What are the best practices for managing unsubscriptions from multiple email lists?
Summary
What email marketers say16Marketer opinions
Email marketer from EmailOnAcid states that you should ensure unsubscribe links are clearly visible and easy to use in every email to avoid frustration and spam complaints from subscribers who can't easily opt out.
Email marketer from Reddit User u/EmailPro shares that implementing a preference center allows users to customize their email subscriptions, preventing them from unsubscribing entirely due to unwanted content and improving engagement.
Email marketer from Litmus explains that your preference center should be easily accessible and offer clear options to manage the frequency, type, and topics of emails they receive.
Email marketer from ActiveCampaign explains implementing a sunset policy to remove inactive subscribers who haven't engaged with your emails in a while helps maintain a healthy list and improves deliverability.
Email marketer from Email Marketing Forum explains that after someone unsubscribes you should provide a confirmation page or email acknowledging their request and giving them the option to easily re-subscribe if they changed their mind.
Email marketer from Email Geeks shares that making a recipient unsubscribe from multiple streams of mail from the same sender can lead to the mail being marked as spam.
Email marketer from Neil Patel states that personalisation is key to keeping your subscribers engaged and preventing them from unsubscribing. This means delivering emails based on their preferences and behavior.
Email marketer from Reddit user u/MarketingGuru responds that after a user unsubscribes, ensure their email address is suppressed from all future sends to avoid accidental re-subscription and potential legal issues.
Email marketer from Campaign Monitor recommends using interest groups to let subscribers choose the type of content they want to receive, reducing unsubscribe rates and increasing engagement by delivering more relevant emails.
Email marketer from Email Geeks shares that the granularity of opt-in should directly relate to the granularity of unsubscribe. Subscribers have to explicitly opt IN for a brand. Its not adding subscriber X to 5000 brands when they optin for 1
Email marketer from Email Geeks advocates for the principle of 'one opt-in, one opt-out,' meaning if a user only opted-in once, they should only have to opt-out once.
Email marketer from Email Geeks shares the consequence of a poor unsubscribe experience is spam complaints. They go on to state the optin should align with the optout.
Email marketer from Email Geeks shares that there’s nothing that reverses brand loyalty more than when brands want to trap users in their email marketing or email automation hell.
Email marketer from SuperOffice recommends using double opt-in to ensure subscribers genuinely want to receive your emails, reducing the likelihood of unsubscribes and improving the quality of your email list.
Email marketer from Email Geeks explains that opt-in and opt-out should be equally granular. If a user signs up for 'All Gap Brands' and is added to multiple lists without their knowledge, they should only have to opt-out once.
Email marketer from HubSpot recommends providing clear opt-in and opt-out options, including a preference center where users can manage their subscriptions to different email types, in order to honor subscriber choices and maintain a positive sender reputation.
What the experts say7Expert opinions
Expert from Email Geeks shares how they use two unsubscribe links - one to unsubscribe from emails like the current one, and another to unsubscribe from all emails.
Expert from Email Geeks explains that laws like CAN-SPAM and CASL consider 'unsub from all' as an option. Adding someone to a list after they unsubscribed is highly questionable, potentially violating regulations. Removing someone from one of multiple lists they subscribed to might be acceptable if it's not a recurring pattern.
Expert from Word to the Wise explains that clearly communicating to subscribers what they are unsubscribing from (e.g., a specific list or all emails) is crucial for a positive user experience and to prevent spam complaints.
Expert from Email Geeks suggests that after unsubscribing someone from all mail an option should be given to resubscribe via a prepopulated subscription center.
Expert from Spam Resource explains that honoring unsubscribe requests promptly and effectively is essential for compliance and maintaining a good sending reputation, as failing to do so can lead to spam complaints and blacklisting.
Expert from Email Geeks suggests using an unsubscribe confirmation email that lets the recipient know they are subscribed to other email lists and allows them to unsubscribe from all emails.
Expert from Email Geeks suggests a recipient will likely report mail as spam by the third time they have to unsubscribe from similar lists.
What the documentation says4Technical articles
Documentation from GDPR explains that individuals have the right to be forgotten, requiring organizations to completely erase their personal data upon request, including email addresses from marketing lists.
Documentation from Sendinblue explains list segmentation helps you to send targeted, relevant emails to your contacts. You can create segments based on contact information, activity, or engagement. To manage unsubscribes effectively, make sure you have a good opt-out process in place and that you're segmenting your lists so that people are only receiving emails that they want to receive.
Documentation from CAN-SPAM Act explains that you must honor opt-out requests promptly. A customer's opt-out request must be honored within 10 business days. You can have a mechanism that allows a customer to opt out of certain emails, or all commercial emails from your business.
Documentation from Mailchimp explains using tags or groups within a single audience to manage subscribers with different interests is preferable over using multiple lists, as it simplifies management and reduces costs.