In the summer, everyone is on the move. School is out. Camp is in session. Workdays end earlier. The beach house is open for business…
Paying attention to consumers’ changing schedules and shifting habits can pay off big for brands. So how do you tailor your email approach, in order to accommodate June-September lifestyles? Just ask!
Here are some examples from savvy brand mailers, who proactively supply preference options and get creative with their opt-out/unsubscribe mechanisms.
Use Proactive Opt-Out Management CTAs
Not every consumer is sophisticated enough to seek out an unsubscribe link at the bottom of your email, in order to change his or her frequency/content preferences. In fact, by the time most people go looking for an unsubscribe mechanism, they are already disenfranchised with the email relationship—and it may be difficult to sway them.
Instead, include email preference CTAs in your reengagement campaigns, like this one from Banana Republic:
Provide a Simple Opt-Down Menu
Summer days may be long, but patience levels for nonstop, irrelevant email are still pretty short.
One of the easiest ways to minimize email opt-outs is to give customers a chance to reduce email frequency. This example from Fab.com shows how you can provide lots of opt-down options without adding too much complexity.
Remember to Offer Opt-Over Alternatives
By now most brands provide some type of email preference center or opt-down options alongside unsubscribe buttons. But there are still quite a few who forget to promote other channels, just as subscribers are saying goodbye. For some of their consumers, Twitter, Facebook, or postal mail may be much more convenient places to connect.
Here’s how Applebee’s Grill & Bar makes it painless for email recipients to cut ties…but clearly reminds them about alternative channels—including Applebees’ social media accounts and dining apps.
Leverage Timely Themes to Encourage Opt-Up Actions
You may have gained the bulk of your subscribers during the holiday shopping blitz or the dull, gray months of winter, but that context doesn’t have to define or limit your relationship. Get creative in tying your products to topical themes: beach, vacation, heat, backyard, cookouts, road trips, etc.
Better still, use seasonal cues to introduce a sister brand or a customer loyalty program. Last month, Anthropologie introduced subscribers to Terrain, another lifestyle merchandise label under the Urban Outfitters, Inc. umbrella. The brand leveraged Mother’s Day in enticing recipients to “opt up” (and into Terrain’s email list).
How do you use opt-up or opt-over opportunities in your opt-out management strategy? (Try saying that three times, fast!) More important, do you have an effective opt-out management solution in place, for dealing with confirmed unsubscribes?
