Why Email Marketing Doesn’t End at “Unsubscribe”

Why Email Marketing Doesn’t End at “Unsubscribe”:from Business 2 Community by Lisa Wiese
Inarguably, you need email content to round out an Inbound Marketing campaign. The most effective email campaigns are strategic, well-reasoned and comprehensive, but sometimes that isn’t enough – one dark cloud of email marketing still looms.
The “unsubscribe” button.
Don’t consider your unsubscribe button as the end of your relationship. In fact, feedback from your unsubscribes can lead to a refined and more effective email strategy. It’s very difficult to improve on anything without constructive criticism.
Let’s look at some of the reasons people unsubscribe to find out how you can learn from them:

Not in your buying cycle/sales funnel anymore

Lets say Joe Target is looking into water pumps. You give him some reading material that leads him to believe his problem or solution lies in a different product. Leads can be finicky at the top of the funnel when they’re shopping and gathering information. Perhaps Joe entered his email to get more information and found out your business can’t offer him the services he needs. You can’t always bring browsers back to buy but assisting consumers in selecting the right services or products that allign with their needs is more important.

Not optimized for mobile

Now, Cathy Businesswoman is really interested in your office cleaning services. Cathy’s traveling schedule requires her to catch up on most of her reading in an airport on her iOS. She could unsubscribe at the bottom of the funnel because your formatting doesn’t make it easy for her to read, download or convert. In a short survey, only 21% of marketers took the time to design all email links to be mobile friendly over a 6-month period. In the popular publication last year “The Social Break-Up”, ExactTarget discovered that 91% of consumers have unsubscribed from opt-in email marketing. It’s up to your marketing team to adapt to the ever changing challenges of mobile.

Content was too long to read

If one of the most time-consuming tasks for you is scrolling through unread inbox messages, it’s most likely a problem for your prospects, too. A compelling subject line isn’t the only way to entice your reader. Using a preheader for an email is an easy way to entice mobile readers to act – include a phone number or get a short “secondary subject line” to bring them in.

Emails came too frequently

“The Social Break-Up” also found that 47% of unsubscribers decide to jump ship because they get too many emails. Did you forget to give them a notification about basic expectations in your email relationship? Your prospects may not know they’re being entered into a flow of emails with the potential of sales pitches to come. By letting them know early on that they are subject to future email publications about similar topics, they may be able to personalize their preferences.
The Takeaway
The most valuable tool in your email marketing campaign is the unsubscribe button. A “two click” unsubscribe process that asks subscribers why they’re unsubscribing is a valuable way to find out if the issues discussed above are reasons they want out. In an Unsubscribe Email Strategies Report, only 56% of the responders required recipients to fill out this type of evaluation as part of their unsubscribe process. If you’re not learning why people are opting out, you’re missing an opportunity that’s knocking at your door. The solutions to fixing or bettering your email campaign are found in your readers; make sure you’re listening.
Further master your email marketing with our “10 Ways To Make Your Email Marketing More Effective” tip sheet. We discuss ways to target your content to meet the needs of your prospects and help them convert.

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