Are you tired of your carefully crafted emails getting lost in the sea of promotional messages in your subscribers' Gmail inboxes? Well, there is a way to make your emails stand out and increase engagement – it's called Google Annotations, and it's been available for a few years now. However, it seems that many email marketers are not aware of this feature or are not taking advantage of it.
Google Annotations is a feature that allows email marketers to use markup to add elements like images, discounts, expiration dates, and more to emails in the Promotions tab. These elements can be clicked on by viewers without having to open the email, resulting in higher open and click rates.
But why aren't more marketers using this cool feature? One reason is the lack of clarity and predictability in how annotations are displayed. It's hard to know if they are working, and they may not show up for all users or on all devices. Another obstacle is the approval process that brands need to go through to use annotations, which can be seen as an unnecessary hurdle. However, it's worth it to improve the experience for subscribers and stand out in a crowded inbox.
To get started, brands need to go through the approval process with Google, and then they can either direct Google to pull specific elements from the email or let Google decide what to display. It's recommended to have more control over the elements, but even if you leave it to Google, it's still beneficial to go through the approval process. Google has provided more information on how to annotate emails in the Promotions tab on their website.
Although the impact of annotations may be hard to measure, they can be a powerful tool in your email marketing strategy, especially when combined with smart segmentation and personalization. Plus, with many brands still not using annotations, there is a great opportunity to stand out in your subscribers' inboxes and increase engagement. So, take advantage of this secret weapon and stay ahead of the competition in 2024.
Originally reported by Martech: https://martech.org/google-annotations-the-secret-weapon-email-marketers-should-use-in-2024/
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