What you can learn from unsubscribes

For most marketers, the unsubscribe link is like a tax number. An unpleasant administrative requirement you'd rather not need and certainly don't like having to use.

Hiding or disguising unsubscribe links doesn't help of course. If your boyfriend wants to break up with you, hiding his phone won't keep him in the relationship.

On the contrary, proof is accumulating that a prominent unsubscribe link can actually lead to lower spam complaints...

• Chad White reports that LifeScript put an unsubscribe link up the top of their emails and saw "unsubscribes go up and complaints go down - almost at 1-to-1"


• ESP StreamSend recently wrote, "We have found that customers who place the unsubscribe link at the top of the email often reduce their complaints by about 75%"

(Loren McDonald has an excellent overview of the nuances of unsubscribe link position here.)

An unsubscribe is a thing of beauty. It's certainly better than the alternatives.

Subscribers could just delete your emails everytime they see them (not a great brand experience) or simply hit the "report spam" button (get enough of these and you'll win a blacklist entry).

An unsubscribe deserves high praise, because of three clear benefits: proper analysis of unsubscribe patterns identifies problems with your email program, an unsubscribe helps you retain the subscriber (really) and an unsubscribe is an opportunity to impress.

Learning from unsubscribe patterns

Most systems and marketers examine unsubscribes (or spam complaints) in the context of the email that apparently triggered the negative response:

"What did we do in the last email that caused people to hit the "report spam" button or unsubscribe link?"

For example:

• Did we change the from line so people failed to recognize the sender?
• Was the subject line too spammy?
• Did we put in an opinion piece that annoyed some readers?
• Was the offer irrelevant?

This kind of analysis is fine and worthy: some unsubscribes or spam reports are indeed an immediate, direct response to a particular header, offer or article. But others are the final act in a long process.

Perhaps the "last email" didn't do anything different to the previous emails. It was merely "the email that broke the camel's back."

So how else might you look at unsubscribes and spam complaints? Try these examples...

Segment by domain

Are unsubscribes spread evenly across all address domains, or are certain domains disproportionally more likely to abandon your email list?

What if @gmail.com addresses are ten times more likely to unsubscribe than everyone else?

Possible explanations:

• Do you have a deliverability problem at Gmail? Are people only getting emails intermittently. If the first email to make it past Gmail's filters arrives several weeks after the sign-up, people may have forgotten they ever opted-in.
• Do you have a display problem at Gmail? If your emails simply look bad in Gmail, this might drive people to unsubscribe. Open a Gmail account and see for yourself or use a design testing tool.
• Is there a demographics issue? Is there something different about Gmail users? Check your stats and see if Gmail addresses click on different offers or articles than everyone else. Do you need to treat them as their own segment?

Segment by sign-up source

Unsubscribes happen when expectations and reality fail to meet. And the sign-up process plays a big role in setting those expectations.

So unsubscribes might be linked back to problems setting the right expectations at sign-up.

Are unsubscribes spread evenly across all sources of new subscribers, or are addresses gained from a particular source (like a sweepstakes) disproportionally more likely to abandon your email list?

What if people subscribing offline at point of sale are ten times more likely to unsubscribe than everyone else?

Possible explanations:

• Do you have a training problem? Should your staff do a better job of explaining the benefits, content and frequency of your emails?
• Do you have a permission problem? Are staff signing up people without getting proper permission? Are you incentivising POS sign-ups to favor quantity over quality? Does that matter?
• Do you have a forms problem? Have you optimized printed sign-up forms just as you would your website sign-up copy?

Segment by time since sign-up

How quickly do people tire of your emails?

If the vast majority of your unsubscribes come after the first email received by a new subscriber, then your problem is subscriber remorse.

If users gradually tire of your emails, perhaps there is a critical threshold when they tip over into the unsubscribe bucket? If you know when this occurs, you can take remedial steps to prevent it happening.

What if people tend to unsubscribe about six months after joining your list?

Possible explanations:

• Do you have a frequency problem? Once a subscriber's initial enthusiasm wanes, are your emails simply arriving too often? Should you aim to increase value, cut back on frequency after an initial welcome series, or give subscribers a clear option to move to a less frequent mailing schedule before they abandon ship?
• Do you have a value problem? Are your offers or content good enough?
• Do you have a diversity problem? Are your offers or content too repetitive? Should you look for fresh ways to add value to your emails?

Of course, all these potential problems impact more than unsubscribes or spam complaints. You could do the same kind of analysis with open/render rates, CTR or any other measure.

People rarely switch from "highly engaged" to "wanting to unsubscribe" without passing through an intermediate phase or two.

For example, what does the pattern of opens and clicks look like over the lifetime of a typical ex-subscriber? What are the warning signals that indicate an unsubscribe is imminent?

When do opens and clicks begin to dip?

At what point should you jump in with a special offer or fresh content to renew the subscriber's interest in your emails before it's too late?

Not every unsubscribe is an unsubscribe

An unsubscribe can mean various things:

• I don't like your content or offers
• I don't like getting so many emails
• I don't want you communicating with me via email
• I just want to change my email address

...none of which mean the inevitable end of the relationship.

If the unsubscribe link goes to a subscriber preference center, you can give subscribers the chance to select different content or types of offers, opt for fewer emails, or update their address.

...all of which can mean you've stopped them unsubscribing and answered their needs.

And if they really want out, then you can remind them of other ways of getting information from you: Facebook, Twitter, a blog or web feed, even a catalog.

It's a chance to shine

Finally, a quick, painless, gracious, positive unsubscribe experience makes a good impression on a subscriber who's leaving the list but not necessarily leaving your brand or business.

With our tendency to island thinking, we forget that email is just one point of interaction between a customer or prospect and our organization.

When someone leaves, take the trouble to thank them for their previous interest, solicit feedback (without making it compulsory to give that feedback) and let them know they'll always be welcome back.

For more articles on how to handle unsubscribes, see here.

 feed | email | Follow me on Twitter

The main website for everything email marketing
Email marketing search engine | Introduction
Email advertising basics | Service listings | Sources of statistics
Advice on email design, delivery issues and list building

Top email marketing info sources for 2009
Outlook 2007 and HTML design
42 HTML email design resources

follow me on Twitter