201cselect all 138 conversations in promotions\u201d and \u201cDELETE ALL.\u201d I do that a lot. It\u2019s probably KILLING somebody\u2019s email open rate. But going through and unsubscribing takes too long, so the cycle continues.<\/p>\n
But then there\u2019s that primary tab with 110 unread messages. That\u2019s a little trickier, because those are a big mix of important, personal, AND some sneaky promotional emails. Can\u2019t hit \u201cDelete All\u201d without the risk of tossing out my latest bank statement.<\/p>\n
So here\u2019s what happens \u27a1\ufe0f I go through, page by page, and sort out which ones I can delete. In the process, some of those promotional emails get an open. Remember: the internet is smart. Gmail knows which emails I\u2019m most likely to value (and open and click), thus they get \u201cfirst dibs\u201d in the primary inbox.<\/p>\n
Which leads us to the BIG question: How can you get your emails into that prized primary gmail inbox?? Here\u2019s our top 3 tips:<\/p>\n
\ud83d\udce7 When someone opts into your email list, be crystal clear about expectations. Let them know how often they\u2019ll hear from you and what they should expect. This builds trust between you and the potential customer. Consider asking new subscribers to \u201cAdd New Contact\u201d with your \u201cfrom\u201d address.<\/p>\n
\ud83d\udce7 Occasionally clean out your audience to keep your open rate up. Using an email service such as Mailchimp allows you to view your contacts’ interaction with your emails. If an individual hasn\u2019t opened your emails in over a year, it might be time to archive that contact.<\/p>\n
\ud83d\udce7 Don\u2019t view your email strategy as a one-way sales pitch. View it as a conversation. And personalize whenever possible. With that mindset, you\u2019ll be more likely to provide quality content that engages your audience so they WANT to read your emails, even if they\u2019re not ready to buy something. When they are ready, you\u2019ll be first in mind. \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"