Why Unsubscribes Aren’t Bad For Deliverability
...even though they do signal a potential problem.
One of the first emails I send to subscribers of my Send It Right newsletter asks, “What’s your biggest challenge with deliverability?” One of the responses I received said… “I read an article on Things I’ve Read About Email Marketing That Are Simply Wrong. In the article, number one is kinda the opposite of what I've read, assumed, and been told. Does a high unsubscribe rate hurt sender reputation?”
And you know what, this is something I hear a lot. So let’s dig in.
Do unsubscribes hurt deliverability?
Short answer: No.
Well, not much, anyway. I can’t tell you with certainty that they have zero impact — I don’t work for a mailbox provider.
But I’ve been sending (and helping others send) email for more than 17 years, and I can tell you that if your unsubscribe rates are consistently above ~1%, or if they’re outshining your click rates, there’s a problem bubbling under the surface. One that might also be causing spam complaints — which are bad for deliverability. Like, really bad. Gunshot-to-the-chest kind of bad.
Ok, but whyyyy don’t unsubscribes hurt deliverability?
I mean, they’re clearly a form of negative engagement — someone’s asking you to leave them alone. To never talk to ‘em again (via email, anyway). They must lead to some kind of punishment from Mama and Papa Email (ahem, the mailbox providers), right? WRONG.
You don’t get grounded. In fact, they support the right to unsubscribe so much that…
Mailbox providers have been enabling easier unsubscribes for years
That’s right. Providers like Google and Yahoo have been prompting users to ask if they wanna unsubscribe from mail they haven’t opened “in the past month” for several years. Here’s what it looks like in Google…
I really only see this message about senders I haven’t engaged with in a long while — much longer than the 30 days that others are seeing — and I usually agree with them that it’s time to part ways. Not always though…there are brands I’d like to continue digitally hoarding emails from for when I finally decide to buy something again. But usually, Google’s helping me give some closure to brands I’ve mentally ghosted long ago.
It’s certainly not the most popular mailbox feature with marketers, which makes sense when you think about how effin’ hard marketers work to collect an email address from someone.
But that’s thinkin’ like a marketer! Put on your everyday citizen cap and remember that people are busy and don’t have the time or mental space for things that don’t make their lives better or easier. Emails that don’t serve a purpose (such as helping people learn, laugh, or save a little coin) need to get outta the way.
Which is why it’s so important to SLOW DOWN, think about why people joined your list in the first place, and consider how you can make those first couple of emails so special that they wanna keep receiving them…even if they’re prompted to unsubscribe after 30 days.
Mailbox providers are helping clear the path for their users, because they know…
Unsubscribes improve the recipient experience
They give people a simple and effective way to control who can contact them via email. That lets them stay happier with their inbox experience, happier with their current mailbox provider, and happier with email as a communication channel.
Mailbox providers understand this, and it’s one of the many ways they attempt to keep their users happy (and prevent them from seeking greener inbox pastures with another provider).
But what makes people happy is a moving target. Which is why…
Unsubs help keep the email ecosystem healthy
People's lives and interests change all the time: when they switch jobs, cities, neighborhoods within their city. When they grow tired of hobbies, favorite foods or tv shows. Their interests might do a full 180 if they find that special someone and stop hittin’ up the bars every night, or when they decide to have kids or finally get healthy like their doctor’s been saying for years.
Just as people’s lives change, their email preferences do, too. Sometimes you don’t make the cut. And that’s ok. Which is why…
Major providers like Google and Yahoo now require a one-click unsubscribe
That’s right, part of the new requirements that went into effect with Google and Yahoo this year is the need to have a one-click unsubscribe mechanism inserted into the email headers of every bulk marketing message you send. In this case, “bulk” is being defined as sending more than 5,000 messages per day to Gmail or to Yahoo.
Here’s an example of what that looks like within the Promotions Tab of my inbox for Send It Right.
One of the newsletters I subscribed to shares some interesting content, but it also uses a lot of clickbaity subject lines that often let me down when I read what’s inside. Plus, they’ve started sending me “inbox hacks” daily (sometimes two per day). 🙄
I don’t wanna mark them as spam since I did subscribe. But for me, it’s time to bail. And Google makes it super easy! Take a look…
I’d have a similarly easy way to unsubscribe if I choose to open the email, too. There it is, right next to the sender info. Easy peasy, lemon squeezy.
