If you’re running an email newsletter and struggling with high unsubscribe rate, this post is for you.
You’re not alone.
Many online sellers struggle to maintain their unsubscribe rate low. Just like them, you should aim for less than 1%.
Why do consumers unsubscribe from mailing lists? It’s all about relevance.
Consider this statistic from Janrain: 74% of consumers become annoyed when facing content that has nothing to do with what made them visit a particular website in the first place.
Fortunately, there exist some ways that help to limit the number of unsubscribers and assist brands in cultivating a healthy relationship with their customers.
Here are 7 tips to help you better understand your customers’ concerns and create email campaigns that engage and convert your target audience.
1. Offer Unique, Quality Content
Nothing helps to keep the attention of your target like content that brings a real value to your audience.
Your email campaign should have several goals, and product offerings are just one of them. It’s smart to share quality content about your industry, present your subscribers with relevant news and trend reports, or share interesting information about your business.
Make your content informative, fun, or educational.
If you keep bombarding your email list with sales content, you’ll become an annoying presence in the mailbox of every subscriber.
Make sure that the emails you send to your list are varied. That’s how you create a campaign that resonates with different segments of your audience.
2. Segment Your List
Segmentation of your target audience is crucial for your email campaign to work.
That’s how you make sure that your message is relevant to your customers. The more specific your segment is, the better chance you’ll have at delivering content that speaks to their interests.
Every time they see an email from you, they’ll know that they’re going to have a great time reading your content.
Separate the subscribers on your list into different groups based on their location, company size, age, gender, education level, position, industry, purchase history, or other metrics.
To learn even more about your target, you shouldn’t ever stop collecting information about customers who visit your website and interact with your content.
Tracing their on- and off-site behaviors, you’ll get to learn more about them to deliver emails which are customized to match their stage in the buying cycle.
3. Don’t Go Down The Impersonal Road
Once you successfully segment your email list, you’ll be able to send more personalized messages to each customer.
More personalization means more relevance. And that’s the best strategy to prevent your target from unsubscribing from your list.
You need to deliver content which aligns with the interests, preferences, needs, or pain points of your target. If you fail to do that and choose to send out mass emails instead, you’ll inevitably see many customers unsubscribing from your list.
Implement a personalized email program which is tailored to the preferences of your customers.
For example, you can keep track of what they’ve bought before and then send them product suggestions based on their previous purchases.
Use your email list to offer exclusive access to online discounts, promotions, and other special offers.
4. Develop A Schedule For Your Email Campaign
You need a long-term strategy for managing your email campaign.
Create a mailing schedule and stick to it. Once subscribers get used to receiving emails from you at a certain time of the day, you’ll have less chance of surprising them at a bad moment (for example, when they’re busy or tired).
If you happen to catch them when they’re enveloped in negative emotions, they might easily unsubscribe.
Set the expectations of your target audience from the moment they sign up for your newsletter.
5. Customize The Frequency Of Your Emails
When you let your subscribers select the types of emails they will receive from you, you should also allow them to adjust the frequency of your communications.
If you provide them with that choice, you can be sure that your recipients aren’t overwhelmed by a number of emails they’re getting from you.
Send out these emails to your inactive subscribers too. That’s how you can re-engage them with your brand and prevent what might lead into an unsubscribe.
Make sure to include this option at the bottom of every email, but also on the page where you send customers who would like to unsubscribe.
What’s the best mailing frequency that guarantees fewer subscriptions?
The answer varies between industries, but here are some general statistics from GetResponse which show the best time to send an email:
- 63% of all email opens occur within the 1st hour after delivery;
- If you send emails in the afternoon, they have a better chance of being opened (10.61% open ratio and up to 2.38% CTR);
- The best hours for boosting open rates are 8:00 AM, 9:00 AM, 3:00 PM and 4:00 PM;
- If you’d like to improve your click-through rate, try sending your emails at these hours: 8:00 AM, 9:00 AM, 3:00 PM and 8:00 PM.
6. Write Attention-Grabbing Headlines
Your headline can either make or break an email’s open rate.
Keep your headline short and simple. Limit your headline to 28-39 characters – this length generates the highest CTR.
Arouse the interest of your customers by including a preview of your email’s content to set the expectations of your recipients.
Be specific and stand out visually. Don’t be afraid to use capitalizations, exclamation marks or brackets. Experiment with different headlines to learn what makes your audience tick.
Make the most of your audience segmentation by including a specific location in your subject line to instantly make it more relevant to the receiver.
7. Ensure That Your Emails Load Fast
Fast load time is key to keeping the interest of your customers.
Check how your emails perform in different email clients and on mobile devices.
If you include images which take ages to load or elements which don’t render well on mobile devices, you’re preparing yourself for consumers leaving your list.
Your emails should provide a great experience to your subscribers, and load time is part of the deal.
Key Takeaway
Your email campaign is essential to the growth of your business.
That’s why you need to make sure that you get as few unsubscribes as possible and steadily grow your following.
Deliver fantastic content, segment your email list for personalization, and keep track of your target audience to boost the engagement with your brand and close more deals than ever.
