Email marketing is a profitable communication channel, which is why many businesses will panic when that unsub rate gets just a little too high.
My question to them: why are you so worried about the unsubs?
If you’ve already tested and optimized your subject lines and consistently produce content that resonates with your target audience, unsubscribes really aren’t that big of a deal for a number of reasons.
1) They Weren’t Listening In The First Place
Take a look at your numbers.
How do the click-through rates look for unsubscribers over the last six months?
Probably not good. Probably worse than those that are choosing to stay subscribed, am I right?
This tells me that these unsubscribers weren’t very engaged in the first place and that your message was falling on deaf ears. Are you really losing out if you weren’t gaining anything in the first place from them?
2) Your Current Lists Become More Targeted
It’s not always about building the biggest lists possible.
Look at it this way. Let’s say you have an email list of 100,000 prospects that have 20-20 vision and I have a list of 10 folks that can't read the giant E on the eye chart. Who’s going to sell more eyeglasses?
You get my point.
If they’re not interested in pursuing a business relationship and they’re not looking to buy, let them walk away. The non-buyers will weed themselves out, resulting in better-targeted lists for your business. Thus, allowing you to be confident your messages are getting to the right people.
3) You Can’t Make Everybody Happy Anyway
The moment you start trying to make everybody happy, you start making nobody happy.
Unsubscribes are never going to stop—ever.
The difficult part about that is consistently reminding yourself that you’re actually better off without them. Trust me--money isn’t walking out the door just because people are unsubscribing.
In fact, it’s probably the other way around.
What’s your opinion on unsubscribes?