"So long, farewell..." When songbird Julie Andrews sang those words in The Sound of Music back in 1965, no-one could have related them to the loss of email subscribers, which might be less dramatic but is nonetheless upsetting. When you've sweated for months and years to build up an email marketing list, it's disturbing to find subscribers dropping off, whether it's a slow migration or a fast one.
Listed below are some of the reasons why people leave you high and dry.
Too Little (or Too Much) of a Good Thing
Yes, you can have too much of anything, including emails. Research from email marketing service provider Constant Contact shows the top reason why consumers leave an email list is because they get too many emails. With 69 percent of unsubscribes motivated by this issue, it's a significant number and one all marketers should take to heart. There's also a flip side to this coin: if you send too few emails—such as once or twice a year—users might forget they subscribed and drop off because they can't remember who you are or why they signed up.
Tip: Offer subscribers options when they sign up, such as weekly, monthly or quarterly emails and send them only what they ask to receive.
Heavy-Handed
Emails that contain large graphics or complex attachments tend to slow down users’ Internet connections. Especially for those with lower bandwidth, high traffic, company limits or who live in remote areas, anything that loads too slowly is simply an irritant. Your emails shouldn’t contain more than 30 percent images, and you should never send messages that consist solely of images. Emails that are too long are also a turn-off, so it's better to just include a blurb with a link to the rest than publish a whole blog post or article in the email body.
Tip: Optimize your email marketing by testing each message before sending it out, using a variety of different connections. If your email message has content that loads slowly, fix or remove it before sending.
Painful Sales
Nobody wants to be sold to—not all the time, anyway. Emails that are too promotion-focused, contain marketing-speak and never stop selling are doomed to be ditched at some point. Don’t make it all about you, either (remember to sell benefits, not features) and focus on providing value for the reader. Up to 51 percent of unsubscribes are attributed to content not being what the recipient expected. Generally speaking, people expect useful information.
Tip: Follow the same rules for email that you use for content marketing – provide value, don’t use too much self-promotional content and use your calls to action judiciously.
Booooring!
This one's a death sentence. If your emails are boring, you're going to get the boot. No matter what your product or service is, you have to find creative ways to engage readers. If you don't, you'll lose their attention, and they'll hit "delete" the next time you send a message (even if they don't read it). After a couple of more instances, the unsubscribe is on its way.
Tip: Try newsjacking as a way to spice up bland email content by linking it to a current issue.
The fact is, subscribers only sign up for your emails if they think you can offer information of value. To overcome these cardinal email sins, your material has to carry such high worth that it balances the inconvenience and irritation factor, and that's a tall order in these days of consumer choice. By following best email practices, you can avoid these mistakes and keep growing your email list.
* Image courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net