I can appreciate it’s not such a happy thing for marketers to see people unsubscribing — particularly when Google’s putting that unsubscribe button right in people’s face. It’s like gettin’ stung by a jelly when you first step foot in the ocean. Total bummer.
But put yourself in the flip flops of your email audience. You like being able to easily stop receiving mail from a brand you have no beef with, without having to mark their email as spam, right? Yeah, me too.
At the end of the day, we can’t escape the fact that as much as unsubscribes hurt our email-lovin’ hearts, if people want off the ride, they’re gonna find a way. And if we don’t make it simple for them to leave through the front door (ahem, that oh-so-easy-to-find unsubscribe button), they’re gonna bust through the emergency exit (ahem, marking your email as spam) that sounds all of the alarms and brings the fire department running.
It’s not all bad, though! In fact, I’d venture to say…
Unsubscribes are actually good for deliverability
Hear me out. I know list churn isn’t an easy pill to swallow.
But I’d rather have people unsubscribing than flagging my emails as spam any every day of the week.
They help us catch problems while they’re still small
…before they lead to a costly, hard-to-solve deliverability issue.
If you recall from last week’s lesson on sender reputation, we dug into positive vs negative engagement signals…people cheering when we play our most popular songs vs people booing and running for the exits when Kyyyle pulls out his new agey experimental stuff.
Examples of recipient reactions mailbox providers can see.
Note how unsubscribes are in a category on their own as a (mostly) neutral signal because they’re not the type of negative signal mailbox providers see as a problem, but they’re certainly not a positive signal, either.
Which is why they’re such a good early warning signal. You have information you can use to track down problems without sweatin’ yourself into dehydration because you’re lookin’ into things before they’ve caused damage.
Which brings me to one of my favorite things about people exiting stage left oh-so-gently…
Unsubscribes help us avoid spam complaints
When my company hosted a webinar with Yahoo and Google recently, Clea Moore, Principal Product Manager for Yahoo, told me senders were seeing ~30% reductions in spam vote rates on average after making the unsubscribe process easier.
I meeaann, I know unsubscribes hurt. We’ve talked about this.
But spam complaints. Soooo much worse than a measly unsubscribe since they’re such a clear signal — directly from inbox owners — saying “I don’t want this in my inbox. And I’m mad (or sad, frustrated, tired…) enough to mark it as spam instead of finding the unsubscribe button.”
When you should worry about unsubscribes
Before you get all excited about how unsubscribes are not nearly as bad as spam complaints, let’s get something straight: they’re still a sign that recipients don’t want to hear from you, and while some of that is just a natural part of life, it can be an early warning signal of a problem with list collection, segmentation, your offer and/or content.
Here’s when it’s time to take a closer look…
When your unsub rates are frequently above 1%, take a closer look at what content, campaign, or list they’re coming from. Once you find it, go take a closer look at everything related
If people are unsubscribing right after they’ve joined your list. Why?? Did you give ‘em a coupon and then they ran? Or did you send something different than you promised (different content, too much, etc).
If their reason for unsubbing is something that smells a bit spammy, such as “I didn’t sign up” or “this isn’t what I asked for”, it can help you identify poor list collection practices. Be sure you’re getting permission, setting expectations about what you’ll send, and sticking to what you promised!
What to do when your unsubscribes are high
First of all, breathe. We’re talkin’ about high unsubscribes, not complaints.
If you’re accepting replies and/or collecting a reason for the unsubscribe on the way out the door, monitor those, too. There’s gold in those particular hills! You’ll find tons of insights into why people are running for…the other hills. The ones that are far away from your email list.
Try to think of ‘em as a convenient way to clean up your list and learn from what your (un)subscribers are telling you (whether you have a preference center or not).
Step 1: Investigate where the issue is happening.
Take a look at the recent trends in delivery and engagement metrics (including opens, clicks, unsubscribes, and spam complaints) for anything that stands out as odd: sudden drops or increases, steady declines when you’ve been putting in effort to grow those numbers.
