5 Ways to Retain Newsletter Subscribers

Over the years I’ve subscribed to so many newsletters that my mailbox has become overcrowded. I find that I am not able to read all newsletters, so I’ve been undergoing a massive unsubscribe process for the large majority of the newsletters that I receive. Since I write and deploy newsletters myself, I took note of which newsletters I discarded, which ones I kept and why. A definite trend emerged which I found useful for creating my own newsletters, so I thought I’d share what I observed with you.

Here they are, the top 5 reasons I’ll stay subscribed to your newsletter:

1. Offer Subscribers Exclusivity
   Your newsletter subscribers have, by the act of subscribing, specifically told you that they like your topic and want to hear more from you. They’re valuable pre-qualified buyers and you should treat them like members to your exclusive club. I’ve subscribed to the Future Shop newsletter for years and in nearly every newsletter they give me deals that you cannot get in their retail stores. Even if your product isn’t a physical one, think about what you can do to make your subscribers feel like they’re getting something that a regular visitor to your site won’t. Make them feel like an insider.
2. Avoid Bait & Switch
   The newsletters I unsubscribed to most were ones where I was offered something to subscribe, but thereafter was never offered any other incentive. I subscribed to the Jacob newsletter after making an in-store purchase. I was given a card and told to subscribe online to get x% off my next purchase. Long after that offer expired, I found myself still subscribed, but never given any other similar offer. The rest of their content was little more than links back to their site (see the next point) so I unsubscribed. Jacob’s newsletter sign-up strategy did not match their long term content plan, so I was subscribed under false expectations. The other newsletters didn’t have similar content (deals) so they lost me as a subscriber. Try and match your sign-up incentive with your long term retention strategy.
3. Provide More than a Link
   I unsubscribed without hesitation to newsletters which provided me with little more than a link to their web site. The worst offender in this category was Jakob Nielsen’s Web Usability newsletter. There was no reason to be a subscriber other than inbox reminders that the web site still exists. If I’m a newsletter subscriber, I want more than what an RSS feed would provide me. Newsletter subscribers want content IN the newsletter.
4. Frequency
   There is definitely a frequency sweet spot that subscribers will tolerate and that tolerance will vary depending on your audience. For me, daily subscriptions are right out. I subscribe to a couple weekly newsletters, but most of my subscriptions are monthly. I simply have too many other things to read and do to subscribe to extremely frequent newsletters. There is such a thing as too many updates. On the flip side, if I don’t hear from you in 12 months and get a newsletter out of nowhere, I will also likely unsubscribe. Unsubscribing from infrequent mailings seem to be for two reasons: 1) My inbox was perfectly happy the months you ignored me, so I think that maybe I don’t need your newsletter after all. 2) If you don’t have time for me (who specifically asked to receive communication from you) then I don’t have time for you.
5. Design/Organization
   Even if you prefer plain text emails, there’s something to be said about organization. When you write your newsletter, prioritize the main messages, make the headlines stand out and important details impossible to miss. I subscribed to a newsletter recently and got the first one this morning. The design (this was an HTML newsletter) was so bad that it was a pain to read & navigate. I unsubscribed after a single mailing. Good design doesn’t mean just a pretty skin, it also means good organization, prioritization and aides clear communication.

Notice that 4 out the 5 reasons I’d keep subscribed are content related, proving that once again content is king and is likely one of the main deciding factors for your subscribers who are thinking about staying or leaving.