5 Techniques For Reducing Unsubscribe Rates

You spend hours creating your email opt-in landing page. You craft careful rewards and work hard on making your list seem appealing. You market to your target audience and watch the numbers grow. But then you get hit with unsubscribes – and watch all of your hard work go to waste. If this sounds familiar, you need to try these 5 techniques for reducing unsubscribe rates immediately.

Personalize your campaigns
Don’t just send out the same email to everyone every time. You can group your subscribers into lists based on which page or offer they signed up from, which products or services they have purchased in the past, and even which email campaigns they have opened in the past. You can then send them campaigns which will target them directly, and even use email marketing automation to follow up depending on whether they opened the email, clicked a link, or made a purchase. One size fits all is no longer a smart move in email campaigns.

Nail your subject lines
When a customer’s attention is not grabbed by your email headlines, they are less likely to click on them. After a while, they may see your emails as simply a nuisance that they need to delete and will make the decision to unsubscribe. To stop this from happening, you need subject lines that grab the attention and force customers to open the mail. Use compelling language and make them feel like they would be missing out if they didn’t click. This is where you can use your data and look at which subjects have done well in the past to refine your technique.

Be mobile friendly
If your emails look ugly or unreadable on a smartphone, many customers may not bother reading them. A lot of people these days are checking their emails on their phones whilst on the move. If your email layout is not responsive, it won’t look good on that tiny screen. Nor will customers be able to click on the links that you have included. This is more likely to make them unsubscribe out of frustration. Your email should look good on all screen sizes possible, and you should be able to check this during the creation process. If you can’t, you aren’t using the right email builder.

Have a confirmation screen
When someone hits the link to unsubscribe from your emails, be aware that they may have hit it by accident. You need to have a confirmation screen just in case they want to change their minds. This is also your last chance to convince them to stay. Remind them of why they signed up in the first place, and use compelling copy: ‘Are you sure you want to miss out on all of the latest deals and special offers?’ could be an example. This is also an opportunity to segment your email list by removing them from certain sections only. Ask them which parts of your mailing list they want to subscribe from, with a list of checkboxes for them to tick one by one. You may find that some people don’t want to hear about your latest webinars, but are still interested in your blog updates.

Provide value every time
The most important way to reduce unsubscribes is to ensure that you always provide value. What do your customers want? This is most likely to be linked to the incentive you provided when they signed up. Did you provide them with tips on how to be more effective at their jobs? Then you should continue to provide similar tips in your emails. Be a valuable resource that they can’t afford to lose from their inbox. For sales campaigns, make sure that you provide exclusive deals or even products that other customers can’t get. There should be a tangible feeling of loss if they unsubscribe from your list. If you don’t provide value, you’re just wasting space.

If your follow these 5 techniques, you should see the number of unsubscribes you get going down dramatically. You may even be able to reduce it to the smallest possible figure, such as 1%.