Irrelevant content No. 1 reason readers unsubscribe
Talk about competition in the inbox: Today, organizations and individuals send and receive 269 billion emails a day, according to The Radicati Group. That number is expected to increase by an average of 4.4% a year to 319.6 billion by 2021.
“The fight for inbox survival might therefore leave room for only the most useful, targeted newsletters, leaving less valued newsletters in the dust,” writes “king of usability” Jakob Nielsen.
Nielsen’s right. Delivering targeted, relevant, useful information to subscribers and recipients helps you:
Learn a system for writing emails that get opened, read, clicked …
1. Retain subscribers.
The No. 1 reason people unsubscribe from e-zines is irrelevant content, according to #LyrisROI. Some 67% of those surveyed said they quit an emailed newsletter because there was nothing in it for them.
In another study, by Chadwick Martin Bailey, irrelevant content was the No. 2 reason people unsubscribed. No. 1: too many emails (69).
When users complain about the relevance of email, according to the Nielsen Norman Group’s research, half intended to unsubscribe; half plan to ignore or delete them.
2. Get read.
The No. 1 reason people like an e-zine is that it’s valuable and relevant to the reader’s own interests or buying or searching habits, according to the Neilsen Norman Group.
In fact, “make it relevant to the reader” was the No. 2 piece of advice subscribers offered ezine creators in NNG’s usability tests. No. 1: Keep it short.
3. Avoid looking like a spammer.
Some subscribers considered e-zines to be spam if they had content that felt random and lacked relevance, according to NNG research. (Note: You’ll never know it if these people are among your subscribers. They don’t unsubscribe; they just ignore or delete your messages or put them in their spam filters.)
4. Keep up with the competition.
There are plenty of tools out there for segmenting and targeting your audience. Subscribers have learned to expect more relevant e-zines and email blasts. Are you meeting these contemporary standards?
Get opened, read and clicked through Learn more best practices for writing email newsletters, invites and e-blasts that get the word out. Join me at Inside the Inbox, our email-writing workshop, on Nov. 7-8 in D.C.
Last chance! Only 5 tickets to my email marketing class remain. Don’t miss your chance to get read by making your emails relevant to readers on Nov. 7-8 in D.C. Book now.
|
___
Sources: Kim Flaherty, Amy Schade, and Jakob Nielsen; Marketing Email and Newsletter Design to Increase Conversion and Loyalty, 6th Edition; Nielsen Norman Group, 2017
Jakob Nielsen; Targeted Email Newsletters Show Continued Strength; Nielsen Norman Group, 2004
Lyris, “Turn Your Email Marketing Up a Notch: Five Ways to Improve Performance Now” webinar, #LyrisROI, 2011
Josh Mendelsohn and Jeff McKenna, “Social Sharing Research Report: How, Why, and What Content People Share Online” (PDF), Chadwick Martin Bailey, September 2010
The Radicati Group, Inc.; Email Statistics Report, 2017-2021