You work hard to get email subscribers, but sometimes they just don’t want to hear from you. Learn why snoozing emails could lower your unsubscribes and make your customers happier.
The 2014 Email Marketing Census revealed email marketing is number 1 for ROI, surpassing SEO, so it’s no wonder so many companies are investing more in it. With about 145 billion total emails being sent a day, it’s not surprising that one of the biggest fears for email marketers is a high unsubscribe rate. By following best practices you can keep the rate to a minimum, but have you ever considered offering the option to snooze emails for a while?
What does the snooze emails option do?
Snoozing temporarily mutes emails for your subscribers. Add a ‘Snooze me’ button to your unsubscribe form and when a recipient clicks it emails are blocked from being sent to them for 7 days. Or 30 or 60 (that’s up to you to decide).
New services are springing up like Unroll.me or apps like Mailbox that allow users to manage their subscriptions. However, many of us don’t trust our data with third party apps so we just unsubscribe altogether. Why not offer your customers an easy option right there in your emails?
Why would the customer want to snooze emails?
The most obvious example comes from travel companies. If someone has recently come back from their holiday, they’re less likely to want to receive emails about holiday offers and destinations. So the most likely scenario is that they’ll hit the unsubscribe button and you’ll lose them.
Other example scenarios could be:
- you target maternity products to women who then have their baby and are no longer interested
- a subscriber goes on holiday
- you target students and they enter exam season
- you send emails about food and someone starts a diet
- or alternatively you send emails about diet and fitness and it’s Christmas!
What are the advantages of offering a snooze button?
It takes a lot of effort to build a good relationship with your customers and it’s not worth having it end because they are going through a time when they’d rather not hear from you. Customers nowadays expect to have more control over their brand relationships so giving them the power to snooze emails will show your appreciation.
Offering the option in the unsubscribe form could lower your unsubscribe rates, making it a win-win situation. Alternatively, build a separate form and place it next to the unsubscribe link in the email. That way, you can give them the option before the customers are in the frame-of-mind to leave you.
If you’re an Adestra client and you want to know more details or need help setting it up, simply contact your Account Manager.
Disagree? Read Matt’s arguments against snoozing emails.