Why You Need To Make It Easy For Your Subscribers To Unsubscribe

ID-100241063No marketer wants to think about unsubscribers. After all, a person removing themselves off the mailing list is a lost opportunity for a sale and spread word about the brand. However, there will always be subscribers who want to leave your mailing list.

When, not if, they want to unsubscribe, you will have to be prepared and make it as easy for the subscriber as it is for yourself. There shouldn’t be any lengthy process nor should the subscriber have to jump through hoops.

But why is this the case and what makes a subscriber want to leave your mailing list?

Why Would A Subscriber Want To Leave Your List?

There are numerous reasons why a subscriber might want to leave your mailing list. Here are the main reasons:

  • They are no longer interested in your products: There are several reasons why this might be. They might not have the funds anymore or their priorities have changed. Alternatively, they have bought your product or a similar one from a competitor. There is no way to tell the true reason for this as these de-listings will happen sporadically.
  • They think you are sending too many emails: This is when you send too many emails to your list and annoy them.
  • They don’t remember subscribing to your list: This happens when you haven’t sent an email for a long time. Therefore, while it is important not to communicate too often; you should also ensure you keep in contact regularly enough that they remember who you are.
  • Your content is not relevant: If you are not providing them with valuable content they can use, then they are likely to leave your list. In this case, you must adjust your strategy to provide something of worth.

In many of the cases you might not realise why they have left your list. However, if you’ve changed tactics recently, this can be a good indicator. Ensure that when you are adjusting campaigns that you check for changes in your standard statistics. For comparison, your email unsubscribe rate should be roughly 0.5% to meet industry standards.

How Can You Make It Easy For Your Subscribers?

There are several options to make it easy for your subscribers to leave your mailing list. The first is by stating that they could email you a request to be taken off the list. However, there are certain problems with this option. Namely that requests might be missed (i.e. sent to the spam folder) or lost and it requires effort on the subscriber’s behalf.

The second option is for them to go onto your website and fill in a form to remove themselves from your list. This is better because the form is less likely to go missing. However, there will still be work for the subscriber to do.

The final option is to have an unsubscribe button in your email messages that automatically completes the action. For most businesses, this is the preferred method.

Why Should You Make It Easy For Subscribers To Leave?

There are numerous reasons why you should make the unsubscription process easy. Firstly, and the most important reason, is that many nations enforce laws where it is required to make unsubscription easy. For instance, in the US the regulation is within the CAN-SPAM legislation. In the United Kingdom it is a series of marketing acts.

Breaking these laws can result in a large fine, which would make it hard to justify using email as a sustainable marketing avenue.

In addition, unsubscribers, while no longer financial productive, are still work. If you made the task difficult, it is likely you would have to do some manual operation to remove them from the list. And this would cost you money indirectly.

On the other hand, by using an automated system you don’t have any hard work and there is no chance a request has been missed. This leaves you free to concentrate on those who are engaged with your content.

Conclusion

There are two main reasons why unsubscribing from your list should be made easy. Firstly it is to comply with email marketing laws across the world. The second is to make it easier for you to manage; leaving you with more time to concentrate on those who do want to receive your messages.

Action Steps:

  • Insert an unsubscribe button on your email marketing content.

How do you manage your unsubscribers? Have you had any problems in the past?

Let us know in the comments below.

Image courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Read post   Post a Comment. Tagged in: , , , ,


Should The Unsubscribe Link Be at the Top of Emails?

There has been a lot of discussion recently about unsubscribe links. Much of the discussion has revolved around the idea of placing the unsubscribe link at the top of your marketing emails instead of the traditional location at the bottom of the email.

Have you thought about moving your unsubscribe link?

Spam filters are getting more stringent on the emails they allow into inboxes. People are also becoming frustrated with the amount  of email they want. Instead of looking for the unsubscribe link they are quick to hit the spam button.

The argument for locating your unsubscribe button centers on the idea that you want only the people on your list that truly are interested in your email content. If someone doesn’t want to subscribe you want to make it easy for them to leave without tarnishing your brand by hitting the spam button.

Let’s look at a few ways you can design your email unsubscribe links to ensure your list is optimized for only the best subscribers while allowing others to leave without fuss.

Read post   Post a Comment. Tagged in: ,


What is Fluttermail?

Fluttermail is Email Marketing for small businesses. We are the fastest and easiest way to send beautiful emails and profit from the results.

Create a $1 Trial Account