How to Reduce E-Zine Unsubscribe Rates
While it is vital that you take subscribers off your e-mail newsletter list the instant they request it, there are strategies you can employ to reduce the chances that they will want to go off the list, as well as ones to encourage them to stay on.
Send good stuff: If your e-mail is fun, interesting and valuable, your unsubscribe rate should be low. Figure out what your audience wants to receive and send it to them. If you are seeing jumps in unsubscribe rates, survey your subscribers to find out where your content is lacking.
Offer alternative frequencies:Give consumers the option to change the delivery frequency on the unsubscribe page. What was overwhelming as a daily might feel reasonable as a weekly. The more flexibility you offer, the greater your chance of keeping subscribers.
Offer change of address: This is one of the most common oversights that e-mail marketers and newsletter publishers make. They offer ways to get on the list and ways to get off the list, but no way to stay on the list with a different address. People change e-mail addresses fairly often, and if it is not immediately obvious to them how they can alert you to the change, they will either unsubscribe altogether or re-subscribe with a new account, leaving you with bad data. In a study conducted by Return Path and the Association for Interactive Marketing, 20% of marketers reported that they do not allow people to update their e-mail addresses.
Offer other newsletters: This is one of the best ways to keep subscribers. By offering multiple newsletters, you give the reader a chance to change topics if they so desire. They can decide to receive your promotional announcements, or a weekly “tip” sheet, or one of several newsletters on specific topics of interest to them. Subscriber interests may change over time. But the important thing is to get them to stay engage with you via one of your lists. The more options you offer, the more chances you have to keep the conversation going, and that’s the best way to maintain a long-term relationship with readers. Remember, the most important part of your commitment to subscribers is your promise to send relevant information. Sometimes, the more targeted the information is to a particular subject, the more relevant it becomes. You may find that one newsletter covering three topics results in fewer overall signups than three newsletters on one specific topic each.
Ask for feedback, and act on it: Customer feedback can offer valuable insight into what’s not working about your e-mails. Every e-mail should offer a feedback link or form. Get input before readers are so annoyed or bored that they want to unsubscribe! The feedback you get will give you ideas for new newsletters and other stories to include, and it will help you make improvements to your program.
In fact, consider having a feedback form on your unsubscribe page. If it is short and easy to complete, you might be surprised at how many people do fill it out. You can also offer a checkbox for permission to re-contact them if you make changes based on their feedback. While few will check this box (and you don’t have an inch to play around here—never re-e-mail unsubscribers without explicit permission), those who do comprise a valuable list of people willing to hear form you under certain conditions.
Matt Blumberg is the driving force behind Return Path, an e-mail performance company. Collaborating with him on this project are his colleagues, e-mail strategists Stephanie A. Miller and Tami Monahan Forman. This article was excerpted from their new book, “Sign Me Up! A Marketer’s Guide to Creating E-mail Newsletters That Build Relationships and Boost Sales (iUniverse Inc., 2005) © 2005 Return Path, Inc. All rights reserved.
