How to Keep your Startup’s Email Subscribers from Unsubscribing

This week at Marketing Supply Co. we discuss how to keep your startup’s email subscribers from unsubscribing.

When your brand is new and you’re trying to earn mindshare—and ultimately customers—you especially need to build trust early on. Email marketing is a great way to do so. Maintaining an email list from the early stages of your startup is impactful and gives you a head start with nurturing leads.

What’s more, a customer or lead’s email address is the most powerful marketing communication line you can have. However, you must be careful not to abuse it. Keeping your email subscribers from unsubscribing plays an important role in keeping your startup’s email list growing.

In this post we’ll discuss effective subject lines, spam triggers, delivering value in your content, and more. Read on to receive tips that help you keep email subscribers from unsubscribing from your startup’s email list.

Deliver Value with Each Email

There are many reasons why people unsubscribe from email lists. Many people opt-in to an email list unknowingly when creating online accounts. On the other hand, some people initially subscribe for a special offer, but then they don’t see use for receiving the emails anymore past the offer.

This can create skepticism for staying subscribed to new email lists, which is why your startup needs to do everything it can to keep its email subscribers from unsubscribing.

You need to keep your customers intrigued, and maybe even excited to receive your next email. Especially in the midst of a sea of emails that flood your customers’ inboxes every day. It is also important to deliver what you originally promised them when they opted in. Otherwise, your customer might be headed straight to the bottom of your email to find the unsubscribe link.

See why it’s important to deliver value in each and every email?

You can beat out even your more established competitors if your customers can extract more value from your emails. Remember, the information you provide needs to be hyper relevant to your customers.

Keeping your customers on your email list will also help with email list growth. Your customers might even recommend your email list to their friends. In fact, why not encourage your subscribers to share an email with their friends?

Do Not Mislead

Your subject line needs to be specific yet concise, and it should always reflect the content of your email.

For example, if your email is all about tips for shopping for the perfect wedding dress, do not make your subject line, “Planning Your Wedding Day.” It should be “Five Tips for Finding the Perfect Wedding Dress.” Similarly, you wouldn’t use the subject line “How to Find the Perfect Wedding Dress on a Budget” and suggest high-end designer dresses in the body of the email.

While this may sound like common sense, it is astounding how many emails contain subject lines that are not representative of the actual email. This is a sure-fire way to annoy your customers and drive them to unsubscribe.

Use Effective Subject Lines

Avoid Spam Trigger Words

The use of certain words in your subject line can trigger spam filters to send your emails straight to a junk folder and never reach the intended recipient.

Although this is not technically “unsubscribing,” it is still affecting the deliverability of your emails.

While there isn’t a definitive list of all trigger words publicly available, you can find some spam trigger words that are notorious for getting emails caught in the spam folder. The best rule to live by is to avoid overly promotional language in the subject line of your email.

Keep in mind that words like “free,” “discount,” and percentages (i.e. 50% off) trigger spam filters.

If your email contains an offer for a subscriber, communicate this to the customer cleverly while avoiding spam triggers.

For instance, instead of “Your FREE Guide to Growing Your Client Base” use “Guide to Growing your Client Base.” Instead of “10% off Your First Order!” use “Your Welcome Present from [your brand here].” Email delivery has become sophisticated in recognizing spammy emails, and therefore, your subject lines should sound sophisticated.

Be Mindful of Length

Inboxes will truncate your subject line if you use too many characters. Try to keep it to 50 characters or less. This gives you an advantage when your customers are skimming their inbox for valuable emails.

Have you heard that there are email plug-ins that allow consumers to quickly unsubscribe from email lists without even opening an email? Protect yourself from this new trend by crafting valuable subject lines that cause your email recipients to think twice before unsubscribing.

Use Segmentation & Grouping

Customer segmentation is invaluable for keeping your email list subscribers. The more you tailor your emails to a specific type of customer and their buyer behavior, the more likely you are to keep them on your list.

There is so much available for email personalization that there is no excuse not to use these features.

Group your customers based on their site behavior and their customer lifecycle stage. Craft different email sends based on these segments and deliver accordingly. Keep in mind that the body of the email should speak specifically to the segment you are emailing and deliver the appropriate call-to-action for that segment.

Always remember that your email strategy should be geared toward nurturing your leads and existing customers based on what stage of the brand relationship they are at.

Need additional help with email marketing for your startup? Contact Marketing Supply Co. today!