Mailing list solution for a small group

August 24, 2016 4:05 PM

I am helping the local community garden with their communications. Are there any mailing list managers that don't get caught by the spam/promotions filter? We aren't marketing, just sending out information about community work days and tomato pests.

I was in the middle of setting up MailChimp when I discovered that the messages sent via that route end up in people's Gmail "promotions" tabs. Research indicates that this happens with Constant Contact too. I am looking for a solution that will allow me to manage our mailing list easily, but without getting flagged as marketing. The garden participants change every year, as does the garden directorship, so a mailing list that is managed via a website and can be passed from director to director is ideal.

Our gardeners are mostly elderly, so we don't want a solution that involves them changing their email settings or managing a whitelist.

posted by xo to Computers & Internet (2 answers total)

It's difficult to control what happens at the user end. MailChimp is the best solution I've found for what you're after. I've used it for nearly 10 years now.

Do you know, in fact, that the messages "end up in people's Gmail promotions tab?" Did you test it with your list. I run two lists for my site. Both have different members and both have several thousand recipients. "Lost" emails have never been a problem, and this is actually the first time I've heard of this concern.
posted by humboldt32 at 4:12 PM on August 24, 2016

We have the same issue with our Mailchimp newsletters. According to Mailchimp, "Unfortunately ... there is no proven way to 'beat' Gmail’s algorithms. Only a subscriber can move your emails from the Promotions tab to the Primary tab." I'm not sure there's any around it.
posted by kittydelsol at 4:51 PM on August 24, 2016 [4 favorites]