Unsubscribe link: To Be or Not to Be

Marketers today are concerned about the unsubscribing rate growths in email marketing campaigns. If the percentage of unsubscribed users is too high, then it’s direct proof their email campaigns fail, and it’s high time to change something. Unfortunately, sometimes clicking the unsubscribe button is inevitable. And if this has already happened, and you need to make the process simpler and more comfortable, read on how to improve your unsubscribe from the mailing list with us.

Why do people unsubscribe?

As long as the number of unsubscribed does not exceed 0.5%, everything is not so bad. Just remember about this half of the percentage: that is, if your base is 200 subscribers, then with each submission at least one of them will unsubscribe. It’s sad, but true. What may be the basic reasons?

Subscribers are sent with too many emails

Of course, how many is too many depends on your subscriber base. But still, there are generally accepted norms. A research firm Marketing Sherpa has surveyed the opinions on unsubscribe link of 2,000 Americans about what frequency they think is optimal. The diagram showed how the survey participants answered the question: "How often would you like to receive newsletters (coupons, promotions) from the companies you’re subscribed with?" In marketing research on why people press gmail unsubscribe button, the reason for too many emails usually comes first. Too frequent mailings are a sure way to lose subscribers. So, your subscribers may unsubscribe simply because the emails they receive fill in and overload their inboxes. Just look at the huge selection of email customization tools that demonstrate the need for users to manage and reduce the number of emails they receive. Thus, there is no benchmark for the unsubscribing norm. It depends on each mailing campaign. Let's take a look at the research data. According to the Campaign Monitor research, the average unsubscribe rate in 2019 was about 0.17%. From 1000 letters sent - 1-2 people unsubscribe.

Emails are still not relevant

The irrelevance of emails is perhaps the second most important reason for hitting unsubscribe link in email. This is reminiscent of a client's statement about spam - these are letters that are not interesting to me and I do not want to receive them. If your posts are not relevant to your audience, they are by definition not interesting to them. The best way to avoid this scenario is to segment your database. There are tons of options for how to do this. Email segmentation can be based on the following research:  

• what they look at when they enter;
• which links are followed when they receive your email;
• which online resources are used (e-books, webinars, etc.);
• whether they participate in online events or not (webinars, for example);
• how often your emails are opened (frequency of interaction);
• where subscribers live;
• what additional subscriber data you have (for example, income level, psychographic data, etc.)

  And this is not even a complete checklist. There are a great many options to discover.

Sometimes it's high time to leave

While you are trying to reach subscribers among the hundreds of other emails and convey relevant information, do not forget that sometimes people leave simply because their interests have changed. They do not need your services anymore. They just don’t.  Even if you submit super-relevant information, it is still possible that some of your subscribers will stop finding this topic interesting altogether. And that's okay. At the same time, blogging, collecting a subscriber base, working with SEO and the content will always bring new subscribers to you. So, everything is fair. You win some, you lose some.

Do we need an unsubscribe link in email?

Adding an unsubscribe link to email is an axiom. Each letter must contain a link to unsubscribe in the most visible zone. This is the rule of email marketing hygiene and the newsletter axiom that should be taken for granted. If a person no longer wants to receive letters, you need to respect his opinion. We give them an opportunity to unsubscribe and monitor the level of unsubscriptions in the database. 

The CAN-SPAM Act of 2003, an unsubscribe link law and other laws that prohibit sending mailings without the user's permission require an unsubscribe link in every email.

The availability of an unsubscribe link html code for each letter is also a mandatory requirement of many large mail services for mass mailings worldwide. Therefore, the unsubscribe link is inserted by us in each email. You should not insert a link which is non-functional or hardly visible; this may be the reason for blocking your account! To keep their customers, some smart marketers make up tricks to prevent them from unsubscribing. It’s not even about how to unsubscribe from emails without unsubscribe link. It’s what they do to confuse the users looking for a necessary link. Sometimes companies hide the link or try to complicate the unsubscribe process by terrible UX. The logic, apparently, is as follows: the more difficult it is to unsubscribe, the less they put effort to do it. In practice, this approach goes sideways. The more difficult it is to unsubscribe, the more complaints and claims there will be, the more often customers will get nervous and send letters to spam, which’ even worse for your email statistics. If you don't want your clients to get nervous, suspicious & revengeful, don’t do these things: 

1.Don't hide the email unsubscribe link 

‘Anyone who wants to opt-out from their mailers should be provided with a “one-click unsubscribe” button or at least a link that is also easy-to-find.’ 

A hidden or poorly visible unsubscribe link formatted as body text or designed as an anchor link is not easy to find. And such a cheater! It’s better to stick to a common and widely recognized ‘Unsubscribe’ button.

