Learning Why People Unsubscribe with an Exit Survey

Why do people unsubscribe to your email newsletters?

1. Not Relevant To Their Lives
2. Emails Are Too Frequent
3. Content Is Too Long
4. They Do Not Remember Signing Up
5. Content Does Not Match Expectations
6. Other Reasons

 

Have you been noticing people unsubscribing to your newsletter? Create an exit survey for unsubscribers to answer why they are choosing not to continue to receive your emails. Through a WordPress survey plugin, you can customize your exit survey to pop-up once someone clicks unsubscribe. Observe any similarities between responses to make the necessary changes and reduce the possibility of more people unsubscribing.

Want to know why people unsubscribe to your emails? Read on to learn about how you can make use of exit surveys to find out why readers are unsubscribing.

 

Not Relevant To Their Lives

When creating content to send to readers through their submitted email addresses, it is crucial that you maintain the same quality and branding that you use on your main site. The reason for this is that readers may choose to unsubscribe if they see a disconnect, citing that the newsletter content is not relevant to their lives.

You could also add a part in your exit survey where unsubscribers can write down what kind of topics they are interested in. Then, craft your next email content based on the most popular answers. It may also help to send follow-up surveys every now and then to ask how readers react to your newsletters.

Another reason as to why people may choose to unsubscribe to your emails is that the content may be too frequent.

 

Emails Are Too Frequent

Sending consistent emails to your readers is good, but don’t overdo it. No one wants to see a company email them every single day. Try to send newsletters once a week or every other week. If you want to know what readers think is “too frequent” you can add an option in the exit surveys that would ask them about their preferred frequency. Use the data you collect to adjust the timing of your next emails.

Another complaint that unsubscribers usually have is that the email content is too long.

 

Content Is Too Long

Opinions on the length of your newsletter will vary per reader. Some choose to subscribe to you to receive more in-depth content while some subscribe because they want to constantly receive short but relevant content from you. To find a solution, observe what the majority of your readers say in the exit survey. If a large percentage of your readers unsubscribe due to the content being too long, make the necessary adjustments and shorten the word count.

Besides having content that is too long, some people just simply do not remember signing up for your newsletter.

 

They Do Not Remember Signing Up

When you first ask people to subscribe to you, the wording needs to make them aware that they are signing up to receive constant newsletters. If they do not fully understand why they are sending their email addresses, they might unsubscribe saying that they do not remember signing up in the first place. To combat this, try to review the wording of your original subscription pop-up and make the necessary edits to make it clearer.

Certain times, readers do remember signing up but still end up unsubscribing because the content does not match their expectations.

 

Content Does Not Match Expectations

Besides content, your subscribers might sign up for your newsletter in order to receive freebies from your company. This may be because you promised them exclusive features and discounts on particular products. If you promised your readers something as part of your marketing strategy, make sure to stay consistent with it or else they may unsubscribe.

There are millions of reasons why someone may choose to click unsubscribe. But, if you observe a large spike with the number of people who choose to opt out for similar reasons, then it may be a sign that something is lacking in your content.

 

Other Reasons

When creating an exit survey, make sure that you add an option where customers can freely type out their reasons for unsubscribing. This can help you cater to numerous parts of your content that you may not know needed to be improved upon.

These are just some of the reasons that people may choose to unsubscribe to your newsletter. Listen to what unsubscribers have to say with the help of exit surveys and adjust your strategies in order to prevent losing even more subscribers.

Key Takeaway

Customize a WordPress survey plugin to make a quick exit survey pop-up every time someone unsubscribes from your emails. Use the data that you will have gathered to find the problem areas within your email content. Make the necessary changes in order to keep the rest of your subscribers.

Exit surveys can give you an inside look as to why someone has decided to discontinue seeing your email newsletters. Listen to your readers well to become a better content creator.