Why Do Email Subscribers Unsubscribe? (And What to Do About It)

Heres what the latest research reveals about how to keep users from opting out.

Source: Bigstock

Despite the power and ubiquity of texting and posting on social media, email remains a dominant force in our lives.

We read email when we are bored, when we are eating, and when we are using the rest room:

 

(Source: Adestra via Statista)

We check our email often:

(Source: Magnetic and Retail Touchpoints via Statista)

According to Radicati Group (hat tip, Lifewire), as of February 2017, around the globe, 269 billion email messages are sent per day. That’s up from 205 billion in 2015. Even though roughly half of that is spam (see below), it still speaks to the power of email. And both marketers and information publishers realize that.

What’s more, a brand new study, as reported in Forbes, says that Millennials Are Actually Obsessed With Email.

Last week I looked at the reasons that users become subscribers. But just as important are the reasons that they opt out. Research on that very topic is revealing:

(Source: MarketingSherpa and eMarketer via Statista)

There are 12 reasons here, with the top reason cited by 26% of unsubscribers, and with the least popular reason at 7%. However, if you look at these 12, in fact, they fall into four main categories.

Let’s tackle these from the most cited to the least.

 

OVERWHELMING EMAIL

 

I get too many e-mails in general – 26%

I don’t have time to read the e-mails – 16%

I receive too many e-mails from this company specifically – 19%

 

Two huge complaints that users have about email are just beyond your control. The clear number one reason (26%) that users unsubscribe is that they have just too much email in general. And another 16% opt out because they just do not have the time to read email.

The bad news is that opting out is not just unsubscribing — it is a way of life! You can hardly turn around on the Internet without bumping into efficiency gurus advising everybody to cut down on their email, to empty their in-boxes and to keep them that way. The so-called “Inbox Zero” trend has been popping up for almost 10 years now; most recently, check out this article in Inc., published last week: 9 Steps to Organizing Your Inbox Today. When “efficiency experts” urge users to filter, delete, and unsubscribe from mass emails, they dismiss a huge amount of valuable information. Why would they be so quick to throw the baby out with the bathwater? In short, because there is just SO much bathwater. Take a look at the total volume of spam as a percent of all email:

(Source: Kaspersky Lab via Statista)

This is a “Tragedy of the Commons” problem. A given content creator seeking a mass audience wants as large an audience as possible; thus we blast out email almost indiscriminately. In that kind of environment, a content creator who tries to show restraint is overwhelmed and drowned out by the shouting hordes who show none. That’s why 26% of those polled above say they opt out because “I get too many e-mails in general.” And the overwhelming quantity of email contributes to another complaint (16%): “I don’t have time to read the e-mails.”

Fortunately, it is not as bad as it could be. Our robotic underlings — spam filters and email servers — are getting better all the time, weeding out the true spam. As responsible emailers, though, we need to do our part. When 19% of opt-outers do so because they get too much email from YOU in particular, then you are shooting yourself in the foot with the quantity you are sending.

Some publishers, seeking the largest mailing list possible, might think otherwise. “If I can sell my advertisers on a list of a million subscribers, what matter the open rate, more or less?” But smart self-interest says otherwise because users do not just opt out — they report as spam.

(Source: MarketingSherpa via Statista)

When subscribers go beyond opting out and just report as spam (which is often easier to do), that makes it more likely that the aforementioned robotic underlings will decide you are spam for everybody.

So it is not only in the best interest of the commons but also in your own best interest, to cut back on the email you send. Send less frequently, and clean up your list by deleting the subscribers who never open your email.

 

BAD CONTENT      

 

The content of the e-mails is boring, repetitive and not interesting to me – 17%

I receive the same ads and promotions in the e-mail that I get in print form – 13%

The e-mails looks too cluttered and sloppy – 10%

I get e-mails that do not look good on my smartphone – 7%

 

We’ve established that users opt out when they feel too overwhelmed, too busy. When a user opens your email newsletter or marketing message, if it is dull, repetitive, and poorly formatted, what will they do? Research says:

(Source: Statista)

For retailers, I have some research on the kind of content that subscribers want:

(Source: Magnetic; Retail TouchPoints via Statista)

Other tips for better email content in general? As usual, the Internet is your friend here (if you trust what you read online!):

And for media brands, take a look at the newsletters that are at the top, per the Webby Awards for Best Newsletter, 2017.

Brian Edmondson, writing in Entrepreneur, has some decent advice in this vein:

  • Really take the time to get to know your audience. Survey them, and ask for feedback on a regular, but not annoying, basis. Find out what challenges they’re facing, or ask them what product features or new service offerings would be beneficial to them. The more you know what your audience wants, the more you can deliver it to them.

But the best content will fail if it looks bad on mobile devices because 68% of all email is opened on smartphones and tablets:

(Source: Movable Ink via Statista)

Fortunately, this is less of a problem than it used to be as most email content management services, from MailChimp to Constant Contact and beyond, offer mobile optimization. Only 7% of users opt out because their email newsletter looks bad on their mobile device.

 

IRRELEVANT CONTENT 

 

The e-mails are not relevant to me – 21%

The e-mail seems like it is intended to meet other people’s needs, not people like me – 10%

 

Assume the best case scenario. Your email product is great! It has interesting content, it is well written and formatted, it is mobile-friendly. It’s the best darned mountain-climbing newsletter out there! But I want to let you down gently … The people who love scuba are just not that into you, the cooks, the racing fans, the comic book enthusiasts, well, that’s not your audience. Let them go. What’s more, how did they end up on your list? Review your customer acquisition funnel to better catch the people who find your content fascinating, and to better discourage those who are not your audience.

But relevance is not an either/or. Offering subscribers choices, for example, via online subscription management centers where users can customize content and frequency. Scott Heimes at Marketing Land gets this right:

Often, users are interested in only receiving mail of a specific type, like daily or weekly deals, newsletters or certain notifications, not all of the marketing emails from your brand. Cater to this by creating a link to the preference page within your email for users to easily opt out of and into the emails they wish to receive. Recipients are much more likely to remain engaged if you allow them to control their preferences and what comes to their inbox. … On the subject of choosing preferences, marketers need to honor them. Brands often send too many emails, which overwhelm the customer.

 

TRUST ISSUES      

 

The e-mails are always trying to sell me something – 19%

The e-mail is too focused on the company’s needs, and not enough on my needs – 11%

I do not trust their e-mail to provide the information I need to make purchase decisions – 10%

 

Of course, you have an agenda. Everybody has an agenda. But subscribers are not idiots, and they can tell when you put your agenda front and center. Online communication starts at a disadvantage in the trust arena:

Source: Bigstock

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(Source: YouGov and Statista, here, here, and here.)

Fewer trust online news “a lot” than they do news they get from newspaper and television. And online news has the highest percentage of those who trust “not at all.” And that’s for news, including news they seek out. How much do readers trust news that just appears in their in-boxes? Forget news — how much do they trust marketing messages that pop up in their email?

That’s why it matters so much to build trust in every way possible. That sounds like a good topic for a future column! How to build trust in your subscribers — coming soon! But the basics are pretty simple, just looking at the topics addressed above: Don’t email too much; prioritize user value first; make your content relevant, interesting, and informative; and give subscribers what they want.

Insider Take 

Successful email is the email that subscribers want. Make them see your email as something to look forward to, not as a chore. Give them relevant content, well prepared, that looks good on their device. Don’t trick your users with thinly disguised marketing that caters to your needs instead of theirs. Build their trust and they will remain faithful subscribers.

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