When someone unsubscribes from your email newsletter, you might spend some time wondering why. Was it something you said-or something you didn’t say? Turns out, it might have been both.
The Reasons Your Readers are Unsubscribing
1. According to eMarketer.com’s April 2009 survey, the number one reason why your subscribers are unsubscribing is because you are sending them irrelevant content. Now, the content you send may have been relevant to them at one time, but for over 60% of your unsubscribers, it isn’t any more. So how can you stop this from happening? The first step is to identify the common traits of your subscribers and send information that speaks directly to them. Another idea might be to send out an annual survey to find out what changes your subscribers are experiencing and then make sure you have articles in your newsletter that reflect these changes. Events like divorce, new additions, downsizing and retirement may all be experienced by your subscribers and if you strictly send out newsletters discussing buying a home, you’ll lose many of them.
2. Following at a very close second, the number two reason people are unsubscribing from your email is that you send them content too often. When you asked people to sign up, did you let them know you’d be sending newsletters weekly, monthly or quarterly? Have you stuck consistently to the schedule? Disclosing your planned distribution frequency and sticking to it will help you keep your subscriber turnover low.
3. The third reason people unsubscribe, according to eMarketer.com, is that they suspect you might be selling or sharing their address. Maybe they’ve gotten more spam since they opted in, or maybe they read something about this on a blog. Either way, they aren’t sure that you are keeping their information confidential. Be sure to add a disclaimer to every newsletter email that reassures them. Include your privacy policy, since general privacy concerns were the fifth reason for unsubscribing.
4. The fourth reason you are losing subscribers is because they don’t remember signing up. A remedy for this is to include their opt-in date on the emails you send.
Source reference: http://www.emarketer.com/Article.aspx?R=1007139
