Embracing unsubscribers from your email list

A client recently told me that when someone unsubscribes from their mailing list, a team member chases down the hapless person and guilts them into resubscribing. 😱

🚫 DO NOT DO THIS! 🚫

If you have an email list (and I hope you do), you know that a robust and growing list is one of the most important assets in your business.

Each name represents a relationship that eventually leads to revenue 💵 if you nurture it well.

So when you check your analytics and see people who unsubscribe, you can't help but curse under your breath. $%&@!

And yes, you feel hurt.

Why don't they love you anymore? 💔

But here's a thought:

What if you were to thank them when they leave?

Yes, thank them.

Here's why:

💡 Quality is more important than quantity. Your list should represent the people who value your product or service most.

While everyone dreams of a list in the tens of thousands or even millions, your list is only as good as the number of people who open your emails, read them, and click through on them.

Email engagement is the name of the game.

This is also why you don't want to waste your money buying lists.

Also, if you have many uninterested subscribers who ignore your emails, email service providers may decide to start routing your emails to spam folders.

Now that's a reason to really curse under your breath!

💡 You'll have better information on customer behavior. When you have a solid list of 1,000 subscribers who look forward to your emails and open them, you'll have better data on what interests them.

If you send out an email to 15,000 subscribers but most ignore it, you might conclude that a promising offer was a flop.

In reality, your biggest fans did respond favorably, but you couldn't read the tea leaves accurately due to the dead weight in your list.

When you have engaged subscribers, you can test new ideas with an audience that is actually paying attention.

How to reengage inactive subscribers

Rather than chasing people down with a guilt strategy, use a re-engagement campaign.

Try these three steps:

👉🏽 Review your inactive subscriber list and pull out the people who haven't opened an email in 3-6 months.

👉🏽 Segment them out and ask them if they would like to stay on your list.

👉🏽 Ask them to confirm their interest or give them the option to unsubscribe.

Some might stay, but you can let the others go with peace of mind and know that they won't skew your data anymore.

Best of all, you'll know that your list is filled with the customers who love you best! 💕