How to manage unsubscribers

Growing your contact list takes time and effort, so it's only natural to want to minimize unsubscribes. In this article, we'll explore effective strategies for managing unsubscribes while maintaining a healthy and engaged contact list.

• Why do contacts unsubscribe?

• How do Unsubscribes work?

• Managing unsubscribes in lists

• Handling unsubscribes with custom fields

There are several reasons why your contacts may choose to unsubscribe:

• Loss of interest: Contacts may no longer be interested in your product or service.

• Purchase completion: They may have made a purchase and no longer need updates.

• Email overload: An overflowing inbox can lead to contacts unsubscribing simply to reduce clutter.

While unsubscribes are inevitable, there are effective strategies to reduce them. Try to tailor your messages based on tags or user behaviour to keep your emails relevant and engaging and personalized. Also instead of blasting emails to your entire list, segment your audience and send targeted campaigns. After that you can adjust the frequency of your emails to avoid overwhelming your contacts.

One more thing that is helpful, is creating an unsubscribe page. An unsubscribe page isn't just about letting users go—it's an opportunity to gather feedback and ask why they are leaving to gain valuable insights and make sure that process is user-friendly and respectful to leave a good last impression.

Understanding how unsubscribes function within your Marketune account is crucial for effectively managing your contact lists and maintaining a positive customer experience. Here's how the process works:

When you send a campaign to multiple lists, and a contact who is subscribed to more than one list unsubscribes, they are removed from all lists associated with that specific campaign. If a contact unsubscribes from an email sent through an automation, they are generally removed from all lists they are subscribed to.

Upon unsubscribing, contacts are prompted to provide a reason, including the option to indicate if they unsubscribed by accident.

After unsubscribing, contacts are redirected to a standard confirmation page. To view this screen:

• Navigate to the dropdown menu of the relevant list under 'Lists.'

• Click on 'Advanced settings' to preview the public-facing unsubscribe page.

To effectively manage unsubscribes, start by organizing your lists strategically, create a main list which will be the primary list containing all your contacts.

We recommend giving it a customer-focused name that clearly communicates the type of messages subscribers will receive. In addition to the main list, create segmented lists for specific types of communication.

For example: General Updates and Notifications (main list), Event Updates, Customer Communication.

The reason why it is important is that when contacts unsubscribe, they see the name of the list they are unsubscribing from. Clear list names help them understand exactly what they are opting out of, reducing confusion and accidental unsubscribes.

Don’t forget to link a custom unsubscribe page to all your lists. This helps to direct contacts to a tailored experience after unsubscribing and provide additional information or options to adjust email preferences rather than fully unsubscribing.

Allow your contacts to control their preferences by creating a n inline form that lets them choose which lists they want to unsubscribe from. This enables them to opt-out of specific campaigns while staying subscribed to others and customize their preferences to receive only relevant content.

Setting up the form:
- Select 'Inline Form': This form type integrates seamlessly into your website or landing page.
- Add 'Subscribe to List' Action: This is mandatory for the form to work correctly.
- Enable 'List Selector': In the form editor, select 'List Selector' under standard fields. This feature automatically pulls all the lists, allowing contacts to easily pick which ones they want to unsubscribe from.

In addition to managing unsubscribes through lists, you can also leverage tags and custom fields to create a more personalized and efficient unsubscribe management system. This approach allows you to use a single list with multiple custom fields, streamlining your email marketing while maintaining control over contact preferences.
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Using custom fields and tags enables you to send relevant content based on contacts' interests and preferences, manage unsubscribes efficiently without maintaining multiple lists and sending relevant information minimizing the chances of contacts opting out.

Here you have 3 main steps how you can manage unsubscribers:

Step 1. Set up custom field and tags

1. Go to Lists and select More options to access the unsubscribe settings
2. Add your custom URL or webpage as the unsubscribe page, ensuring a seamless user experience.
3. Create and manage tags - navigate to Contacts and select the Manage Labels tab to add new tags. These tags will categorize your contacts based on their interests or engagement levels.
4. Save the tags and use them to create segments for targeted campaigns.
5. Use the Advanced Search option under Contacts to create segments based on the tags you’ve created.
6. These segments can be selected in campaigns or automations, replacing the need for multiple lists

Step 2. Use tags for targeted campaigns and automations