A word to the wise email marketer: Don’t hide your unsubscribe link. Make it BOLD. Make it stand out. It will help you target the actual customers you want to speak to.
As a marketer, I understand the power of an email subscriber list. But what I also understand is the difference between a large subscriber list and a qualified subscriber list. These are two very different things. Quantity doesn't mean quality.
Ever since the introduction of the Canadian Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL) in 2014, email marketing has become a far more viable way to engage customers. I never thought I’d say it, but it has. What is CASL? It’s a law that states companies can’t try to sell you something via email without your permission. In other words, they can’t spam you. This is good. There is nothing wrong with email marketing, assuming the emails are going to the right people.
I work at an agency that sends out a lot of email marketing. We manage hundreds of thousands of email addresses across hundreds of different lists. At the end of the day, I don’t want to go home thinking that I’ve spammed a bunch of people. And you know what? I never feel that way. Part of the reason has to do with the “Unsubscribe” link on our emails. I actually feel good when someone unsubscribes because I know my email subscriber list just became more targeted. I don’t want to bother people by filling their inbox with stuff they don’t want.
Let me explain. For one client, we send out weekly emails to a list that is just shy of 100,000 addresses. We gain about 750 addresses per week and, with each email, about 500 people unsubscribe. “500 customers unsubscribe?!” exclaims someone who doesn’t exist. Yes, 500. That may seem like a lot but when you think that it’s only 0.5% of the list it suddenly isn’t so bad. And think, there are 99,500 people who DIDN'T unsubscribe and don’t mind if I send them an email next week.
There is nothing wrong with email marketing, assuming the emails are going to the right people.
When it comes to unsubscribers receiving an unwanted email, I imagine each one of them walking into a pet store when they meant to walk into a shoe store. They're in the wrong place. They don’t want to be there. They don’t own (or even want to own) a pet. The pet store employee may be nice but they are going to have one hell of a time satisfying that errant shoe shopper. The unsubscriber either ended up on the list by mistake or they simply don’t want what we are selling. And that’s ok! All the best, Unsubscriber Person, I hope you find a nice pair of shoes! Now let’s sell some parakeets to some people who are looking for parakeets!
Fact is, as long as you are delivering credible information that is genuinely valuable to your customers, you shouldn’t have to worry about showing your unsubscribe link to the world. With a more potent list, your click-through rates will be higher, leading to higher conversions and bigger numbers to show your clients.
Don’t try to elude the person who wants to unsubscribe from your marketing emails. Unsubscribers only clear the path to true, engaged customers and make your qualified subscriber list a more powerful tool than ever.
