They love you enough to sign up, so why do you e-mail subscribers leave you? A recent Jupiter Research study says 53 percent unsubscribe because content isn’t relevant to them, and 40 percent leave because e-mail is sent too often.
“That doesn't mean you make it harder for people to leave, however. Instead, learn why people leave, offer them other ways to remain in the relationship, and make the process a great customer experience,” says Loren McDonald of Silverpop on the MarketingProfs site.
A few tips:
- Make it easy for people to unsubscribe. A recent Federal Communications Commission ruling says you can only require entry of an email address (not require people to view an offer, answer any questions, etc.) to unsubscribe. And you really don’t want people subscribed who truly don’t want to be on your list.
- Do offer alternatives – like a less frequent email or one delivered to their mobile device instead. If a page pops up with their subscriber information, it’s easy for them to change to a less frequent schedule or choose a different newsletter if you offer more than one.
- Ask unsubscribers to complete an exit survey. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to actually know why people are leaving so you could shore up those areas?
- Use a thank you page or unsubscribe message to confirm the action and explain when it will take effect.
