The unsubscribe process you use for your email list might not be the most scintillating topic for conversation, especially if you believe a certain number of people are always going to fall off your list – no matter what you do.
But that’s not necessarily so. We’re not advocating that you con people into staying on your list, but there are several honest, straightforward ways to retain subscribers even after they’ve chosen to unsubscribe. You can still help foster a positive impression of your brand and even persuade them to switch from email to another channel. So when your subscribers say “goodbye,” it doesn’t have to mean forever.
Here are the best practices for making it work:
Don’t hide the unsubscribe link
This best practice is more about not alienating your subscribers than anything else. If people want to unsubscribe, don’t make it hard for them. Irritating them on this topic might inspire them to mark your next email as spam, and that would be worse than an unsubscribe. Include an easy-to-find unsubscribe link in the footer of every email you send to your list. This isn’t just good etiquette – it’s the law.
Don’t make people log in to unsubscribe
I had unsubscribed from nearly one hundred emails before I finally found an example of this. That’s good, because it’s really annoying when companies make you log in to unsubscribe from emails. Personally, this is one of the few situations where I will mark an email as spam.
I have to log into my account to get out of these emails. So I try that, but my login information is rejected. Instead of going through the dance to get my password (via email, of course), I decide to just mark the message as spam.
Offer a chance to “opt-down” rather than to just opt out
People want to be able to control how often they hear from you. So let them. I especially like to see a note in the footer that tells people they can get fewer emails if they want. But that doesn’t happen very often. An “update your preferences” link that goes to a page is the next best thing.
Include prompts to follow you on social media on the final unsubscribe page
Just about nobody does this, and I don’t understand why. Most of us are unsubscribing to clear out our inboxes. It’s rarely because we’ve come to hate the brand (or the messenger). Offering a way to stay in touch with your company, but just with a lighter touch – would be welcome.
This is a super-easy technique for retaining subscribers and growing your social media following. Just add a few social media follow icons to the final unsubscribe page!
Don’t send an email confirmation of the unsubscribe action
This is another faux pas (and a fairly minor one, at that) I used to see all the time. But while doing my inbox sweep this time, I only got one unsubscribe confirmation email. Alas, it pains me to report they didn’t ask me to follow them on social. But they did at least give me an opportunity to re-subscribe, just in case I had made a mistake.
That is a tactic I saw a lot while I was doing these unsubscribes – more than a third of the company emails I unsubscribed from gave me an immediate way to re-subscribe.
Everybody likes one-click unsubscribes
This is another example of the tip to make it easy for people to unsubscribe. When you click the unsubscribe link, boom: You’re brought to the unsubscribe confirmation page.
Let them know when and where they first subscribed
Some people unsubscribe simply because they can’t remember signing up for your emails in the first place. If you give them a wee reminder of when (or even why) they signed up, this problem is solved.
Include a short survey to find out why people are unsubscribing
This can give you insights into how your emails are falling short for subscribers. Or it’ll just give you some peace of mind to know that you’re simply losing subscribers because people are getting too many emails (and yours didn’t make the cut).
I also like this opened-ended comment box. Every once in a while, someone will leave a really interesting comment in these.
Customize your unsubscribe instructions
Please don’t make your company sound like a soulless machine. Change the default copy used in your unsubscribe process. Also, change the design of the pages to reflect your brand.
If you can do this in a charming enough way (especially if you include a few words about the benefits of your email updates) you might retain a few more subscribers. Even if you have to resort to images of depressed bees or lonely puppies.
Give subscribers the option of personalizing the emails they get, rather than just unsubscribing
Every email marketer knows that segmented emails get higher engagement rates than unsegmented ones. So why not kill two birds with one stone: Save a subscriber who would otherwise have opted out, and get their preferences information so you can send them more targeted emails. Win-win!
Send people an unsubscribe prompt if they’ve been inactive for a certain period of time
I’ve been seeing a lot of these in my inbox over the last six months to a year. They’re a fairly new thing – most marketers wouldn’t deliberately reach out to people to ask them to unsubscribe. But I’m seeing this used so often that I suspect it’s working, or the technique wouldn’t be spreading like this.
There are two different approaches to these:
- The strict: You have to click a link in the email or you’re automatically unsubscribed.
- The moderate: You’re encouraged to click a link in the email, or you’re offered a short survey to complete so the company can send you more relevant emails.
Don’t make people wait days for their unsubscribes to take effect
It peeves me to see messages like this. We are in the Internet age – no complex filing process has to be completed to process unsubscribes. So don’t make us wait around.
I thought it would take me forever to find examples of this. Sadly, I turned up several fairly quickly.
Give subscribers a way to change their address
Depending on which study you cite, the average email user has two or three different email addresses. And yet most email marketers – and email marketing studies – seem to want to ignore this.
At least in terms of managing unsubscribes, please don’t ignore this. Make it easy for people to change their email address. You might even go so far as to mention it specifically in the footer.
The unsubscribe links in your emails should work for at least 60 days after you’ve sent the emails
This isn’t just being nice. It’s following the law. The Canadian CASL requires unsubscribe links to work for at least 60 days after an email message is sent. The US CAN-SPAM is a bit more lenient – it requires the links work for only 30 days.
Do us all a favor and do far better than this, okay? Don’t force or manipulate people into staying on your list. Set those unsubscribe links to work indefinitely. (Or risk being – deservedly – marked as “junk.”)