When you find something(s) that make you go hmmm, see if you can trace it back to the source. Is it isolated to one campaign or piece, or more widespread? How was that list (or email address who unsubbed) collected? How much mail have they received — and was that the intended amount, or way more? All questions worth answering.
Step 2: Try to understand why it’s happening.
Common reasons why unsubscribe rates might be high:
Sending to purchased lists or other people you shouldn’t be sending to. QUIT IT!
Technical issues or mistakes pushing recipients over the edge (e.g. automations gone wild that lead to sending dozens of the same message to people…WOOF).
Lack of permission. I know I already said purchased lists. This one’s so important, it deserves being on the list twice. Get permission or you’re not sending it right.
Sending email content that drives people away because it’s not what they signed up for, or you’re sending way more than you said you would. Consider whether you need to make this clearer on your signup form, or you know…just stick to what you said you’d do. It’s totally ok to change things, but give your users a heads up about it.
List maintenance issues that cause improper segmentation or personalization. I don’t need to tell you that less relevant and compelling emails are more likely to result in an unsubscribe (or worse).
Step 3: Take action on your findings!
No heads in the sand here, people. It’s a whole lot harder to dig yourself out of the spam folder than it is to stay in the inbox, so don't make things harder on yourself. If you see elevated unsubscribes, work on fixing the issue ASAP, before it bubbles over into spam complaints (and other recipient reactions) that are damaging to your deliverability.
It’s always best to consider your own email goals when figuring out how to adjust your email program, but here a few suggestions to get your wheels turning:
Set better expectations during signup.
If you have multiple lists or mail streams, consider removing people from all marketing emails when they unsubscribe instead of just the specific list they unsubbed from. This is because while you may see them as separate lists that operate independently, your recipients see them as one and the same…it’s all just mail coming from your brand. And if they unsubscribe, they expect to never hear from you again. Popping up again with mail they don’t see as different is just asking for a spam complaint.
If you offer a freebie or discount in exchange for email addresses, consider…not…doing…that? Even if just as a test? It’s common for people to join email lists only for that discount and then bail right after. Plus, some marketers believe giving discounts is devaluing your product and training people to not buy from you unless there’s a sale…particularly if you run sales often. Unless your goal is one-time purchases, you’ll find better email success in identifying committed subscribers who are in it for the long(er) haul.
Stick to what you promised during signup. This one’s surprisingly hard sometimes. Priorities (and bosses!) change, technology and messy data make it tough to avoid mistakes. And holy smokes, are we busy. Life is moving a mile a minute. Try not to lose track of why people joined your list in the first place.
Send it right! (duh) From permission and expectation-setting to list management and great content…do your best to deliver an inbox-worthy email experience for your audience.
Always make it easy for people to unsubscribe, and take action to reduce high unsubscribe rates quickly, because the next time, someone might decide to mark the mail as spam instead… that’s worse for deliverability and much easier to do (at least, it used to be, before mailbox providers started helping out!).
🎶 This is the end, my email friend. The end. 🎶
Ultimately, unsubscribes are a very real part of doing business in the email industry. If you send long enough, to enough people, you’re gonna see some. And that’s ok!
Celebrate the fact that people were kind enough to unsubscribe instead of marking your email as spam, and then get back to focusing on the folks who are still riding the wave with you. What’s the best way to keep them comin’ back for more?
A couple goodies for the road…
I took a deep dive into high unsubscribes as a red flag for your email performance with some of my email pals (Autumn Tyr-Salvia, Desi Zhivkova, and Skyler Holobach) for the SocketLabs blog. If you’re facing an issue with high unsubscribes (or their bratty cousin, spam complaints), it’s sure to have the answers you seek. If it doesn’t, let me know, mmmkay? I have the power to fix that.
First time hearing about one-click unsubscribe (RFC 8058) being required by Google and Yahoo or still working to get yours set up? Here’s a quick read to get you up to speed.
If you’ve got your one-click unsubscribe in place, check if it’s set up correctly with Steve Atkins’ AboutMy.Email tool.
If you found this blog post helpful but aren’t signed up for my Send It Right newsletter on email deliverability, jump on in! The water feels fine, and there are ZERO jellyfish to worry about. Promise. 💌
Need to chat about an issue you’re facing with unsubscribes (or somethin’ else)? Let’s talk email.
