Link This | Email this | Blog This | Comments (0)

Stop Those Email Un-Subscribes!

April 23, 2009 Have you ever wondered why subscribers to your newsletters and email lists unsubscribe? According to research done by Silverpop, a provider of software for deploying multi-channel marketing programs, there are six primary reasons that all marketers ought to pay attention to.

1. When the offers / types of content do not interest me — 53%
2. Signing up for permission e-mail often leads to more unsolicited spam mail — 43%
3. Marketer uses the list to send email too often — 40%
4. I get too much email anyway — 36%
5. I do not trust that the unsubscribe link in the email offers works — 32%
6. I unsubscribe by clicking on the spam button — 26%

What does this list tell you? It tells you that, if you offer email sign-ups, you will minimize unsubscribes if you address these issues upfront.

Segment your data into relevant categories and market only relevant offers to each group of subscribers. Make sure your sign-up form assures subscribers that their information will be held confidential and not be sold or rented to third parties. Don't over-saturate your list.

Many of these things seem obvious, but it's still easy to overlook them. In fact, after making this post, my first order of business is to add the "your email address will not be shared with third parties" assurance to my own sign-up links!

Have questions? Comments? I'd love to hear from you. You can email me at info@digitalprintingreports.com. For more information on primers for marketers and small businesses on digital, 1:1, Web-to-print, and personalized URL applications, visit Digital Printing Reports. You can also keep up with all of my posts on EBS, The Inspired Economist ("Greening Print Marketing"), and other blog sites by following me on Twitter.

Posted by Heidi Tolliver Nigro on April 23, 2009 | Comments (0)