6 Best Practices You Should Follow When Optimizing Your Email Unsubscribe Page
We’ve shared statistics on why people unsubscribe from your marketing emails or newsletters. Some may not even be your fault, as subscribers are inundated with so many emails that they need relief. Here are some key statistics:
- 53% of consumers reported getting too many emails from retailers.
- 45% unsubscribe because the emails aren’t mobile-friendly.
- 40% won’t unsubscribe if given the option to receive fewer emails.
- 1% or less unsubscribe rate is the industry standard.
When a subscriber finds and clicks on that unsubscribe link in your email, what are you doing to try to save them? I recently did that with Sweetwater, an audio equipment ecommerce provider with exceptional support. I almost felt bad clicking the unsubscribe link, but I don’t buy frequently enough, with email deals arriving every few days.
When I clicked the unsubscribe link, here’s what I was brought to:
How cool is that? Rather than unsubscribing from everything, I just reduced the frequency to once a month.
If I were to score this page, I’d have to give it a B+! Not only do they offer frequency options, but they also do a great job of letting me know what I could be missing and setting expectations with each. Because Sweetwater has such a range of target audiences, I’d encourage them to have tailored emails to each group… musicians, podcasters, audio engineers, studios, etc.
How To Optimize Your Unsubscribe Page
A great unsubscribe page is your last chance before losing a valuable subscriber. Rather than just having a single master unsubscribe, provide some topical options, frequency options, as well as encouraging benefits to keep them onboard. Here are six important strategies in optimizing your unsubscribe page:
- Communication Options: Stop with the all-or-nothing unsubscribe page and provide a tiered approach that offers different levels of involvement. This can include topics, target audiences, and frequency.
- One-Click Unsubscribe: Don’t make it difficult to unsubscribe. The last impression you make on someone who allowed you to speak to them isn’t to irritate them by not letting them leave.
- Clear Unsubscribe: A tiny font size, hiding behind logins, verifying email addresses… quit making it difficult to find and unsubscribe. If people wish to leave, let them.
- Purge Subscribers: If you want to maintain good inbox placement and solid engagement metrics, purge your list of subscribers who haven’t engaged in over a year (or more if you’re seasonal).
- Last Chance: Before you purge unengaged subscribers, make them a last-chance offer to see if they’d like to stay.
- Get Feedback; As with the example above, I wasn’t leaving Sweetwater… I didn’t want their emails as frequently. Don’t take it personally when a subscriber leaves. Today’s inbox is cluttered and difficult to manage, your customers may want to keep things tidier. If you’re curious why left, ask them on your unsubscribe page.
