One of the largest issues that all internet marketers face is that of email opt outs. While there are various strategies that have been created that detail the manner in which opt outs can be handled, one of the best ways to manage opt outs is to try and reduce them in the first place. It is estimated that an unsubscribe base of more than 2 percent is something that you should worry about. This figure is based on the total number of emails sent and not on the base of all those who click through.
People tend to opt out of email marketing when they get too many emails from the same source, when the emails are not relevant, when the messages are untimed or when they are too aggressive. Here are some of the strategies that you can adopt to reduce the rate of opt outs.
Right message
If you are trying to sell pantyhose to someone who has just bought a men's tie, you are obviously barking up the wrong tree. According to Jupiter Research people tend to unsubscribe because the content is no longer relevant. The message that you send should be relevant for the person you are sending it to.
Try and profile the respondent in various ways. Some of the obvious ones include gender, frequency of visit or purchase, age and amount spent on the site in one visit. You can also use short surveys and polls to help segment your clientele on the basis of their interests. Other ways of ensuring that the content is relevant is to give a choice to customers to select what they would like to receive.
Right discount
Make sure that all your messages are not boring updates about what the company is up to. Send in some interesting discount coupons that are not available unless they are subscribers. This can make the customers feel special, ensuring that they will stick on with the subscription.
Right time
Timing an email is extremely important. It has been seen that unsubscribes increase and peak after delivery. Try not sending someone mailers and discounts right after that have bought something. The customer is only likely to think about how he will now be stalked. Wait for a couple of days before doing so. Make sure you time the mails based on the category that you are selling.
Right frequency
If you start spamming your subscriber base, you are likely to be spammed out. When customers start to see you as a nuisance rather than an aid in getting good deals, they will start to prefer getting onto the site on their own to check updates; something that you know will lead to a lower frequency of visits and therefore purchase too. It is recommended that you do not send an email more often than once in 10 days. Avoid resending the same email over and over again as if you are pestering them. On the other hand, if you stay out of touch for too long, the customer will forget you so emailing at least once a month is also necessary.
Right product
Look at the product mix that the customer has bought from your store online. This can give you a great idea about the kind of products and offers that will interest the customer. If you can send relatively customized mails, you have a winner. There are a lot of email software options that allow you to give conditions based on which different mailers are selected automatically to be delivered to the customer's email.
Right design
If your email is too cluttered, chances are that it will not be read. Keep the design simple and if you seem to have arrived at a winner, try to be consistent about the design for some time before you research and change the layout.
Right email address
Make sure that you provide an option for your subscribers to change the email id and the address. Change in email address and physical address is a large part of opt outs and this is one reason that can be managed far easily than others.
It always pays to reward customers that have been around for a long period of time with you. In addition to that you can send a personal message once in a while to make the customer feel that it is not all about selling and that you actually care.
Jaime Brugueras, Ph.D., is founder of Mineful.com, a marketing software focused on helping online merchants with customer retention and repeat purchases. Mineful uses customer information, feedback and purchasing data to trigger emails based on the lifecycle of the customer. All e-commerce professionals should check out this technology and sign up for a FREE trial at www.mineful.com.
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