Email marketing can be a valuable strategy for any B2B organization, but you have to use it wisely and not spam your prospects and clients with endless emails. You also need to be upfront and let people know they can be removed from your lists.
You don’t want that, of course, which is why you need an unsubscribe strategy that incorporates the top unsubscribe best practices.
So how many emails are too many, whether you are promoting your B2B services or simply engaging with your clients? There may be a wider gap than you think between what you and your email subscribers want.
So, again, you need to give people unsubscribe options — but you need to be strategic about it.
Here’s how to utilize unsubscribe best practices to make sure that your email marketing strategy is complete and robust.
Why People Unsubscribe to Emails
If you’re sending multiple emails every day or week without a second thought, it’s time to pause and re-evaluate your email strategy. Research shows that 51% of email recipients unsubscribe from a brand’s email if they receive too many emails. Therefore, consider modifying your email frequency if you don’t want people to unsubscribe from your emails.
Also, if your content is overly self-promotional, irrelevant, or not engaging enough, it may push email subscribers to opt out. Research shows that 26% of email subscribers opt out of a company’s emails if the content is not informative or doesn't add value.
Customers typically subscribe to email lists when the emails provide them with direct value. Research suggests that 28% of customers subscribe to branded emails of a B2B company to get updates regarding sales, offers, discounts, promo codes, or deals. Therefore, besides using emails for promoting your B2B products and services, offer exciting deals and promotions to your customers to retain them.
Per a HubSpot study conducted among 400 consumers, a quarter of participants say they subscribe to a business’ emails only because of the content they share. Not to deflect your focus from promoting your products and services, but valuable content is also why customers subscribe to a B2B company’s emails. For example, including infographics or clever puns in your emails can make them exciting to read.
Many B2B companies also like to keep their customers engaged personally and make them a “part of their family” by providing glimpses of their staff, behind-the-scenes setups from manufacturing units, upcoming events, and so on. Such emails are promotional in a different style and can help you win over your customers' trust.
Why an Unsubscribe Strategy Is So Important in Email Marketing
It goes without saying that no business wants to lose customers or prospects. Nevertheless, it’s important to recognize the benefits of an unsubscribe strategy, so you can use it to win customers’ trust and create effective email campaigns.
Here are three reasons why your B2B company must focus on building an effective unsubscribe strategy:
To Build Stronger Relationships With Customers
Giving customers the ease of unsubscribing from your emails can leave a long-lasting positive impression on them. They will notice that you care about them, building a foundation for stronger, long-term relationships. Customers tend to get frustrated when they can’t opt out of emails they don’t want to receive.
To Gather Valuable Customer Feedback
By asking your customers why they are unsubscribing to your emails, you can determine how and to what extent you need to modify or improve your email marketing strategy. You can use this information to understand how you can better meet your customers’ needs.
To Align With Anti-Spam Laws
The US CAN-SPAM Act is a law that sets up the framework for a company to send commercial emails to customers. It gives the recipients the right to unsubscribe from a commercial email and penalizes violations. Some of the binding CAN-SPAM rules for organizations are:
- No false or misleading subject lines
- No false or misleading header lines
- Businesses need to agree to their subscribers’ decision to unsubscribe from their emails, removing them within 30 days
- No click baits for higher email opening rates
- Ads sent via email to be mentioned categorically
Unsubscribe Best Practices
Like it or not, you must build a compelling unsubscribe strategy as a part of your email marketing efforts to build trust with customers and enhance your overall customer experience. Here are some tips to get you started.
Add an Email Unsubscribe Link
First things first, remember to include an email unsubscribe link in the email footer. Ensure it is clear and easy to locate.
Keep It Simple
As much as possible, simplify the email unsubscribing process. Avoid adding too many steps, and keep it a one-click process without the hassle of logins and signups. Multiple steps in the unsubscribe process can further frustrate your email subscribers.
Ask Why They’re Unsubscribing
Don’t forget to ask your email subscribers why they’re unsubscribing. Once you know the reasons, you can work on improving your email strategy by building on the feedback. However, avoid asking your customers and prospects to complete detailed surveys; try to get their feedback using a single multiple-choice question.
Add an Option to Update Email Preferences
It is a good idea to provide your email subscribers with an alternative to unsubscribing to your emails and include an option to update their email preferences. This option enables them to customize the email frequency or topics they want to receive. This will avoid the dropout and notify you about their preferences.
Don’t Hesitate to Send a Re-Engagement Email
This tip will come in handy if you have email subscribers who are not taking action on your emails—they are neither unsubscribing to your emails nor opening them. In such scenarios, you can consider sending a re-engagement email, with a special offer, asking whether they want to receive emails from you or not. It might be just what they need to reengage with you.
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