Does the new Google Priority Inbox got you all scared?
In order to break through, all you need to do is establish a relationship with your subscribers. Or, as Google said…
Gmail uses a variety of signals to identify important email, including which messages you open and which you reply to.
What’s the easiest way to do this?
Simple! Here’s an automated example for the lazy marketers out there….
Send an email to your list. Tell them you’ve got a free bonus or some other incentive…but you only have a few limited copies to give away. So you only want to send it to “fast action” takers, people that really need it, etc.
Very Important => Tell them to respond with “Send me XXXXX Bonus” in the subject. This will help you respond faster.
Make sure you can monitor the “reply-to” address. In other words, stop using NO-REPLY@ addresses and actually start reading email responses.
Now, jump over to that account’s Gmail/Google Apps settings and create a filter and a canned message that auto-replies to that specific subject with the bonus/incentive.
In Outlook, create a Rule that does the same.
The person is instantly emailed the bonus…and you just established a “relationship” in Google’s eyes.
Do this enough (in various creative ways) and you’ll fly by the Priority Inbox.
If you’re not into the whole “automated” geeky thing. Just ask your list to reply to your email every so often. Then reply back. Oh no…we’re building relationships! 😉