Gmail Tabs and How You Should Respond

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If you use Gmail or Google apps for your personal or business email there has been a huge change that you need to know about. 

In the world of Internet marketing things change very fast and often. During my career I have made it my personal mission to keep you updated and in the loop with any current changes that can affect the daily operations for your business.

If you are like most savvy business owners you probably also subscribe to, and enjoy reading many different email newsletters from multiple senders. These emails are important to you because they provide valuable content that you use and implement for your business. Theses emails play an important role in your business and help you stay current in your industry.

If you use email to market your business this change will affect how your consumers receive your emails in their inboxes.

In an effort to roll with the punches, I have dedicated this blog post to the changes and the different options you have for working with these new changes.

This is why email marketing will be changed forever: Google introduced a new inbox for Gmail, which will impact your business if you do any kind of email marketing. In this recent update Google created 5 different tabs or inboxes that Google will use to filter your incoming mail. The 5 separate inboxes are labeled Primary, Social, Promotions, Updates, and Forums.

The immediate problem with these new tabs is that Google automatically decided for you what inbox your individual emails will be delivered to, unless you tell them otherwise. The newsletters, email updates, e-courses from senders that you enjoy reading and subscribed to in the past will be harder to find. Google will send those emails to the Promotions inbox tab.

As a business owner I know you want to continue to receive and read those valuable content emails, so I listed quick and easy directions for working with the new tabbed inbox. This will help you manage the change and regain control over your inbox and how it filters your incoming messages. If you prefer a video tutorial, scroll down to view my quick video on how to manage  your new Gmail Inbox.

Option #1 You Decide What Inbox You Want Your Incoming Messages to be Delivered to

1.     Select the “Promotions” inbox tab at the top

2.     Drag any emails from the senders that you want to hear from and drop them into the “Primary” inbox tab

3.     Gmail will ask if you want future emails from this person to go into your Primary inbox, select yes.

Once complete all of the future messages from that particular person will be delivered to your Primary inbox and be easier to find. Over the next few weeks you should monitor your Promotions inbox tab. You want to make sure you did not miss any emails from the senders that you want delivered into your Primary inbox. Remember this can include any e-courses or online training programs that you may have invested in.

Option #2 Disable the New Tabbed Inbox Options Completely

1.     Select the “Settings” icon in the top right corner of your screen (often referred to as the cog or little gear icon) and select “Settings” from the drop down menu.

2.     Select the “Inbox” tab at the top and uncheck all categories except “Primary”

3.     Select the “Save Changes” button at the bottom of the page.

 I wanted to take this opportunity to inform you of your options for managing your Gmail inbox going forward, so that you can continue to receive my emails and the emails from other senders that you enjoy reading. Whichever, option you choose to manage and filter your Gmail inbox I hope that you develop a system that works for you and your business.