Successfully receiving our newsletter if you are a Gmail user

Google has this weird approach towards Gmail email addresses whereby, as a default on your phone or in your browser, it sets up multiple inboxes and then, whenever someone is sent an email, Google looks at that email and decides which of the inboxes to put it in. When someone sends you a personal email, Google usually puts it into your ‘primary’ inbox. When someone sends you a newsletter, however, Google sometimes puts it into your ‘promotions’ or ‘updates’ inboxes rather than your ‘primary’ inbox. How many people actually see a newsletter depends on which of the inboxes Google puts it in because, as a default, your phone or browser often only shows you the contents of your ‘primary’ inbox.

There is no method to Google’s madness here. I have spent hours sending myself test emails and they get placed in the various inboxes at random. This happens regardless of the contents, timing or method and therefore I can’t do anything to control it.

But you can do something to control it. Try any of the following.

1. In whatever software you are using to access your emails, you can turn off all the inboxes other than the primary one, which then forces Google to put all emails (other than spam) that are sent to you into your ‘primary’ inbox, which then becomes your only inbox (other than spam).
2. You can look in your ‘promotions’ or ‘updates’ inboxes, find one of our emails and move it into your ‘primary’ inbox. With a bit of luck, Google will then ask you where it should put future newsletters from us and you can answer “primary inbox please”.
3. You can add my email address (guy@localfoodconnect.org.au) to your address book. With a bit of luck, Google will then starting putting the newsletters into your primary inbox on the grounds that I am known to you.
4. You can click any link in any of our newsletters and then, again with a bit of luck, Google will understand that you actually want to see our newsletters and will start putting them into your ‘primary’ inbox.