Unsubscribed - how effective is your communication strategy?

I love that people and brands take the time to create their content and share it with me and, indeed, the world. I love that I simply hit subscribe and I am on their database forever! The problem, of course, is easy to foresee – too much content, too little time.

The clean-up

In order to restore some sanity to my inbox, I decided it was time for a clean-up. I began to evaluate each subscription. What was the brand again? How frequently were they communicating with me? How effectively were they communicating with me? And, most importantly, what were they adding to my life?

It was quite cathartic. In fact, at the end of the process (about an hour) I had successfully eradicated 25 subscriptions. I had reduced my inbox, my interruption levels and the pressure to circle back to read something. Ultimately, I had re-focussed on what I was actually interested in receiving. As a finale, I posted on my personal Facebook page: “I love the unsubscribe button.”

The reaction

I began, as a marketer, to think: Have these brands now lost me? Has my attitude towards them changed? Do they even know that they have lost me? Do they even care? While I cannot effectively answer all these questions, my guess is that my action will simply be part of a bigger report and finally only a part of the net subscriber loss or gain figure, for that particular list. The brand just won’t know.

Alexey Romanenko © 123RF.com

I can, however, answer the first two questions, from my perspective at least. Yes, the brand has lost me and yes, my attitude towards them has changed – and not for the better. I had unsubscribed from the brands, not just their lists.

A thought

How do we ensure we remain relevant to our customer or client base? How do we check that we still add value? How do we ensure that they stay “subscribed”?

Well, the one thing I found common to all the brands I was subscribed to was that none of them asked me for feedback. None of them asked me if I found their content useful any longer. None of them asked me what I wanted to see more of. They all shared an outward-only focus, driving a message and seeking a predetermined outcome; but not actually having a conversation.

Perhaps that is the answer: engage with your lists by checking in to see if they are still engaged with you. It may just keep them subscribed to you!