Successful Email Marketing: How to Avoid Newsletter Unsubscriptions

Newsletter cancellations are frustrating, especially when you've invested countless hours in the design and content creation of your mailings. There are many reasons to unsubscribe from a newsletter. However, three main reasons can be identified:

• Changed Interests: A change in interests is one of the most common reasons for unsubscribing. People constantly change their minds and interests. What is of interest now may become irrelevant in six months. That’s normal. There are many reasons for the loss of interest, such as the information need being fulfilled, a problem being solved, or a change in life circumstances.

• Wrong Timing: The high art of email marketing is providing your subscribers with the information they want, when they need it. If they hear from you too often or too little, they may feel neglected. No one wants to be bombarded with irrelevant information—not even your newsletter subscribers. If you annoy your customers with emails, they're quick to click the unsubscribe link. On the other hand, if your customers wait in vain for a message from you, they may feel underappreciated and turn away from you.

• Lack of Appeal: You don’t get a second chance to make a first positive impression—even in email marketing. The user’s surfing behavior, characterized by a quick assessment of what’s seen, also applies to emails. Within seconds, the user decides whether to engage with your newsletter content or deem it irrelevant. A boring presentation, poor design, or confusing structure is poison for the click rate. If the user dislikes what they see at first glance or can't find the desired information promptly, they will delete your newsletter without hesitation.

How to Find the Positive in Newsletter Cancellations

Are you convinced that your email campaigns are perfectly optimized for your target audience, yet many subscribers still unsubscribe? Don’t panic, a certain cancellation rate is natural. However, if there is an unusually high cancellation rate, you should become suspicious and investigate the causes.

Fig. 1: Every newsletter must offer the possibility to unsubscribe

Cancellations can help identify and correct weaknesses in your email marketing strategy and prepare your offerings to be even more customer-oriented. Not always are the content and topics you perceive as relevant truly beneficial to your audience. They often have specific needs that you haven't adequately met yet.

To stop the cancellation trend, you need to find out why your subscribers are unsubscribing from your newsletter. Our tip: Integrate a survey into your automatic cancellation function, which is shown to users as soon as they click on the unsubscribe link.

Besides obtaining specific information about the cancellation reason, such an approach has the advantage of leaving a positive impression on your would-be ex-subscriber. It shows them that they and their opinion matter to you. Just because they're opting out of your newsletter doesn't mean they're turning their back on your company completely. They can still be your customers, buying products or using your services, but may not need your emails.

The following options have proven useful in the survey:

• No interest

• Newsletter comes too frequently

• Newsletter comes too rarely

• Content irrelevant to me

• Technical issues

• Other

For the "Other" option, you should provide a text field where the unsubscribing person can specify their personal reason for unsubscribing. This gives them the chance to let you know exactly why they’re opting out of your newsletter, enabling you to further optimize your mailings.

How to Avoid Unnecessary Cancellations

The survey aims to minimize newsletter cancellations in the future. Ideally, it should be used only rarely. To achieve a low cancellation rate, you should take additional steps. The following concrete actions are recommended:

Step 1: Discover Interests

You need to understand what specifically drives your target audience. Only if you know what your subscribers are interested in can you cater to them. The simplest and most effective way is to ask directly and regularly. What topics are of special interest? At what intervals do they want to hear from you via email? These are questions you can and should ask your subscribers.

A good time to address such inquiries is shortly after newsletter registration. Such a survey can be ideally integrated into a welcome series. Additionally, it is advisable to ask your subscribers about their specific desires every six to twelve months. Offering a sweepstake or discount code can serve as a trigger to encourage participation. This approach reduces the risk of not noticing changes in interest.

Step 2: Group Your Subscribers

Segment your newsletter subscribers. Dividing your recipients into specific target groups forms one of the most powerful tools for successful email marketing. Various criteria can be used for classification. Besides age and gender, interest, customer duration, and order frequency can naturally be included.

Target groups can be designed differently and depend mainly on your business and the thematic orientation of your emails. For example, if you offer a general welcome series, you should distinguish between "new subscriber" and "existing subscriber." This welcome series is then only sent to newly registered individuals.

However, when it comes to sending tailored offers, your target groups should be as specific as possible. The categorization by age and gender may already be too generic. Suppose you run an online shop for fitness equipment. Your assortment covers all popular sports, from aerobic steppers to circuit training. Not all your female newsletter subscribers between 25 and 34 years are interested in yoga, and consequently, in yoga mats. Sending them a newsletter about the new spring/summer yoga pant collection and popular yoga mats could lead to high wastage. At this point, you should narrow down your target group further and add the criterion "purchased a yoga item" to the attributes "age" and "gender."

Step 3: Personalize Your Newsletters

You now know what motivated previous subscribers to unsubscribe and have grouped your existing subscribers into different target groups. With this analysis process completed, it’s time for concrete implementation and utilizing this information.

Personalization means sending specific emails to particular subscribers, and doesn't mean using "you" in a casual tone. Research shows that personalized emails are more successful than "anonymous" mass emails.

Basically, you should avoid sending the same emails to all subscribers. The losses due to scattering can otherwise be significant. This practice also creates the perfect breeding ground for dissatisfaction. Depending on the mailing's subject, different levels of personalization should be applied. A low degree of personalization includes:

• Welcome series

• Unsubscribe form

Other newsletters, however, should have a high degree of personalization. These include emails like:

• Sending exclusive offers

• Birthday mailings

• Cart reminders

Step 4: Be as Specific as Possible

Have a clear message in every email. Less is more, even in email marketing. Don't overburden your newsletter. Select only a few news items or offers per mailing. The texts must be precisely formulated and quickly get to the point.

This is especially true for online shops. If your newsletter subscribers expect the latest offers, then present them without much digression. Your subscribers have little time and patience for a "long story." Short teaser sections are completely sufficient here.

Depending on the company and the subject of the mailing, longer, personal texts are also possible. Especially young companies that are still at the beginning of their brand and customer development and are still in the discovery phase themselves can benefit from this approach.

What We Can Do for You

Are your subscribers unsubscribing from your newsletter? Don’t know why and want to find out the specific reason for unsubscribing? Then contact us. We offer specific assistance with individual campaigns as well as support for your entire email marketing.