Why Monthly Emails Have More Unsubscribes

A joint venture expert once told me that when you promote a partner’s launch you should expect 5-8% of your list to unsubscribe.

This expert also told me that every email you send will cause list attrition, so you should send email sparingly.

I was impressed by the fact that this expert could make so much money using email while understanding it so poorly.

The infrequent email fallacy

Let’s say you have an email list that you don’t mail to often, and this list came from colder sources like giveaways or freebie swaps.

You send an email to them announcing your latest webinar, and 2% of your list melts away.

You send another, and another 2% wanders off.

You promote a launch with a series of 8 emails, and 8% more exits stage right.

Holy moley! These guys are fleeing like rats from a sinking ship. You better send less emails to preserve your list.

It’s a reasonable conclusion… except it’s wrong.

As you may be aware, I mail my list daily. Out of over 2300 members, the last three emails had 6, 3, and 1 unsubscription respectively.

What’s really happening?

There’s a few things going on under the numbers here.

The first is that there’s a group of people who get on your list who don’t want to be there. They signed up for a freebie, and that’s all they want. They are customers but they are one and one. They signed up for an event, but not for you.

These people are going to unsubscribe the first time they see an email. If you send daily emails, they’ll leave pretty quick, but if you send monthly or occasional emails, they might linger for many months because they don’t see your messages.

Thus, when you do send a few emails together, they will all unsubscribe at once making it seem like a mass exodus, when it’s really just people who never wanted to be there in the first place.

Then, there is a group of people who were interested when they signed up, but they forgot who you are. By the time they get your rare message, they don’t remember signing up, so they feel like they were subscribed involuntarily, and they leave.

Additionally, if you reserve your email activity for the most “valuable” uses then you may end up sending nothing but pitches, so these people leave because they signed up to get your knowledge and vibe, but what they receive is offers, mostly offers for products of strangers.

The solution

You will never avoid unsubscribes completely unless you never send emails.

However, the best way to make sure the right people stick around is to give them high value frequently.

Every email that you send should contain value.

Yes, I said “every.”

Value doesn’t have to mean not making an offer, but it does mean that every email reminds your audience of why they signed up in the first place.

It could be that you teach them something.

It could be your unique style of writing.

It could be a recommendation, invitation, or offer they will find interesting.

Sure, you could preserve your pristine list by never sending an email, but what good is that?

It doesn’t help you because if you ever do use it, your audience will flee.

It doesn’t help your audience because they signed up to get value, not to be stored in a museum.

As they say, a ship is safe in the harbor, but that’s not what ships are for.

If you want to preserve your audience, then serve your audience.


This was originally shared out through my highly valuable, very interesting, and not-monthly Resource Letter. If you’d like to receive content like this every day, and get my Power5 Networking Tips, just sign up below…

Tyler “Sully” Sullivan, BombTech Golf – Podcast Episode 79


Tyler Sullivan is the founder of BombTech Golf, an eCommerce store with over $20 million sold online since 2012. Tyler also runs EcomGrowers where he and his team have helped countless Shopify owners add 6-7 figures in additional sales to their eCommerce stores by optimizing email systems and ad campaigns to find hidden revenue streams. Over the years Tyler has come to learn the formula for running successful and profitable eCommerce businesses. He believes that even with online companies there is huge value in having real conversations with customers and potential buyers. Tyler is hyper-focused on the customer experience and operating a lean business that doesn’t just drive revenue but drives serious profit and cash flow.

Join us for a great conversation about the power of human focused marketing, the importance of having passion, and the revolutionary idea that customer service is an asset not a line item.

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Previous Episode: Jill Lublin, Get Noticed Get Referrals – Podcast Episode 78
Next Episode: Gene DiNapoli, New York’s Mr. Entertainment – Podcast Episode 80

Ely Delaney, Meet Cool People – Podcast Episode 76

Ely Delaney started as a roadie. One day when looking to buy a cable in Phoenix, he ended up getting hired by a local computer shop. He was eager to learn and help the business grow. He launched his own graphic design agency knowing nothing about business. His mom recommended the Chamber of Commerce.

He checked it out, and was a committed networker from then on.

Check out his book Networking Tidbits.

Find Ely at connectwithely.com

Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadWebsite
Subscribe: Spotify Apple Podcasts | iHeartRadio

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Morning Motivation Facebook Group
Morning Motivation

Previous Episode: Steve Brossman, Sell the Aspiration, Not the Perspiration – Podcast Episode 75

Next Episode: Andrea Pass, Public Relations – Podcast Episode 77