But wait, there's more...

Sup, friend.

At least 4 people will unsubscribe because of this email.
Not you though, because you're cool 😎

I've sent it anyway, crossing my fingers while hoping that you're not sick and tired of me ranting about email being hard.

I have much more to share, and my hope is that my years of experience with CRM and email marketing will help you achieve better results from your email.

Because the stone cold, unyielding, universal truth is...

EMAIL IS REALLY F🤬CKING HARD!

In part three of my Email is hard series I want to talk about unsubscribing. Specifically, why people unsubscribe, and what options you have when they do.

Part 3.

"Leave me alone!"

In part 2 we discussed sending good email, and how part of sending good email is sending relevant content to the relevant people.

What happens when you don't send relevant content to the relevant people is that they unsubscribe.

It's hard not to take it personally when a subscriber unsubscribes. We often put a lot of effort into crafting the thoughtful and (ideally) personalized messages we send. To an unseasoned email marketer It can feel almost like getting a bad review.

I don't think of it that way, most of the time.

We're sorry to see you go...

We shouldn't settle for guessing why people unsubscribe. It's always better to know so you can make adjustments to your segmentation and messaging.

There are 7 common reasons people unsubscribe.

1. They don't remember subscribing in the first place
2. They're no longer interested in your content
3. The content is irrelevant to them
4. You email them too often
5. Your emails are complicated
6. Your emails are repetitive
7. They think your emails are spammy

If we take the time to collect feedback from unsubscribers we can make adjustments to our marketing to better suit more profile types.

Let's break down the common reasons people unsubscribe, and what you can do about it!

If they don't remember subscribing...

If you're seeing people unsubscribing because they don't remember subscribing that tells you...

The journey from opt-in to inbox does not establish clear expectations.

If you are collecting email addresses from popups or forms that do not explicitly state that you will send them email, or what type of email you're sending, then it's fair to assume that the subscriber might not be expecting an email. It's always best to set clear expectations and obtain explicit consent to send marketing.

Your need more regular communication.

In email, a day is a long time, and a week is an eternity. If you are not in regular communication with subscribers it's very likely that some will simply forget who you are and that they subscribed. Regular communication is key.

The content they signed up for does not align with what you're sending.

If they signed up for food recipes, send them food recipes. Don't send them travel brochures. There's a good chance that subscribers might recognize that the different content is coming from the same sender.

The branding is inconsistent.

I've seen this happen after rebrands. Companies spend a whole lotta money and a whole lotta time developing a new brand, logo, name, whatever, then send an email to the list they spent years developing. Then OOPS, they did not do enough to prepare subscribers about the upcoming change and many don't recognize the new brand, causing a surge in unsubscribes.

This can also happen from within the same brand if your email design, tone, or language is not consistent across emails. New subscribers are especially susceptible.

If they're not interested in your content...

People change over time. What was relevant to someone 6 months ago may no longer be relevant to them now.

It could also be that your own content style or focus shifted over time to topics that don't interest your original audience.

If you want to reduce unsubscribes due to interest reasons you can...

Leverage email preferences for segmentation.

If you send different types of content it's best to only send what people are actually interested in. You can use email preferences to allow subscribers to pick and choose what email they receive.

Ask what subscribers are interested in.

Not only do the needs of the individual change, but the needs of whole segments can change over time as trends evolve. Collect feedback from subscribers regularly about what they want to hear from you. 

If someone does unsubscribe for this reason it's best to simply let them go and be happy that they subscribed in the first place, rather than be sad they left.

If they say your content is not relevant...

This could indicate issues with your segmentation and/or your marketing.

Misaligned expectations.

When they subscribed, their expectations of the email you sent might have been different from what you actually sent. It's always a good idea to establish expectations early in the customer journey, ideally before they subscribe.

When in doubt, ask.

Consider sending a personal email to anyone who unsubscribes for this reason and ask what would be relevant to them so you can adjust your marketing. Be selective though, most people do not want another email from your business after unsubscribing.

If they complain about too many emails...

Then slow down partner! It's easy to get excited and send a bunch of emails when we have something important to share, but that can be overwhelming to both new and seasoned subscribers.

Establish clear expectations for frequency.

When you get a new subscriber explicitly state how may emails per week they should expect from you on the thank-you page or in their welcome email.

Segregate new subscribers.

If you have a drip sequence for new subscribers consider excluding them from broadcasts so that your messaging doesn't conflict. If you have daily onboarding emails plus additional broadcasts it can be overwhelming.

Allow subscribers to select their desired email frequency.

Using email preferences you can add a monthly, weekly, or bi-weekly options and use them when selecting your segments for broadcasts.

