More AI in Gmail isn't the end of email marketing
Google just pushed more AI into Gmail. Summaries, prioritization, and an AI Inbox that surfaces what matters without reading every message. It sounds scary if your KPI has been "get opened."
Take a breath. Email has survived tabs, filters, and promotions. It will survive this. The playbook shifts - again - toward intent, clarity, and brand.
What changed in Gmail
Gmail now offers feed-like summaries and an AI Inbox that highlights tasks, requests, and key info. Think "AI Overviews for email" behavior: users get answers fast, without opening every message.
That means your emails must be easy for both people and AI to parse. Clear subjects, scannable structure, explicit value. If your message helps the user achieve a task, AI is more likely to surface it.
Why marketers shouldn't panic
1) It's a noisy world
Your list has people who are overwhelmed. Some won't unsubscribe; they'll just ignore. AI tools help them cut the noise. If your emails are noise, you'll lose. If they're useful, you'll be found more often.
2) Intent beats opens and reads
Opens get fuzzier when AI summarizes. Intent gets stronger. A user can ask, "Do I have any jeans deals from the past two weeks?" If your promo says "25% off jeans" in plain language, Gmail can surface it at the exact moment of purchase intent.
3) Brand matters
AI compresses information. Users pick the brand they trust and remember. Consistency in from name, design, tone, and offer structure increases the odds your summary gets the click.
4) This isn't entirely new
People already use AI to triage inboxes. Baking it into Gmail just scales the behavior. Good senders benefit: clear, relevant, authenticated email rises; spray-and-pray gets filtered by humans and machines alike.
How to adapt your email program now
- Write for AI and humans. Put the offer and category in the subject and preheader: "25% off jeans - ends Friday." Repeat key terms early in the body. Avoid clever but vague copy.
- Make it scannable. Short paragraphs, bullet points, clear subheads, one primary CTA. Avoid image-only emails; include real text, alt text, product names, prices, and dates.
- Optimize for intent queries. Use the plain words customers will search in their inbox: product type, brand, discount, deadline, location, order status.
- Use Gmail Promotions annotations. Add promo markup for price drops, discounts, and images so Gmail can enhance your card in the Promotions tab. Docs: Gmail Promotions Annotations.
- Strengthen deliverability. Authenticate (SPF, DKIM, DMARC), keep a clean list, send at a steady cadence, and prune inactives. Good sender reputations win when AI ranks usefulness.
- Shift measurement. Deprioritize opens. Track clicks, conversions, reply rates, and revenue per send. Use holdouts and UTM parameters for cleaner attribution.
- Lean into triggered and lifecycle flows. Cart/browse abandonment, back-in-stock, price-drop, reactivation, and post-purchase. Higher intent, fewer sends, better placement by AI.
- Build brand memory. Consistent visuals, clear POV, and a "why us" that shows up in every send. Make your from name unmistakable. Preheader should earn the glance.
- Clarify preferences. Let subscribers set frequency and topics. Fewer, more relevant emails keep engagement high - and AI notices.
- Test for the AI era. Subject clarity vs. cleverness, summary-friendly copy length, CTA placement above the fold, and entity mentions (product, category, offer) that AI can lift.
What this means long term
AI becomes the inbox assistant. It rewards clarity, intent, and trust. The brands that keep winning will send fewer, more useful emails with obvious value and clean technical foundations.
That's good marketing. It just matters more now.
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