The subscribe and unsubscribe process can often be overlooked.  People can sometimes just be so desperate to get those names into their database that they forget about actually putting some detail and effort into their sign up process.

Understandably, you don’t want to  put off the potential sign up by asking reams of questions to make your email marketing life simple but you can add a bit more in there that will work wonders for your campaign.

If you’re worried about putting them off by asking questions, why not have different emailing lists based on where they have signed up.  For instance, if they have signed up through a purchase from your company, you can send a campaign to them offering new products and discounts knowing that they already have an interest within your products.  If you have obtained their email address through a competition, you can feel pretty safe that you know that prizes and freebies will be a large motivator to them, and you can use that to drive them to the site.

Asking questions though will really help you in achieving a successful long-term email campaign.  Probably the best time to ask a couple of questions will be just after they have purchased something.  At that point, you know that they are receptive to you and will probably be quite happy in that post-purchase feeling so will be more likely to answer what kind of emails they would like to receive.

At the other end of the scale, you could avoid a lot of unsubscribes if you just ask a couple of questions on the unsubscribe screen.  Give them the option of what they want to receive and even how frequent they can receive it.  They may not want to receive latest product updates but are still open to a discount or a freebie but as you haven’t given them the option, they’re just going to unsubscribe from the whole lot.

Both these techniques can be used to help build and maintain a healthy mailing list that will keep you and your recipients happy in the long run.

I received an email earlier from a company I no longer wanted to receive emails from but knew I had opted in for in the first place.  It got me thinking as I tried to unsubscribe from it, how important easy unsubscribe links are.

Now be honest, how many of you have seen an email you’ve received but either no longer require its services, or have had enough of the constant barrage of email promotions they have sent (I’ll talk about that problem another time) and just decided to press the spam button to stop them sending to you again? I’m afraid I am one of the people who have to say ‘yes’ to this question.  And I almost did it again with the email I was trying to unsubscribe from earlier.  Had I not been working in email marketing, I would have tapped that spam button straight away. 

Now obviously I didn’t do it this time just because of my job and out of respect for how hard it is to get a high level of deliverability at the moment.  But I also have the knowledge of being on the other side of the industry, and know how much I didn’t care about deliverability then. 

So here’s my thought….  Instead of placing an unsubscribe link at the bottom of the page, why not stick it right at the top of the page.  Maybe even have a think at where the spam button is in Yahoo! and Hotmail browsers and position it as close to that as possible.  Ok, it’s not the most attractive first thing to look at, but if the link is in eyesight of the spam button when the email is first opened you stand a much greater chance that the recipient will choose to just unsubscribe from you.  And let’s face it, deliverability and avoiding the bulk folder is the priority. 

mailingmanager is a full e-marketing solutions company that also offers spam filter analysis on its customers email campaigns.  Visit the website or contact the company on info@mailingmanager.co.uk