I’m here to help. I want you to get over those feelings of rejection that arise when you see the “Unsubscribed” stats in your email campaign metrics. In fact, I want to help you embrace the unsubscribe.
As the saying goes, when one door closes in life, another door opens. It’s that way with email unsubscribes. Yes, it’s so hard to say goodbye, but there’s high value in those unsubs. Let’s look at how understanding them can become a healthy and positive aspect of your email marketing strategy.
Unsubscribes help you prioritize quality over quantity.
Having a massive email list filled with uninterested or disengaged subscribers doesn’t serve ANY organization’s marketing goals. It’s far more valuable to have a smaller, more engaged list that’s genuinely interested in your messages and content.
Everytime someone unsubscribes, they do you a nice favor by trimming the excess off your list and leaving you with a more targeted and engaged audience. (Sort of like how Michaelangelo sculpted his masterpiece: He just chipped away everything that didn’t look like David.)
As that happens you can expect higher open and click-through rates (I’m assuming here that your messages are awesome and your offers are irresistible) and ultimately a more effective email marketing strategy.
They maintain your sender reputation.
Email platforms like HubSpot monitor your engagement metrics, such as open rates and spam reports. Those spam reports damage your sender reputation AND can keep your messages from reaching the people who do want to get them. So you WANT to offer an easy unsubscribe option to keep spam reports to a minimum (something HubSpot does).
Unsubs help you respect audience preferences.
People’s needs, tastes, and attitudes change over time. Someone who opted in to your emails a year or 2 ago may have no need for your product or service now. Maybe they purchased from someone else. Or if you’re a local B2C, maybe they moved away and can’t avail themselves of your weekly in-store specials anymore.
It’s OK! Ethical email marketers respect and welcome those choices. When you allow people to leave your list, you show respect for their preferences — which strengthens your priceless positive brand image.
They also keep your business legally compliant (not just in the US).
Many jurisdictions, including the US and EU, have strict regulations governing email marketing, such as CAN-SPAM and GDPR. Non-compliance is not an option. Allowing users to unsubscribe easily is a fundamental principle of compliances and demonstrates your organization’s commitment to following the law.
Unsubscribes free you focus on your engaged audiences.
Let unsubs remain the distraction they are. Keep your focus on the people who are engaged with your messages. Create content that “meets them where they are” in their buyer’s journey, keeping their attention and keeping them interested in your brand. (Our ebook, The Ultimate Guide to CRM-Powered Marketing, has ideas you can put to work starting now.)
When you nurture and build stronger relationships with your prospects and customers through your content, you’ll likely your email ROI rise steadily.
Unsubscribes happen. Keep building your list.
Now that you’ve come to accept that unsubs are a gift, you still want to keep adding to your list — ideally with prospects of ever-higher quality. Our ebook, The Basics of Generating Inbound B2B Leads, can help with that. Download it, give it a read, then reach out to our Digital Marketing team with your questions. You can also hit us up with the orange chat button below right.