Why do people unsubscribe from your email list? This is a question that many entrepreneurs have asked themselves, but most have never really explored the issue to get to the root cause. It’s not always easy to figure out why they are unsubscribing, and it can be difficult to improve the situation. In this blog post, we will go over the top reasons why people unsubscribe from your email list so you can fix the problem before it gets worse!
Keep your content relevant. If you start to see a decrease in engagement, it could be that the people on this particular email list are not interested anymore because of how irrelevant their message is for them at present time and/or stage they’re currently going through with life or changes within business operations (e.g., products no longer being sold).
The first tip we have mentioned here today goes back into keeping things as targeted towards each individual user’s interests – which may mean changing up some copy so messages will resonate better!
What’s more, if you are among the many people who have set up a Mailchimp or ConstantContact account to manage your list and send out emails on behalf of one person (such as yourself), then it becomes way too easy for subscribers with different interests to subscribe. You may think that sending an email is just like talking to someone until he or she agrees – but this analogy does not apply when we’re dealing specifically through our electronic devices because there’s no physical cues telling us how engaged someone might be! And so all those spammy-looking messages pile into peoples’ ever growing “unsubscribe” folder where other newsletters fearfully gather.
Are you hemorrhaging email list subscribers? If so, maybe you’re making one of these mistakes:
- Have you stopped caring about your list? This is a major one, folks! You have to keep in mind that people are on YOUR emailing lists because they wanted something from you – so if all of sudden the emails stop coming and it seems like no thought or effort was put into them for months at time then guess what? They will take their business elsewhere too. “If this happens,” says social media marketing expert Roz Denny, “you’ll never get these customers back unless there’s some sort of crisis situation happening where consumers feel compelled enough by urgency alone to not only sign up but stay subscribed as well.”
- You contact them too often. As email providers continue to create smarter SPAM protection, the average person still finds his inbox overrun with useless, irrelevant email. Combine that with the fact that we’re consistently signing up for new email lists, both business and personal, and you’ve got to realize that we’re simply overwhelmed with email. With that in mind, if you are sending an email out to your list daily, or even a few times a day, you can bet that the recipients are going to get sick of you quick. Not only does seeing your name over and over become an annoyance, but you can’t possibly have that much useful stuff to say.
- You’re too pushy. Yes, everyone realizes that the end idea behind your email list is to sell products and services. However, no one likes to be beat over the head with calls to action every other paragraph. Furthermore, the whole FREE and FOR A LIMITED TIME gets old too. So yes it’s okay to have your well-placed calls to action, but tone down the hype and quit coming off like a used car salesman in a tacky suit.
- Your subject lines are BS. No one likes to feel like they’re being lied to. However, countless email newsletters still feel it necessary to use subject lines that set up readers to be let down. For example, I’ve seen people send out emails titled something like “re: Thanks for the contact” or something like that to create the illusion that you emailed them first and they are sending you a response. While this sneaky tactic got me to open the email, it did nothing but piss me off and make me unsubscribe when I realized the wool had been pulled over my eyes.No one likes to feel like they’re being lied. However, countless newsletters still use subject lines that lead readers up and then let them down – for example: “Thanks for the email!” While this sneaky tactic got me open the email it did nothing but piss off when I realized the wool had been pulled over my eyes”
- Your emails are inconsistent. While you don’t want to email too often, you do want to set a schedule you stick to so that readers will know what to expect and when to expect it. You don’t want to overwhelm them, but you do want to stay on their mind often enough that they develop a remembrance for you and a relationship with you. Maybe once a week, or in some cases even once a month, would do just fine.
- You aren’t providing anything useful. Usually people sign up for an email newsletter because they think they will learn something from it or at least be entertained. What does that mean for you? Well, you need to provide quality, useful content. If that means hiring a copywriter to create content for you, then start shelling out the money! If people are receiving too many emails or not finding content valuable enough, they will just ask “why bother?” and unsubscribe.
- The layout sucks. Of course, good content won’t do too much good if the layout of your emails is boring or hard to follow. So while you might be tempted to use a cheap or free template, consider having a designer put together a clean newsletter design for you. This helps your emails look more professional, allows you to lay out the content in an eye-catching way, and can be useful for branding purposes.
- It simply isn’t what they signed up for. What did you promise them in the beginning when they signed up? What sort of information were you going to deliver? If you haven’t been living up to your end of the bargain, you’re going to lose subscribers.
- Take it personal. Do you have a personal relationship with your subscribers? If not, it’s time to start creating one. What can they expect from the emails that come through their inboxes on any given day of week or month – and how often will these be coming in? It’s about personal relationships. Can you share a heartwarming story about something that happened at home? A great recipe you’ve been working with? A nice, funny story from your day at work that really made an impact on the people around them? You won’t be able to sustain a personal connection if all your content is coming through as cold emails.
How are you keeping your email list subscribers? Tell us about it in the comments section.
This article is written by Mickie Kennedy, founder of eReleases (https://www.ereleases.com), the online leader in press release writing and distribution. Download the free whitepaper The Ultimate Guide to Pinterest here: https://www.ereleases.com/insider/pinterest.html
Mary Novak
Nice reminder! Short, sweet and true!