Recently, I discussed why I do not recommend monthly newsletters to avoid unsubscribes, and the first point I cited was that unsubscribes are not inherently bad.
There are two kinds of unsubs: authentic and inauthentic.
The Authentic Unsubscribe (Good)
An authentic unsub is when someone understands your content, gets a good sense of you, and decides that you are not a fit for them.
This could be because they do not need what you do.
For example, I am not on any email lists of beauty products because I am so naturally attractive that any additional products would be unfair to everyone else.
It could also be because you are not philosophically, politically, morally or otherwise aligned with them.
Some businesses, especially solopreneurs, choose to make various aspects of their personal beliefs present in their business brand. They are making a choice to attract some people at the cost of repelling others.
I suspect there are very few bro marketers on my email list. The kind of people who are comfortable making effective ads that push ineffective programs, taking money for poor results, should feel uncomfortable in my email community.
If they unsubscribe, then I am happy to see them go. They are not my people, and I’m not theirs.
The Inauthentic Unsubscribe (Bad)
The inauthentic unsub is when someone leaves your list because of how you are presenting content rather than who you are and what you represent. This is a bad unsub.
The most common way this happens is when you promote partners in a way that feels like someone else’s words coming out of your mouth. If you are cutting and pasting swipe copy that doesn’t sound like you, you will get these unsubs.
These are unfortunate because the person leaving may well be aligned with you. They may be your target audience whom you could really help, but they aren’t getting you. They’re getting swipe copy, so they leave.
(I can talk in a future message about how to promote partners without driving away your audience if there’s interest.)
How often to mail
How often do you want to hear from your friends?
How often do you want to hear about things you care about?
Pretty often, right? Every day even.
How often do you want to get pitched?
Probably never.
The exception being something like a fashion brand where you like looking at the latest styles or maybe a store showing you deals on stuff you already want to buy.
If you are building a community with your email list, your audience should see you as a friend and your content as something they care about.
Of course, the proof of this is that you are reading this email which is shared following this very philosophy.
Want to connect more with me, learn more about email, and get some marketing tips? Sign up here…