What to Do When Subscribers Unsubscribe: Turning Feedback into Opportunity

Intro

Nothing is more frustrating than your hard-earned subscribers suddenly disconnecting from you. They might realize that your emails no longer resonate with them. They probably find them too generic, only flooding their inboxes and offering no real value.

So, this begs the question: how do you deal with unsubscribes?

Don’t worry; This page tackles what you need to do when your subscribers unsubscribe. Read on to learn how to turn their feedback into an opportunity.

How To Make the Most of Unsubscribes

Unsubscribes can strike any brand at any time. Your followers or supporters might unsubscribe to your email marketing newsletter, social media channel, or e-commerce platform. And they have tons of reasons for doing so.

GetResponse studied over 4.4 billion messages sent by their customers. They found that the average email unsubscribe rate is 0.15%. How do you get feedback from unsubscribers and use them for improvements?

More importantly, how do you make the most of unsubscribes to turn feedback into an opportunity? Follow the crucial steps below.

1. Find Out Why They Left

The initial step is understanding why subscribers unsubscribe, shares Tomas Melian, SVP of Marketing at DiabetesTeam. As their sudden unsubscriptions might catch you off guard, you must find out exactly why they leave. You can then use this feedback to improve your service and win subscribers back. Here's what you need to do:

• List common reasons for unsubscribing. You can find them by asking them questions or getting feedback. Here are some of the common reasons:
• Unrecognizable sender: They don't know you—and your brand. This means you need to boost your brand recognition!
• Irrelevant content: Your emails don't resonate with them. They're either too generic or don't make sense to them at all!
• Frequent emails: They receive too many emails almost every day. Nearly 60% of respondents said they unsubscribe if they get an email from someone they don't know.

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• Analyze unsubscribe trends: Before doing email archiving, assess why subscribers left. Here are some of the common trends:
• Post-campaign spikes: You might turn subscribers off after a major email blast or promotional push. That can shoo them away!
• Seasonal patterns: You might see higher unsubscribe rates at certain times of the year. That happens when subscribers feel email fatigue.
• Frequency overload: You might make subscribers opt out when you flood their inbox with many emails. This is especially true for business leaders needing to manage their emails for more critical business interactions.

2. Listen to Their Feedback

The next step, as Raihan Masroor, Founder & CEO at Your Doctors Online suggests, is to gather and analyze feedback. To avoid being left hanging, set and strategize a feedback loop to get the answers you need. Here's how:

• Gather feedback. You have two options to take:
• Conduct exit interviews. Contact them and ask directly why they decided to opt out of your email—a brief chat or call won't hurt to discover the reason and understand!
• Offer unsubscribe surveys. When unsubscribing, allow them to take a quick and easy-to-complete survey. That way, you can get valuable feedback without contacting them again.
• Analyze feedback. This step is the most critical part:
• Set key metrics and measure against set KPIs. These include open rate, click rate, bound rate, and, most importantly, unsubscription rate. For Mailchimp, the latest unsubscription rate they've found is 0.22%.

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• Sort feedback according to actionable categories. Their reasons would vary, as would the improvement steps you need to take. If your unsubscribers say you need to expand your language training, send emails about how to learn Koine Greek and other ancient languages, for instance.

3. Fix What's Broken

Leon Huang, CEO at RapidDirect emphasizes the need to address the unsubscription issues and make the necessary improvements. However, this step is easier said than done—you need to be critical and strategic to achieve the desired results. Here's how to optimize your email marketing strategy with significant improvements:

• Address issues:

• Acknowledge the problem. You have to get to the bottom of why some subscribers opt out of your emails.

• Apologize for any convenience. Your unsubscription message should contain your sincerest apology for not meeting expectations.

• Commit to improvements. After the survey, let your unsubscribers know you are willing to work on the issue and improve your service.

• Make improvements:

• Personalize content. Customize your emails based on segmented audiences to make them personable and relevant. You don't want to spam their inbox—generic emails are a big no-no!

• Use different formats. As a click-and-order store for clothes, for example, you can send shorter emails, more visual ones, or more interactive content pieces for wholesale blank apparel.

• Optimize email frequency. Ensure you don't overwhelm subscribers with too many emails. Take a look at the percentage of consumers unsubscribing from brands due to excessive emails:

4. Leave a Good Impression

Finally, it's crucial to maintain a good impression when your subscribers opt-out. However, this is no easy feat since they leave due to dissatisfaction. So, the key here is to turn unsubscribers into advocates. Here's how:

• Maintain positive relationships:

• Express gratitude. Despite some subscribers opting out, thank them for subscribing to your email or channel at some point.

• Welcome back. When they decide to subscribe again, welcome subscribers with genuine sincerity and upwelling excitement.

• Provide goodwill gestures:

• Offer special discounts. It won't hurt to entice them with exclusive deals. That could leave a lasting impression and maintain good relationships despite unsubscriptions.

• Provide free resources. These could change their minds and decide to subscribe again. But more importantly, it promotes goodwill and positive relationships.

Wrapping Up

Subscribers who unsubscribe aren't necessarily losses—they reflect areas of opportunity. This means you need to work on what you offer, whether personalizing email or optimizing content distribution. When done strategically, you can turn their feedback into an opportunity!

Consider the steps outlined above, from understanding unsubscribes to winning advocates. Get and assess feedback as well as address issues and make improvements. With all these key steps, you can win subscribers back and earn customer support for business growth and success!

Need help optimizing your email marketing and boosting your unsubscribe rate? ReminderMedia provides digital marketing services to help you connect with your target prospects and turn them into customers. Get started with us by requesting an estimate!