People will unsubscribe from your emails. Unfortunately, it’s just inevitable. But not all subscribers are created equal. This means not all unsubscribes are bad news. In fact, some of your most disengaged subscribers may have had a negative effect on your email marketing. But in this blog post, we want to focus on the subscribers that are worth keeping. There are a multitude of reasons why worthy subscribers may unsubscribe from your emails. They may become disengaged, you may be emailing them too frequently, or they simply no longer need your services. Whatever the reason, we want to help brands reduce their unsubscribers. In this blog post, we’ll cover 7 ways to do just that. And ensure that your best subscribers stay engaged with your email communications.

1.

Set expectations from the start

One of the best ways to warm your recipients up to your email communications is to set their expectations from the very start. Welcome emails are ideal for achieving this. In these emails, you can introduce your brand, let them know how often you’ll be in touch with the recipient, and the content they can expect from you. This way, there are no surprises, the recipient knows who your brand is, and they are prepared to receive your communications. As opposed to receiving them unannounced.

2.

Use double optin

Double optin refers to when a recipient has to confirm their email subscription, usually by clicking a link in an automated email that you send. Yes, this process means that you are likely to have fewer recipients on your list. However, it also means that those who are on your list are engaged enough to have gone through this process. And are clearly asking to receive your communications. Because of this engagement, double optin subscribers are far less likely to unsubscribe from your emails, or mark you as spam.

3.

Segment your list

Segmentation is a straightforward but effective way of ensuring that the content in your emails is relevant to the recipient. This is achieved by dividing your recipients into segments based on common factors. These could be demographics, interests, or purchasing behaviour, for example. If you don’t segment, you will be sending out generic messaging to all of your list. Which will only engage a small portion of your recipients. If you continue with this practice, recipients will soon become bored, disengaged, and likely unsubscribe. However, by sending out highly relevant communications to each segment. Your recipients will be far more likely to want to open your emails and engage.

4.

Personalise

Alternatively, take segmentation a step further by using advanced personalisation tactics in your email communications. Personalisation is the (not so) secret weapon for marketers. With 74% of them reporting that targeted personalisation increases customer engagement rates. And this is key to reducing unsubscribers. We could write an entire guide on personalisation. In fact, we have, multiple times. But to summarise, personalisation options are vast. Brands can start simply by utilising a first name in the subject line, email copy, or banner image. They can use dynamic content to include product recommendations based on previous browsing and purchasing behaviour. Or, they could use geotargeting to automatically send email communications based on location. Such as new store openings or product launches nearby.

5.

Offer VIP treatment

As well as making sure your recipients are engaged. You’ll also want to make sure they feel special. So offer your recipients the VIP treatment by sending them email-only offers, product promotions, pre-launches, and personalised discount codes. By increasing engagement and giving your recipients the VIP touch, they will be far less likely to disengage and unsubscribe. VIP treatment via email is also a great benefit to promote to your audience, which could encourage further engaged sign-ups from new recipients.

6.

Offer a preference centre

There are no rules when it comes to email frequency. What suits one recipient, may not suit another. That’s why it’s so important to let them choose how often they hear from you. And what they want to hear about. Preference centres put the power back in the hands of recipients. Letting them do exactly this. So, if you notice a recipient is disengaged from your emails. Send them a preference centre campaign before they decide to unsubscribe. Alternatively, if they do choose to unsubscribe, offer them the option of managing their preferences first. They may simply have wanted to hear from you less, instead of not at all.

7.

Mobile optimisation

61.9% of email opens happen on mobile devices. Meaning if your emails aren’t optimised for mobile, the majority of your recipients are not seeing them at their best. If recipients are regularly opening their emails on mobiles and facing rendering issues, images that aren’t displaying correctly, or links that don’t work, they will soon get frustrated and unsubscribe. So if your recipients are opening on mobile devices more than desktop, we’d recommend taking a mobile-first approach. This could include:
  • Making icons and buttons touch-friendly
  • Enlarging fonts and shrinking images
  • Paying attention to preheader text
  • And keeping copy short and snappy.

Are you suffering from high unsubscribe rates?

Then we have even more tactics to help you get your recipients engaged once again. With the help of our all-in-one AI marketing platform and Customer Success Team, we will be reducing your unsubscribe rates in no time. Get in touch for more information.