It’s important to have effective tools in place for email opt-out management. Heck, it’s the law.
But great brands can do more than just practice defense. Working to proactively meet email subscriber preferences is equally important. Making an effort to send the right message at the right time can reduce the number of opt outs you and your partners generate in the first place.
So get your email opt-out management tools in place. Then get current with your offensive playbook. These stats can help:
Repay Expressed Interest
As explained by Cynthia Price, Director of Marketing at Emma, Inc., freebies are the number one reason why people sign up for email. They want “stuff”: holiday coupons, exclusive discounts, early access, free gifts, expert advice… Give it all to them! And while you’re at it, acknowledge how grateful you are for the exchange.
Extend Your Subject Line
50 ways to leave your lover are like, a lot of ways. 50 characters for a best-practices-approved email subject line are actually pretty limiting. And keep in mind you’ve only got about 3 seconds to make those characters count. The solution? Use snippet (a.k.a. “preview”) text to flesh out the idea. And if you’re still struggling to invent great subject lines, HubSpot has some doozies to inspire you.
Stay Useful
According to Salesforce, 95% of email opt-ins agree that your brand messages are “somewhat or very useful.” Live up to that assessment. Keep messages fresh and focused on subscribers’ demonstrated interests. Email marketing ROI is somewhere around $44 for every $1 dollar spent. You can afford to invest time in good content ideas.
Be Brief
Nearly one-third of all opt-ins would prefer shorter promotional emails, suggests MarketingSherpa’s 2015 email survey. Let your landing pages do the heavy lifting; keep actual email content concise and compelling.
Check In Daily
Subscribers aren’t just tolerating your emails; they’re welcoming them. A whopping 91% of adult consumers say they like to receive promotional emails from their preferred brands. And believe it or not, daily emails are actually welcome by 15% of subscribers. Find out who these folks are by incorporating frequency preference-setting buttons into your opt-in and opt-out process.
Grease Wheels with (Smart) Abandoned Cart Emails
Shopping cart reminder emails are a sticky subject. According to the same MarketingSherpa survey, 38% of consumers find them annoying—which should sound the alarm bells vis-à-vis email opt-out management. But strategic execution can make a big difference. Remember there are lots of different reasons why a customer might abandon a purchase (shipping cost sticker shock, a technical issue, a security concern…) Check out some abandoned cart email examples that solve these problems… and some that are just, well, annoying.
Looking for more advice on email opt-out management? Try How to Minimize Email Opt Outs for Your Brand and Your Affiliates.
