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What's your unsubscribe rate?

by Alminc
12 replies
I have an average 15% unsubscribe rate on a couple of my lists combined.
I don't market aggressively to my subscribers, no more than 4-5 emails
per month to keep them alive (3 pure content and 1-2 promo per month).

Is 15% unsubscribe rate normal? I'd like to know how you guys are doing,
what's your unsubscribe rate and what are you doing to keep it low?
#rate #unsubscribe
  • Profile picture of the author RayWhittaker
    That seems a touch on the high side.

    Is it possible you are providing content to your list that they didn't origially sign up for; and don't really want?
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  • Profile picture of the author Kierkegaard
    Your niche makes a difference. If you are in a niche in which people sign up for a lot of lists (in order to get free ebooks, reports, etc.) then pretty soon their inboxes are full of emails.

    I am involved in several non-IM niches and unsubscribing is very rare.
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  • Profile picture of the author xxxJamesxxx
    I find the more I email, the lower the unsubscribe rate is.

    James Scholes
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  • Profile picture of the author DanDasilva15YearOldIM
    Well I only have a 6% unsubscribe rate which is pretty low in the IM niche. Whoever said that the niche matters is right. I am part of the health and weight loss niche and I have gigantic lists. Out of 100,000 in the weight loss only 120 or less unsubscribed.

    I tend to promote hard like 3-4 emails per week. 3 are free content and the last email is pure promotion. My open rate is over 25% so I have a semi responsive list.
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    • Profile picture of the author TBInternetMarketing
      I'm at around 10%. You would be amazed how many unsubscribe after the initial download email. Basically, they just signed up to get the free download, which I guess is fair. I usually like to hang around though and see what else the list can offer me.
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  • Profile picture of the author vlvaralakshmi
    Less than one percent is average for lists that are contacted regularly, and well-maintained.
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  • Profile picture of the author Bill_Z
    Non-IM niche around 6%. IM niche around 13%.
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    • Profile picture of the author Alminc
      Well, I'm in IM niche. It could be that they are subscribing to too many
      lists and then feel totally lost in too much info they are getting.

      "I find the more I email, the lower the unsubscribe rate is. "

      That was interesting. Maybe I should start emailing every day and
      see what happens.
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      No links :)
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  • Profile picture of the author kevinhdavis
    Ours is about .4%, but we email almost daily. Even the offer emails we send have a story associated with them, so they are never getting a "go buy this stuff" email.

    These are also buyers we are emailing, not prospects, so that makes a big difference.

    If you can create a buyer list, even at a micro payment like $1, the unsub rate will be better for that list.

    Thanks,
    Kevin
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  • Profile picture of the author Coby
    My unsub rate is around 2% on freebie list and less than 1% on buyers list...

    I think your main problem is you aren't emailing ENOUGH...

    They are forgetting who you are between emails...

    I bet if you double up they will be more responsive and your unsub rate will go down and you'll likely make twice the amount of money since your doing twice as many promos...

    Just my .02
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  • Profile picture of the author UMS
    MailChimp collected some very interesting stats from over 273 million emails, where they recorded open rates, bounces, unsubscribes etc.

    I wrote up an article Email Marketing Analysis that I think makes for interesting reading.
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    • Profile picture of the author Shaun OReilly
      My goal as a list owner is to push the envelope out and
      actually INCREASE my unsubscribe rate - within reason
      of course.

      Eh?!

      The fact of the matter is that not everyone who joins
      your list will find your message or approach suitable for
      them.

      If you have low unsubscribe rates then you're probably
      treading on eggshells and not trying to upset anyone
      at all. (The formula for failure is to try to please
      everyone).

      Instead, provide a strong point of view with personality
      and you'll find that more people will like you (and stay
      engaged) even though more people will dislike you (and
      leave/unsubscribe).

      Otherwise you get a large number of subscribers who don't
      care about you either way - and don't pay much attention
      or money to you either.

      The goal is to polarize and find out the people who really
      want to hear your message - and let those who don't
      unsubscribe and have their needs better served elsewhere.

      Dedicated to mutual success,

      Shaun
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