First, a quick disclaimer: If you are seeing a sudden mass exodus of subscribers from your email list following a particular email, that’s a red flag! It signifies something has gone wrong, and you should promptly investigate to ensure you haven’t inadvertently crossed a line.
However, if you observe the occasional unsubscriber trickling out after each email, do not be alarmed! This is not necessarily a bad thing. In fact, it might even be beneficial for your email marketing strategy. In a perfect world, every subscriber would pore over every word of your content and contact you to do business. But alas, that’s not reality.
So, why can unsubscribes be good? They help to refine your list, boost your open rates, enhance deliverability, and might even save you money, depending on your email service provider.
1. Focused Audience: Email lists are fluid, not static. People will cycle in and out of your list based on their changing interests and needs. Those who unsubscribe are likely not your target audience, or their needs have changed. By unsubscribing, they help you maintain a lean, focused list of people genuinely interested in what you have to offer.
2. Improved Open Rates: When someone who rarely opens your emails unsubscribes, they’re actually doing you a favor. This is because email open rates are calculated as a percentage of the total number of subscribers. If inactive or disinterested subscribers opt out, your open rates will automatically improve.
3. Enhanced Deliverability: The more your emails are opened and engaged with, the better your sender reputation becomes. This boosts your deliverability rate, increasing the chances of your emails landing in the inbox rather than the spam folder. Having a smaller, more engaged list can help improve your overall email deliverability.
4. Cost Savings: Some email service providers charge based on the number of subscribers. So, if people who aren’t interested in your emails unsubscribe, they could be saving you money. Plus, you’ll be putting resources into nurturing leads that are more likely to convert.
Remember, people will unsubscribe – that’s a given. It might be because they no longer find your emails relevant, or maybe an email arrived at the wrong time and irked them. But this is all okay. People’s needs and preferences change, and it’s natural for this to reflect in your subscriber list.
The key is not to dwell on the unsubscribes, but to focus on growing your email list and engaging the remaining subscribers with pertinent content. Segment your audience based on their interests and behaviors and create tailored messages to keep them engaged. In the long run, quality will always trump quantity when it comes to successful email marketing.