Spread out your emails.

If you are a frequent sender, consider scaling back and sending less frequently. Only share what's important, when it's important.

They say your emails are too complicated...

From experience, these reports are rare, especially when your list is primarily composed of your ideal customers. But if you see a surge in complicated reports it might be because...

You're using poor design.

You could simply be suffering from poorly designed emails. If you write long emails (like this one) it's important to make it scannable. People generally like to scan articles to find the important parts and then start reading in depth.

If the juicy bits are buried so they're forced to read the whole thing it can make reading work. People have enough work already.

Your audience and content are not aligned.

Take a good look at the demographics of your list and their preferences (which if you don't have you should start collecting). Are they the right fit for what you're sending?

Dumb it down.

If you cover a complex topic, like email marketing, experience is the determining factor for comprehension. You might have inexperienced people on your list. Consider collecting experience data, and segmenting your list (and content) based on experience. Someone can be a Novice, Intermediate, or Expert.

Leverage alternative media.

If you don't want to dumb it down, it might be a good idea to serve the complicated portions of your emails in another format. Consider videos which you can upload to your site or YouTube. Podcasts are another popular alternative. You would then link to those resources in your emails.

They think your emails are too repetitive...

Then it might be time to mix it up. If you send the same kinds of emails every week it's boring. You need to start training your subscribers to expect the unexpected. The people crave entertainment!

More entertainment, less promotion.

If you're just pushing for sales in the inbox, you're not doing yourself any favors. People typically don't like being sold to. You must entertain people to get their attention!

Being entertaining is easier said than done of course. If you need some help, we covered how to write better email in Part 1.

Change up your tone.

If all your emails are super corporate professional and come from some anonymous corporate inbox, that's BORING. It might be time to add a little personal flair. People have conversations with people, which was the original intent for email when it was invented.

They think your emails are spammy...

ChatGPT had this to say about spam.

"The term spam generally refers to unsolicited or unwanted messages, typically sent in bulk." 

So if you see unsubscribe reports indicating your emails are spammy, that's a good indication you're sending email that your subscribers didn't want, or didn't ask for.

Spam is subjective.

You are bound to get a few disgruntled subscribers every now and again. That's just the nature of email marketing. Selecting spam is typically an emotional reaction to receiving an email. You might have emailed the wrong person on the wrong day.

Practice good list maintenance.

Regularly remove inactive subscribers from your list. If someone doesn't interact with your emails or content for a while that's a good indication you should take them off the list before it becomes an issue.

How do I prevent people from unsubscribing?

The best way to prevent people from unsubscribing is to send better email. If you don't know how to send better email you really need to re-read part 1 & 2 of this series for some pointers.

The wrong way to prevent unsubscribes is making it difficult to unsubscribe. Adding friction to the unsubscribe process is a great way to piss people off. Not cool.

If I start sending more email won't people think I'm spamming?

Like wine or chocolate, email in moderation won't hurt you. As long as you set expectations early, practice good list management, and send good email you shouldn't have any issues.

Some will still unsubscribe, and some might even complain. That's just the nature of email marketing. In my opinion, those people wouldn't have been good customers anyway.

I've heard dozens of business owners over the years say, "I don't send a lot of email because I don't want to spam people and don't want them to unsubscribe."

If that's you, here's some food for thought.

If you're worried about spamming people, that might be an indication that you don't know how to send good email, in which case read part 1 and 2. Good email is not spam. Your head is in the right place, but the solution is not to send less email. An email list you don't leverage is not an asset to your business.

If you're worried about people unsubscribing, let me ask you this. What is the point of having an email list if you don't send email?

People will unsubscribe. Deal with it.

Someone unsubscribed 😭 Now what?

As hard as it is, we must respect their choice and let them go. But not all is lost! They will still recieve transactional email, which may prompt them to re-subscribe in the future.

You should also consider exporting your unsubscribed contacts and uploading them to Facebook or Google re-marketing campaigns. People need what they need, when they need it. If they need you again you'll want to be visible.

Closing thoughts 💭

Do not be afraid of sending email to avoid unsubscribes. Unsubscribing is part of the holistic nature of sending good email.

I also want to quickly say that while the feedback from unsubscribers does matter, it should be balanced by feedback from your subscribers that love your email! If the feedback from your email is overwhelmingly positive, then you should keep on keeping on.

Businesses typically get more negative feedback than positive feedback when it comes to email, so you might have to listen closely. Just because one person says your email was spammy, does not necessarily make it so.

Adrian Tobey
Founder, Groundhogg Inc.