You won't find any direct Unsubscribe links here.

2.Do not make it worse

You should never complicate the UX of your emails. In the end, you will come across a furious user. Here, unsubscribing requires numerous annoying and unnecessary actions from the user. Is there any way to escape it?

It looks like they want to work you over some more!

3.Don't ask for anything to add unsubscribe link to email!

Empathy-driven unsubscribe experience is a must to do unsubscribe links work for a successful email marketing practice. So, while asking your subscribers for anything like that, put yourself in their place first.

It's easy but annoying.  

Other things you can't do while unsubscribing:

• Require to enter a password or any other data to unsubscribe button gmail.
• Complicate the unsubscribe process by more than 3 clicks.
• Ask to write an email to the support department.
• Fill in ‘The Why?’ or similar superfluous fields which are obligatory or take any other unnecessary actions. 

If a person does not want to write why he/she is unsubscribing, just let them leave. A way too intricate scheme to unsubscribe for an average user, right? Make sure you provide a straightforward way to the button needed.

Main guidelines on how to create an unsubscribe link

For the sender, unsubscribing is more beneficial than a report on spam. And that's pretty fair. So, make sure you create and provide appropriate conditions & rules on how to setup unsubscribe link in gmail to opt-out for your customers. Follow these recommendations and everything will be fine for both: your users and you. How to correctly link to unsubscribe:

1. Make your link visible 

It should clearly stand out from the surrounding text. You may design a button or a separate field. Some senders put the link in the header of the letter for the ultimate comfort. Here’s a great example of a nice visible area for unsubscribing, dubbed in a direct ‘Unsubscribe’ button version on the footer for the ultimate user experience.  

2. Get rid of unnecessary steps

Unsubscribing should take 1-2 clicks, no more. This form is the only correct one from the point of view of mail providers. Some of them provide this instruction in their policy sections:

‘Remove unnecessary fields, password entry and email confirmation. This complicates the process and tempts the person to click Spam.’

Here’s a form designed to unsubscribe available in one clear click, simple & efficient, and visible!

3. Add the button "Unsubscribe" to the toolbar of the mailing service

To do this, you may easily insert the line ‘Unsubscribe’ into the email header:  ‘Unsubscribe’ added into the email header is an effective way to increase your email page reputation.  To create an effective area to unsubscribe, it’s wise to follow the laws cited above, and many others around the world, clearly support the right of subscribers to opt-out. Email senders should take an active role in providing for such rights without any obstacles. So, most email service providers make these linking options available in a good manner with a user-friendly look and effective UX, etc. For this, apply 3 simple rules and stay on the top.

How to add an unsubscribe link to email effectively?

Atomic Email Sender gives an opportunity to every recipient to unsubscribe from your delivery easily. It can be done either via the Atomic Sender tool. If you start Atomic Email Sender, it will be enough to go to “Insert”/ “Unsubscribe link,” choose the unsubscribing way for a recipient in the window pulled out and voila! To see the real view of the link, you need to go to the tab “Preview in browser” and check it. “Unsubscribe by e-mail” usually takes a couple of commands:

•  “Enter the text that will be linked to the removal URL” 

You enter the linked text about the opportunity of unsubscribing for users to see.

•  “Email address”

You enter the e-mail address for getting unsubscribe requests.

•  “Subject” 

You enter the default subject for the unsubscribe requests. For automatically mailing list update on the current project after user unsubscribe, “Settings POP3 server” are necessary. You Put the POP3 server settings in the dialog window:  “Encryption” — you choose the encryption if it’s necessary. “Server” — and make input of the POP3 server and the port. “Login”/ “Password” — input your login (e-mail address or name) and password, according to the post service settings and specifications. “Retrieve” — choose the criteria for REMOVE messages to receive. Check in “Save in project” to update the mailing list of the current project automatically. “Unsubscribe via website” usually takes you these:

•    “Enter the text that will be linked to the removal url” 

You simply enter the linked text about the opportunity of subscribing for users to see.

•   “URL”  

You enter the url of the website to make an unsubscribing by linking it. For more setting instructions, using Atomic Mail Sender, read our Unsubscribe link manual.

Conclusion

Adequate unsubscribing from a mailing list is all about respect to your subscribers. Allow your customers to Unsubscribe from a category of emails without obstacles. Respect your subscribers, and then your newsletter will not be considered spam.  By letting your subscribers choose what to subscribe to, you can both create segments based on interests and make the unsubscribe process more smooth & flexible. If unsubscribe from one category of letters, offer to set up receiving other notifications as per your users’ criteria. Use effective and simple-to-use email marketing solutions like Atomic Mail Sender software to optimize your work and provide the best customer experience with unsubscribe link options. Good luck!