Mar
11th

Does Your Unsubscribe Page Look Like this?

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I was subscribed to a fairly complex step campaign from a company with a compelling offer. The emails were plain text but had great long copy. Each time I took an action on their site, I got different content based on my activity (or inactivity). Today I received a well-written email but I decided to forgo the offer and unsubscribe from the emails.

Here’s how they said goodbye:

Unsubscribe Landing Page

Ouch! This is the message behind this, “you stopped playing so we’re on to the next sucker… see ya!”

Only without the “see ya!”.

Three Components For Your Unsubscribe Landing Page:

  • Offer publication-based unsubscribes instead of a master unsubscribe. It may be as simple as, “You’ve been unsubscribed from this email campaign, here are some other publications you might be interested in:” with an offer to opt-in to others. You may even try to tie an incentive to it.
  • Ask Why! Why did they unsubscribe? Was it too many emails? Not enough? Not interested? No email campaign is perfect, how come you’re not asking how you can do better? Thank them for participating and apologize if they select a reason that says, “you suck!”.
  • Use all that page real estate for other offers! Don’t throw a big white blank page at this person! They were there with interest and intent at one time or another (when they subscribed). Why not show off your latest products, services, whitepaper, etc.?

When I worked for ExactTarget, I implemented this generic example system wide (and marketing did the copy and design). The page has a thanks, a blurb about ExactTarget, a Personalized Demo link, as well as links to the rest of their site!

ExactTarget Unsubscribe Page

Sometimes the sale starts when the customer or prospect is walking out the door. You have an opportunity to make a lasting impression, don’t miss it with a blank page!

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5 Comments »

Comment by no imageEric (SezWho)
2008-03-11 13:52:57

I wonder how my aging (but web-capable) grandparents might interpret “removed” (assuming they could figure out how to unsubscribe from anything. Removed from the Internet? Removed from their high speed connection? Removed from their home? I can just picture their desperate pleas for help….
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Comment by no imageDouglas Karr (SezWho)
2008-03-11 17:59:30

I suppose it’s better than saying ‘extinguished’ or ‘terminated’. :)
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Comment by no imageBrad Isaac (SezWho)
2008-03-11 16:50:02

Douglas, this is a good tip. My unsubscribe isn’t that bad by all means, but it’s not dazzling either. I ask why they unsubscribed and thank them for reading.

But I think it’s a good idea to revisit the page to see what they see and make sure it’s the message you want to leave them with.

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Comment by no imageChris Raynes (SezWho)
2008-03-11 20:23:12

I guess a “prettier goodbye page” is OK. But I have a hunch it’s pointless unless you are reminding the user about the information they are unsubscribing from.

Usually, if someone bothers to hit the unsubscribe link, it’s a done deal.

As far as a dialog that asks why the user is unsubscribing, I’d like to see some concrete stats about whether the user fills out the form and what they say.

Personally, when a “Why are you leaving” box or page loads after I’ve confirmed my wishes … I don’t even wait for the page to load before I hit the browser’s close button.

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Comment by no imageDouglas Karr (SezWho)
2008-03-11 20:50:42

Hi Chris,

I agree that the unsubscribe is probably a done deal - my point is that you can continue to try and build a relationship with the person as well as provide them with alternative products or services.

In fact, I think a great way to handle a page like this is to monitor your analytics package and see how many folks are interacting AFTER the unsubscribe!

Thanks!
Doug

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