Safeguarding your sender reputation in email marketing: six features your unsubscribe function shoul
Building and staying in touch with an email list is still one of the most effective means of marketing your products and services.
In the old days, many email marketers aimed to make it easy to get on to a list and hard to get off, but things have changed and those kind of tactics will hurt your precious reputation as a sender these days.
Nowadays, it's essential your subscribers can quit your list easily and quickly. More than ever now, unhappy subscribers can be toxic – marking your email as ‘spam', reporting you to ISPs (internet service providers), complaining to everyone they know and sending abusive messages to you and your staff. In the worst case scenario, this could cause you to become ‘blacklisted' as a sender with the result that major ISPs block your email altogether.
To stay on the right side of sender reputation, here are six key features to incorporate into your list's unsubscribe function:
1. Make it obvious.
You need to make it very obvious – in fact, fool proof - to unsubscribe. That means in addition to an automated unsubscribe link at the end of every email (a legal requirement nearly everywhere), or an email address set up specifically to field unsubscribe requests, you should include an alternative means of unsubscribing, such as via a ‘catchall' email address, as well as putting unsubscribe instructions at your site.
2. Make it quick.
Very few things seem to upset people as the inability to unsubscribe from a list, and nowadays people expect their request to be honoured almost immediately. Respond promptly to manual unsubscribes too, and send a polite email confirming you've done so.
3. Reassure subscribers that they've definitely unsubscribed.
Don't bury this in the copy. Make sure you explain this upfront and very clearly.
4. Be gracious.
If people are leaving your list, be gracious. Leave them with as positive impression as possible, because they may come back in due course.
5. Offer a chance to resubscribe on the unsubscribe confirmation page or email.
People can get confused and change their minds, so, strange as it may seem, make it easy for them to come back at the point they've left.
6. Gain insights into why the subscriber has left your list.
Many marketers also use the unsubscribe function to ask those who've unsubscribed for feedback on why they're leaving. Too many emails? Changed job? Prefer an alternative source of information? Many emailer programmes will allow you to gather this information. It can also be done relatively easily by providing a feedback email address or through a form generated with a service like SurveyMonkey.
There's little point in having a large list if the people on it have become disengaged or even hostile to you.
Concentrate on the maximum delivery to those people who want your emails, rather than trying to get stuff to people who don't want it – and ensure those people who are no longer interested can get off your list easily.
Good luck!
In the old days, many email marketers aimed to make it easy to get on to a list and hard to get off, but things have changed and those kind of tactics will hurt your precious reputation as a sender these days.
Nowadays, it's essential your subscribers can quit your list easily and quickly. More than ever now, unhappy subscribers can be toxic – marking your email as ‘spam', reporting you to ISPs (internet service providers), complaining to everyone they know and sending abusive messages to you and your staff. In the worst case scenario, this could cause you to become ‘blacklisted' as a sender with the result that major ISPs block your email altogether.
To stay on the right side of sender reputation, here are six key features to incorporate into your list's unsubscribe function:
1. Make it obvious.
You need to make it very obvious – in fact, fool proof - to unsubscribe. That means in addition to an automated unsubscribe link at the end of every email (a legal requirement nearly everywhere), or an email address set up specifically to field unsubscribe requests, you should include an alternative means of unsubscribing, such as via a ‘catchall' email address, as well as putting unsubscribe instructions at your site.
2. Make it quick.
Very few things seem to upset people as the inability to unsubscribe from a list, and nowadays people expect their request to be honoured almost immediately. Respond promptly to manual unsubscribes too, and send a polite email confirming you've done so.
3. Reassure subscribers that they've definitely unsubscribed.
Don't bury this in the copy. Make sure you explain this upfront and very clearly.
4. Be gracious.
If people are leaving your list, be gracious. Leave them with as positive impression as possible, because they may come back in due course.
5. Offer a chance to resubscribe on the unsubscribe confirmation page or email.
People can get confused and change their minds, so, strange as it may seem, make it easy for them to come back at the point they've left.
6. Gain insights into why the subscriber has left your list.
Many marketers also use the unsubscribe function to ask those who've unsubscribed for feedback on why they're leaving. Too many emails? Changed job? Prefer an alternative source of information? Many emailer programmes will allow you to gather this information. It can also be done relatively easily by providing a feedback email address or through a form generated with a service like SurveyMonkey.
There's little point in having a large list if the people on it have become disengaged or even hostile to you.
Concentrate on the maximum delivery to those people who want your emails, rather than trying to get stuff to people who don't want it – and ensure those people who are no longer interested can get off your list easily.
Good luck!
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