How to stand out in the Gmail Promotions tab

Many promotional emails land in Gmail's Promotions tab, where they sit in a long list next to every other store's offer. Most of them look the same: a sender name and a single line of subject text. Gmail annotations let your email show more than that, right in the list.

What an annotation can show

• A deal badge with a short description of the offer, such as "30% off".
• A discount code that shoppers can see without opening the email.
• An expiry date, so the deadline is clear at a glance.
• A promo image card: a large image of your product or sale.

Behind the scenes, this works through markup that Gmail reads (schema.org DiscountOffer and PromotionCard). Flashmail adds it for you.

How to add it in Flashmail

1. Create your campaign and design it as usual.
2. In the Template step of the campaign wizard, fill in the annotation: the offer, the code, the expiry date and the image.
3. Send. Gmail users can see the badge and image in their Promotions tab.

See Gmail Annotations for more.

Tips for annotations that work

• Keep the offer short. The badge has little room. "30% off" reads better than a full sentence.
• Use a real deadline. An expiry date only helps if it is true.
• Choose a clear image. One product or one strong visual reads better at small sizes than a busy collage.
• Match the email. The code and offer in the annotation should be the same as inside the email.

Good to know

Annotations are a Gmail feature, and Gmail decides when to display them. Recipients on other email services, or emails Gmail places in another tab, will see your email as usual. That is why the email itself should always carry the full offer too.

Ready to try it on your next promotion? Create a free Flashmail account.