Are you losing email subscribers? Your email list is one of the most powerful tools for your business. You can use your email marketing strategy to drive traffic to your website, increase user engagement, generate sales, and more. It’s important that your email subscribers stick around.
So, if you’re losing a ton of email subscribers each month, how do you stop it? Well, first you have to figure out why you’re losing subscribers. Since you can’t ask each person why they personally unsubscribed, you have to look at what you’re doing that could be causing them to leave.
Check out these reasons why you’re losing email subscribers and how to fix it.
You Bought an Email List
If you wanted to grow your email list quickly, you might have been tempted to buy an email list. After all, what could go wrong when sending an email to a ton of people? You’ll still be able to promote your business right?
Wrong! Buying an email list is a bad idea, a waste of money, and a big reason why your email marketing strategy is failing.
There are a number of reasons why buying an email list won’t work, including:
- Missing, incomplete, or out-of-date information
- Increased chance of getting marked as spam
- Poor engagement and response rate
- You don’t get qualified, interested contacts
- Other people will be using the same list as you
So, ditch that email list you bought and grow your own email list of quality contacts that are familiar with your business and interested in what you have to offer.
But how can you grow your email list quickly if you have to start from scratch?
An easy way to get more email subscribers is to use a lead generation plugin like OptinMonster.
With OptinMonster you can build eye-catching popups for your website that encourage users to sign up for your email list, like in the example below.
Consider creating a lead magnet to grow your list even quicker. When a user sees that they’ll receive a free gift like a useful PDF guide, checklist, eBook, or printable, they won’t hesitate to provide their email address.
You’re Emailing Too Often
If you’re losing email subscribers, it might be because you’re annoying them. People get many emails sent to their inbox every day — it can become overwhelming and irritating. So, if you’re bombarding your subscribers inboxes with an email every single day, even multiple times a day, it’s a real turnoff for them.
You might think that emailing your subscribers often will keep your business at the top of their minds and increase the chances of them making a purchase.
But it actually has the opposite effect.
Instead, top marketers recommend to send a maximum of 3 emails per week.
It’s also important that you make it clear to subscribers whether they’re signing up for a weekly or monthly newsletter. If a user signs up for a monthly newsletter and you start sending them emails multiple times a week, they’ll be sure to hit that “unsubscribe button”.
Your Subject Lines Aren’t Working
A poor subject line won’t make email subscribers want to click. In fact, it may even make them unsubscribe. The subject line of your email is the first thing that your email subscribers see, so it needs to grab their attention — in the right way.
For instance, if your email subject line is too salesy or comes across spammy like “BIG SALE! 40% OFF ON SELECTED SHOES AND OTHER ACCESSORIES!! BUY NOW!!!”, it’s going to scare your subscribers away. Why does a subject line like that turnoff users?
First, it’s in all caps and there’s too many exclamation points. It’s also too long, so users will only see a portion of the subject line. Lastly, if doesn’t really show the subscribers what’s in it for them, it’s mainly all about you.
Instead, an email subject line like “Find the Perfect Summer Shoes! 40% Off Sandals!” would be a better option. Although, this subject line would have a better chance of being opened by subscribers by removing the words “perfect” and “off” which are spammy.
So, how do you come up with an email subject line that’s sure to impress?
If you want to improve your subject lines, you can use a free tool like CoSchedule’s Email Subject Line Tester. Simply type in your subject line and the tool will give it a score and offer suggestions for improvement.
Your Emails Aren’t Visually Appealing
People are visual creatures; attractive colors and images keep our attention. In fact, according to statistics published by Seyens, presentations using visual aids were found to be 43% more persuasive than unaided presentations.
So, if you’re losing email subscribers it might be because your email messages aren’t visually appealing.
For instance, imagine if GoPro didn’t add these stunning images to their emails and instead only included plain text? That wouldn’t grab the attention of readers and it also wouldn’t sell their products very well either.
Luckily, you don’t have to be a designer to create great-looking emails. Many of the best email marketing services provide pre-designed templates that are completely customizable. In an instant, you can build a beautiful email message that fits your brand. Just as you would make your website visually appealing by choosing the best WordPress theme, do the same for your emails.
Your Emails Aren’t What Subscribers Signed Up For
If you signed up for an email newsletter expecting to receive expert tips on social media marketing and what you receive in your inbox each month are tips on accounting, of course you’re going to unsubscribe! You’re not getting what you signed up for.
You need to make sure your email marketing newsletters are providing the exact content your subscribers are interested in. But what if your subscribers are interested in different things?
This scenario happens a lot with eCommerce businesses. For instance, if you create an online store that sells both men and women’s fashion, your male subscribers will be interested in receiving emails about different items than your female subscribers.
That’s where email segmentation comes in.
Using an email marketing service you can segment your email subscribers based on different criteria such as demographics, interests, location, purchase history, web pages visited, and more. Email segmentation allows you to send more personalized email messages to each of your subscribers. When a user gets a message about exactly what they’re interested in, they’ll be more likely to stay subscribed and buy.
Over to You
Now that you know why you’re losing email subscribers and how to fix it, it’s time to transform your email marketing strategy. By making the necessary changes, you should be able to see more opens, a better click-through rate, increased traffic to your website, and even turn your email newsletter into a revenue generator.
