How to Keep Your Email Subscribers From Dumping You

You’re not as hot as you think you are.

Well, your email marketing isn’t, anyway.

There’s too much competition in the marketplace for you to stand out. Nearly a quarter of a trillion emails are sent per day.

Your readers don’t want to even “just be friends.” They’re done with you. They’re kicking you to the curb for good. And here’s why: 

Reason #1: Your Emails Came Too Frequently

Remember that girl that liked you in high school? Or at least you thought she did because she gave you her number after your biology lab because you had the group project due? And you called her every night for 6 weeks straight until she finally got the restraining order? Yeah, she’d unsubscribe from your emails, too.

Make sure you’re not inundating your readers with useless updates. When you do reach out via email, make it count. Most importantly, deliver the exact frequency of messages they signed up for and don’t assume they want to hear from you just because they gave you their address once.

Reason #2: Your Content Became Repetitive or Boring Over Time

Ever told a joke to the same person twice? It probably wasn’t as funny the second time. Embarrassing, right? Avoid doing this in your email by keeping tabs on what content you’ve placed in each issue so that you aren’t sharing the same content twice.

Reason #3: You Were Just Another Fish in the Sea

This is an ugly fact of the email marketing game: not everyone survives. Create good content, and share it at the frequency you promised for best chances of survival.

Reason #4: Your Content Wasn’t Relevant From the Start

“You know, this just isn’t working out. I thought we had more in common when we were having drinks at that party that night we met.” So, your subscriber isn’t quite sure you are who they thought you were.

Avoid this heartbreaking effect by clearly explaining what they should expect in your email marketing when they sign up. Include links to sample issues.

Reason #5: You’re Too Pushy With Your Messaging

Some people just don’t like your style. They prefer to quietly seek what they’re looking for, and not be flirted with all the time. They want to seek out content on their own, instead of having it be pushed to them. There’s not much you can do here, expect to be sure you have a good website and maybe a company blog that ranks in search engines and is shared in social media to be there when they do seek out other information.

Reason #6: It Was Just a One-Night Stand

What they were after was just a short-term fling, a one-time offer that caught their attention just for the moment.

In email marketing, this is the ugly aftermath of gimmicky subscription drives. “Get a free toaster with our email” sure does drive up subscription numbers, but they are false positive subscribers, and don’t really do much to further your organization’s goals, unless you are a charity bent on equipping the world with better toasters.

Reason #7: Their Circumstances Changed

Your subscriber had to grab a last-minute gift for a baby shower, and you happened to be offering a “15% off all diapers” coupon as an incentive to sign up for your email newsletter. So pelting your subscriber with offers for bassinets, pacifiers, and toddler toys might seem logical but really is off-target.

How do you overcome this rejection? By asking for more information at the point of subscription. “Is this coupon for a friend?” “Are you just doing research?” “Are you interested in other offers?” All of these are good questions to ask so you understand the type of relationship your reader is looking for.

Readers will have plenty of reasons to shoot down your dreams of having them fall in love with you. The key is limiting the amount of ammunition you give them.

The content of this post was adapted from ExactTarget’s recent survey on user behavior.

[image: cogdog]

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Tagged as: Building Community, Content Marketing, Email address, Email Marketing, Tactics, targeting