topic Re: Emails from HubSpot inbox land in Gmail Promotions/Updates in Sales Email

Emails from HubSpot inbox land in Gmail Promotions/Updates

08224 — Mon, 08 Sep 2025 09:05:11 GMT

Hi,
we are experiencing a serious issue after moving from Intercom to HubSpot for managing our shared inboxes like support@ and hi@.

Whenever a customer writes to us on these addresses or submits a form, and we reply via the HubSpot inbox, our emails often end up in Gmail tabs like “Promotions” or “Updates”. These are normal replies to customer questions, definitely not marketing emails. As a result, customers don’t see our answers, reach out again after 2–3 days, and some even call us upset saying we are ignoring them.

We never had this issue with Intercom. What’s more, when we send the emails directly through Gmail (outside HubSpot), they land correctly in the main inbox. This suggests the issue is not with our domain but with the HubSpot inbox tool itself.

HubSpot support suggested disabling email open tracking – we tried that, but it made no difference. Even a completely new, “clean” email composed in the inbox and sent to someone from our contact list still lands in Gmail’s “Updates” tab.

Has anyone experienced the same issue and found a solution? At this point, the inbox tool is becoming practically unusable for us.

Re: Emails from HubSpot inbox land in Gmail Promotions/Updates

Victor_Becerra — Mon, 08 Sep 2025 19:07:15 GMT

Hi @08224
Thank you for reaching out to the Community!
I'd like to invite some community members who are subject matter experts to join this conversation.
@karstenkoehler @GiantFocal @TomM2 - Would you be able to share any insights on this? Your expertise would be greatly appreciated.
Best,
Victor

Re: Emails from HubSpot inbox land in Gmail Promotions/Updates

Victor_Becerra — Thu, 18 Sep 2025 19:25:29 GMT

Hi @08224 ,

Just checking back in—any luck with this issue on your end?

I’m looping in some more community members for additional expertise, as it seems this is still unresolved. @Phil_Vallender @Ben_M @Mike_Eastwood , you’ve shared some really helpful guidance before—would love your insights here.

Thank you,
Victor

Re: Emails from HubSpot inbox land in Gmail Promotions/Updates

Victor_Becerra — Fri, 19 Sep 2025 19:25:54 GMT

Hi @CPowell5 ,

You’re right that this isn’t about your domain or HubSpot’s inbox tool itself, but rather how Gmail categorizes incoming emails. Gmail uses its own algorithm to sort messages into Primary, Promotions, Social, or Updates tabs. Replies sent through HubSpot can sometimes get routed to Promotions/Updates, even if they’re regular 1:1 messages.

A couple of things that can help:

Drag + Drop in Gmail: If a recipient drags one of your replies from Promotions/Updates into the Primary tab, Gmail will ask if they’d like to do this for future messages. If they click Yes, Gmail should deliver your future replies directly to Primary.
Add to Google Contacts: If your recipients add your support address (e.g. support@ / hi@) to their Google Contacts, that also signals to Gmail that those messages are important.
Check deliverability: While this sounds more like Gmail’s categorization, it’s still worth checking your overall deliverability health (SPF, DKIM, DMARC setup, bounce rates, etc.), since poor sender reputation can make categorization worse.

Unfortunately, there’s no way to force Gmail to put emails into Primary, but these recipient actions + strong deliverability practices usually help over time.

Hope this helps!

Best, Victor

Re: Emails from HubSpot inbox land in Gmail Promotions/Updates

Victor_Becerra — Fri, 19 Sep 2025 19:28:21 GMT

Hi @CPowell5 ,

A couple of things that can help:

Drag + Drop in Gmail: If a recipient drags one of your replies from Promotions/Updates into the Primary tab, Gmail will ask if they’d like to do this for future messages. If they click Yes, Gmail should deliver your future replies directly to Primary.
Add to Google Contacts: If your recipients add your support address (e.g. support@ / hi@) to their Google Contacts, that also signals to Gmail that those messages are important.
Check deliverability: While this sounds more like Gmail’s categorization, it’s still worth checking your overall deliverability health (SPF, DKIM, DMARC setup, bounce rates, etc.), since poor sender reputation can make categorization worse.

Unfortunately, there’s no way to force Gmail to put emails into Primary, but these recipient actions + strong deliverability practices usually help over time.

Hope this helps!

Best, Victor

Re: Emails from HubSpot inbox land in Gmail Promotions/Updates

RubenBurdin — Mon, 13 Oct 2025 20:08:15 GMT

Hi @08224 That’s a tough one, and you’re not alone. Gmail’s sorting is a bit opaque, even legitimate support replies can be classified under “Updates” or “Promotions” if they’re sent through a system like HubSpot.

The main difference from Intercom is the technical fingerprint of the email: HubSpot routes messages through its own sending infrastructure, which can include tracking pixels and custom headers that Gmail interprets as marketing-like.

The first thing to confirm is that your connected inbox is using the “send from connected email” option, not HubSpot’s shared sending domain.

(https://knowledge.hubspot.com/connected-email/choose-an-inbox-connection )

That ensures replies are coming directly from your company’s mail server, not HubSpot’s, which greatly improves classification. Then, check that your domain’s SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records are valid and aligned, can also push Gmail to deprioritize the message.

(https://knowledge.hubspot.com/marketing-email/troubleshoot-email-authentication-issues )

If tracking remains necessary, try disabling click tracking as well as opens, click tracking inserts redirect links that Gmail often flags as promotional. After that, ask a few frequent contacts to drag your message to “Primary” and confirm the prompt; that trains Gmail’s algorithm over time.

Hope this helps you stabilize deliverability and customer visibility.