Why People Unsubscribe (and What NOT to Do About It)

saying good-bye

A friend recently mentioned that she still gets frustrated when people unsubscribe. Her disappointment stems from the confidence that her information is relevant and useful to those who opted out.

There are many reasons for someone to unsubscribe from a regular emailing – promotional or informational. You need only to think of your own reasons and habits as you process your incoming email.

Even if you are doing everything right, you will still lose subscribers over time. (The average churn rate is 30% per year.) Here’s why:
  1. People’s interests change. If your readers are business people, they will be changing jobs and moving around and getting promoted. If your readers are consumers, likewise their personal situations change, as well as their hobbies and interests.

  2. People are inundated with too much information. We've all felt that way. Not everyone has developed systems to deal with the overload, so they disconnect in the moment yielding to stress. I know several people who have gone on ‘unsubscribing binges’ (myself included), but this type of purging tends to be more discerning, retaining the valuable subscriptions.

  3. Some people just don’t know what’s good for them. Enough said.
So, you get a handful of unsubscribes when your newsletter goes out. Taking no action is your best strategy.
  • DON'T unsubscribe from their newsletter, at least not right away. You know that’s childish.
  • DON'T send them an email asking why they unsubscribed. You might be dying to know, but you don't have permission to ask.
  • DON'T sign them up to any other lists without express permission.
  • DON'T take it personally if you are confident that your offering has value for your target market. It’s not the end of a relationship, only the end of a subscription.
I'm not suggesting that you shouldn't pay attention to your statistics. Of course, you need to take heed and possibly react to trends. But don't get hung up on individual unsubscribes. When someone opts out of my newsletter, my mantra is, “Oh well, they're going to miss out.”

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