Why Do People Unsubscribe?

Are you wondering why users are unsubscribing from your newsletter? There are plenty of reasons, and the most common ones are:

• You’re creating irrelevant content: One of the main reasons subscribers unsubscribe is receiving content that no longer aligns with their interests. If your emails consistently fail to meet their expectations, subscribers often respond by hitting the „unsubscribe” button.
• You’re sending too many emails: If you overwhelm recipients with too many emails, they may feel bombarded. Personally, when I receive too many emails, I unsubscribe. Test the frequency: when the unsubscribe rate increases, it often signals that you’ve hit a limit with your audience.
• You’re writing to everyone: Subscribers expect content tailored to their specific needs and preferences. If your emails seem too general and lack personalization, subscribers may lose interest and unsubscribe. Personalization isn’t just about adding „Hi {name}.”
• You’re not paying attention to design: Emails that are visually unappealing, hard to read, or not optimized for mobile devices can frustrate subscribers and lead to higher unsubscribe rates. A visually attractive user experience is essential to keeping subscribers engaged.
• You’re not adjusting frequency and timing: Balancing the frequency and timing of email sends is critical. Sending too many emails in a short period or at inconvenient times can annoy subscribers and cause them to unsubscribe. Test different combinations.

Treat the above points as a checklist. Identify the strengths of your email campaigns and the areas that need optimization. If you notice a significant number of unsubscribes, check below for ways to address it.

Improving Email Content and Design

It sounds simple, but how do you do it, and what should you focus on? Start by analyzing who your recipients are and what they expect—this is key to higher open rates and greater engagement. Test, review, and focus on aesthetics!

• Deliver value: Understand their needs, interests, and the problems they face daily, then tailor your content to effectively address those issues. Share knowledge, and become their main advisor and expert. How to do this? Here are a few ideas:
• After a purchase, send customers a survey about their preferences. Ask what they liked and what they were dissatisfied with. Perhaps they have suggestions on what you should improve?
• Review past sends and see which topics were most frequently opened and clicked.
• Check which pages customers visit most frequently (Google Analytics or another analytics platform will be your best friend).
• Directly within the email, encourage responses by asking what other content users would like to receive (of course, you’ll need to read and respond to those emails—without that, the effect will be the opposite of what you intend).
• Test email subject lines: Capture your subscribers’ attention with engaging subject lines that encourage them to open the email. Avoid clickbait tactics and focus on delivering what you promise in the subject. The subject line sells the open.

How to do it?

• Use A/B testing, where you send two versions of an email to your audience. Analyze which one better meets the desired goal. What can you test beyond the subject line? Preheader, copy, images, button colors, CTAs on buttons, email layout, etc. Remember to test only one element at a time—otherwise, the results won’t be reliable.
• Communication tests are most often conducted within automation workflows. If you want to test a mass email campaign, with a large audience, you can conduct tests on 10% of your list and send the winning version to the rest.
• Review previous sends, choose the ones with the best conversion rates, and analyze if there’s a common element that influenced the result. I once discovered that emails with no mention of percentage discounts in the subject line converted better than those that did.
• 1 email = 1 CTA: Don’t try to include as much information as possible in one email. Guide users through the message in such a way that, by the end, they know exactly what action to take or which button to click. To achieve this, care for the copy and structure of the email is crucial. Buttons, links, and linked images should all direct the subscriber to the same destination.
• Pleasing visuals: Use visually engaging design elements like high-quality images, well-designed templates, and consistent branding. Attractive visual elements can capture subscribers’ attention and encourage them to engage with your content. Remember to link graphical elements—logos, social media icons, and images in the email.

Personalizing the Message

Marketers always stress the importance of personalizing communication. How can you do this without investing too much time while noticeably improving the quality of your content?

• Segment your mailing list based on subscribers’ demographic data, preferences, or purchase history. Combined with tracking their visits to specific products, categories, or brands, you’re building a comprehensive knowledge base about each customer. This collected data allows you to deliver more personalized content, increasing the value of your messages and customer loyalty.
• Use dynamic content blocks to personalize emails based on subscriber data. Tailor communication or offers based on their previous interactions, purchase history, or preferences.
  (mainly for e-commerce): Use subscriber data to provide personalized product recommendations. This will enhance the user experience and increase the chances of the desired action being taken.Implementing Optimal Email Frequency

Implementation of optimal sending frequency

How often should you send emails? Unfortunately, there’s no single answer, which is why it’s important to test, review, and, ideally, let your subscribers tell you.

Test and monitor: Experiment with different email frequencies and monitor subscriber engagement metrics to determine the optimal send frequency. Find a balance that maintains engagement without „bombarding” them with emails.

Preference center: Offer subscribers the ability to choose their preferred email frequency or the type of content they want to receive. It’s best to do this during the registration process or via a preference center—a link should be included in every email footer. Allowing users to adjust frequency can reduce unsubscribe rates.

Expert tip: Lastly, set clear expectations. Clearly communicate the frequency, type, and content of your emails. Approach this realistically (it doesn’t matter that you like receiving two emails a day—you’re not the recipient!).

An ideal approach is to implement what’s known as onboarding, a series of emails introducing the subscriber to your brand, where these expectations are reinforced and explained in more detail (the first information should appear at sign-up!).

Key Takeaways

• Understand the reasons behind unsubscribes in your list. If there’s an exit survey available, analyze the results. Irrelevant content, excessive emails, lack of personalization, or unappealing design—fix the areas pointed out by users and monitor the results regularly.
• Improve the content and design of your emails. Ask users directly what content they would like to receive and in what format. Experiment with different formats, layouts, and types of content. Monitor results and adapt your communication to meet the needs of your audience.
• Personalize your messaging. Segment your mailing list, use dynamic content, and offer personalized product recommendations. Subscribers will appreciate it and stick around longer.
• Optimize your send frequency. Test different times, monitor engagement metrics, and make it easy for subscribers to choose their preferred email frequency and unsubscribe options. Yes, don’t fear unsubscribes. It’s an indicator that there’s still room for improvement.
• Test, test, test.