Why Are You Losing Subscribers? February 06, 2019, | Posted by Samantha

It’s a truth universally acknowledged in marketing that there is no way to keep every customer and prospect satisfied 100% of the time. Email marketing professionals know that a certain number of subscribers lost every now and again is perfectly normal, and even to a degree can work to your advantage: better those people unsubscribe than merely flag your emails as spam, negatively impacting your campaigns as a whole. But while some subscribers will merely lose natural interest in your messages from time to time, a large or growing number of unsubscribe requests can indicate a problem. Site Impact knows it can be disheartening to see people rushing for the door--especially when you can’t put a finger on what you might be doing wrong. Today we’re going to look at some of the most common causes for mass subscriber exodus.

You’re coming across as spammy

There are a few sins that come under this heading, but the overall impact is the same: subscribers are annoyed because your brand is grating. This includes emailing too frequently as one major annoyance, or subject lines that seem clickbait-like or otherwise irritating. While there’s no set number of emails you should send--either minimum or maximum--consider a few options for setting things right with your subscribers, if you think that you might be giving them a flood when they really want a sprinkle of content. Giving subscribers the option to control how often they hear from you (and following their requests) can stem the flow, as well as considering just what kind of communications you’re sending. Backing off a bit and seeing how the subscriber counts change in response is also an option in the interim, while you’re setting the other plans in motion. For the subject lines, you can check in on the latest lists for spam-flagged keywords, and try to focus on crafting subject lines that are informative and to-the-point.

Your subscribers aren’t getting what they signed up for

The biggest thing that consumers look for in their email marketing messages is relevant content. If the emails you’re sending out aren’t what your subscribers are looking for--especially based on how you convinced them to sign up--they’ll flock for the exits. One way you can easily fix this is to start with segmentation; knowing your audience in all its variety will lead you to make better choices about which emails to send to which recipients. Even for larger subscriber lists, this is not as difficult as it may seem; Adidas manages to send out highly relevant emails to their audiences, using automation and basing the automated emails on buying history, demographics, geography, etc. Focus on providing the most relevant possible content and you should see first a decrease in the unsubscribe requests and then a rebound in new subscribers as your reputation improves.

Of course, there are other reasons that may come up for why you have multiple people unsubscribing from your emails at a given time; these are simply the most common causes. But tackling these two factors will definitely make a difference in retaining your subscribers, and free you up for looking into other, more specific causes that might arise without wasting time. Contact Site Impact to learn how we can help you maintain and grow your audience.