E-mail Opt-outs: An Uneasy Balance

Most direct marketers seriously mishandle opt-outs from their e-mail files, two recent studies show.

For one thing, a majority admit to burying opt-out instructions in message footers. In fact, while 96% of e-mail marketers include an unsubscribe function in their promotional messages as required by federal law, almost two-thirds try to discourage opt-outs by putting such language in tiny type, according to a poll of more than 400 DMers by marketing services provider Lyris.

The thing is, just because someone unsubscribes from an e-mail list doesn't necessarily mean they've stopped being a customer. Also, people who can't easily find a way to unsubscribe may report the message as spam to their e-mail inbox provider, increasing the likelihood that the mailer will have deliverability problems.

“If the customer experience ends on a sour note and the last thing they remember was that you infringed on their inbox — a very personal thing — they're going to take their business elsewhere,” says Stefan Pollard, director of e-mail marketing best practices for Lyris HQ. “But if you end it on a positive note and give them choices, you're still a viable option the next time they go to purchase. Odds are they're going to type the product they want into a search engine and when your name comes up, they'll be much more likely to make a repeat purchase.”

And speaking of choices, the majority of marketers don't offer them when it comes to opt-outs. They treat unsubscribing as an all-or-nothing proposition. So people who might stay on the list if they just had the option of, say, receiving fewer messages, simply leave.

In a recent study by the Direct Marketing Association's Email Experience Council, just 16% of e-mail DMers gave those trying to opt out the choice of receiving messages less frequently. Forty-four percent offered no alternatives whatsoever.

Offering options to people who unsubscribe is one of the quickest ways to lower e-mail attrition rates, according to Jeanniey Mullen, co-founder of the Email Experience Council and a former senior executive at OgilvyOne Worldwide.

Mullen says Cisco Systems was able to stem its e-mail subscriber opt-out rate by 30% within three days by giving people alternatives other than simply being dropped from the e-mail file.

In another example, Neiman Marcus — a company known for sending a lot of e-mail to its file — gives would-be unsubscribers the options of receiving just one e-mail a week and changing an e-mail address, all on the unsubscribe page.

Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Stores offers those who want to opt out a range of alternatives, including e-mail address changes and a choice of the types of e-mail they receive. Moreover, the form explains how often subscribers should expect to get e-mails if they opt in.

But these companies are the exception rather than the rule, Mullen notes. Many firms have “only have one global opt-out process and they're losing critical contact with [prospects and customers],” she says.

One reason many companies don't offer alternatives to opting out is because their technology isn't capable of doing anything else, Mullen says. “The technical support for these companies can't handle a multiple-preference opt-in or opt-out because the main database was built 20 years ago and they don't have multiple fields. It's either one or the other.”

However, she adds, maintaining e-mail contact with customers at some level has ramifications beyond just being able to pitch them in their inboxes.

“At Ogilvy we've found that people on a company's e-mail list tend to spend more than those who are on its marketing list but who haven't given their e-mail address, so maintaining that opt-in and dialogue, even at some level — if they don't want ‘X,’ then give them ‘Y’ — is critical to driving business,” she says.

Some DMers have told Mullen that they may put unsubscribe links at the tops of their messages to be more accommodating to those who want to opt out. “You definitely don't want to put it up in the preview pane where it becomes the first message people see,” she says. “You also don't want to put it down at the bottom in the footer where nobody can read it.”

Opt-out Alternatives Offered to Subscribers

Among 94 major online retailers

Change topic/newsletter preferences	27%
Change e-mail address	23%
Receive e-mail less frequently	16%
Stay subscribed	15%
Change e-mail format (HTML/text)	13%
Change store preference/ZIP code	3%
Change language preference	1%
Don't offer any alternatives	44%
Source: Email Experience Council