It's Personal - 7 Reasons Why People Unsubscribe From Your Newsletter

You hemmed and hawed over your newsletter. You crafted every word. Checked every link. You were as polight as possible with a hint of seduction to get your readers to want what you're selling. You pressed the SEND button on your newsletter, and then silence.

BAM, your inbox pinged you with an Unsubscribe from a reader. Five minutes later, another one. You rushed to Google Analytics to see if anyone even went to your website after receiving the newsletter. Phew, they did. You checked your newsletter stats and the Open Rate is growing. So who are these people who unsubscribed? Why did they do that, and how can you stop them?

You can't. It's personal. Here are 7 reasons why people unsubscribe from your newsletter and the truth is - it's them and you. They can't handle you.

EXHAUSTED BY YOUR MESSAGE
If your brand is a finance website, you may be producing spot on content. You aim to inspire others to grow their personal wealth. Truth is, your reader may love your content and believe in your message, but isn't making the moves you recommend. They either can't for a personal reason, or won't for another personal reason. Your newsletter is reminding them of their failure to act.
UNSUBSCRIBE.
 

THE NEWSLETTER IS SENT RANDOMLY
If your newsletter is sent inconsistently, your reader may have to remember what your brand is all about. If they have to think too hard on a day that they are busy, then they want to alleviate themselves of remembering, and...
UNSUBSCRIBE.
 

DOUBLE SIGNUP
This is a great one - somehow, a person signed up twice for your newsletter. So they are receiving it two or more times to various inboxes. This will especially happen if you signed them up in the past, and they unsubscribed, not appreciating your assumption to maybe sign up their work email, and then maybe they signed up with a personal email later on.
 

YOU ADDED THEIR EMAIL ADDRESS WITHOUT PERMISSION
You met someone at a networking event, and added their email address from their business card.
UNSUBSCRIBE. And you broke a law, which I covered in this article.
 

THE NEWSLETTER IS SENT 2x A YEAR
Just don't sent send a newsletter at all. If you send a newsletter once or twice a year, you will get a slew of unsubscribes. As long as you're prepared for a long list of unsubscribes, go ahead and send. If you decide to commit to sending a newsletter once a week or month, then prepare for a bunch of unsubscribes at first, and they will taper off as you send as your readers remember your brand.
 

YOU ONLY SEND WHEN YOU'RE SELLING SOMETHING
If you only send a newsletter when you're announcing an event date, or a sale, then people will get sale-fatigue. Big brands like Anthropology may only send for sales, but their artwork is great. Their graphics are appealing. You want what the models are wearing, and they wear a lot of different dresses. Or the graphics are so compelling that you want the feeling that is produced while you're reading them. If you're a smaller brand with less capability to produce a variety of graphics, then you're going to need to rely on story-telling to keep your audience engaged and inspired.
 

YOU SEND TO CUSTOMERS WHO DIDN'T SIGN UP
Customers are tricky, because unless they clicked a button in their checkout experience when they bought from your website, they didn't agree to receive your newsletter. Keep a separate newsletter list for your customers, and talk to them in a different way than you would the general public who has never purchased from your website. Offer them a special offer only for them. Appeal to their needs, since you know what they bought from you before, you can more carefully craft your message.