I’m subscribed to GigaOm Pro newsletters. I get weekly technology news from them, and I love it. Hard to put my finger on it, but their news just seems — smarter. Anyway, here’s their footer:
As a publication, they obviously would prefer that you not unsubscribe from their list. They’d prefer that you change your settings. But they don’t hide their unsubscribe link (in fact, they make it more immediate). They’ve just prioritized the “change email settings” button. Smart.
When I click on the unsubscribe button, I am used to seeing a selection showing which list to unsubscribe from, and and option to learn which other list is available to subscribe to.
For the life of Riley, why Profile AND Unsubscribe in Mailchimp?
Hi Judy, they’re two very different actions, imho. If someone clicks a link called “unsub” they don’t want to be on my list anymore. They expect to get off my list asap. Personally, I get really angry when people try to “stall” the unsub process. Feels like when AOL was doing this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xaaAYVUWP0I
I just let them go. If it was a mistake, my unsub confirmation email gives them an option to sign back up.
If subscribers want to tweak their settings and preferences, that link should be very clear and conspicuous too. Hence this showcase.
When someone’s updating their profile, we also provide an unsubscribe link too, in case that’s what they meant to click.
So when is MailChimp going to offer the option to change the text of the unsubcribe or profile links? Would be really nice to choose what the link text is….
As useful as that is, it’s unfortunately something that can be abused too easily by “the bad guys.” Sorry.
I am so stealing this. This is a great way to draw attention to the desire action.
I’ve been monitoring my unsub reports. It kills me to see people leave in that memo, “I’m just changing email addresses.”
Because we have groups and customer data in their MC profiles… this means that their email address change action means I’m actually losing all that goodness I worked so hard to put in!
I’m trying two things to try to get my list data refreshed.
a. I targeted 1-star email folks with a message, trying to engage them and either opt out or update their profile to get the stuff they want.
b. Optimizing the “update email preferences” button to all my campaigns.
Question 1: Certainly, these are tracked somehow. Is there any way to see it in the campaign report? I’d love to see how many are updating their profiles.
Question 2: Can MC add in the star rating as a trigger for an autoresponder? Like if someone goes from 3 stars to 2, I’d like to auto-generate a message to them asking them to update their preferences.
this is a GREAT idea and I’ll be updating our campaigns to draw more attention to our UPDATE YOUR PROFILE button.
@Adam – i agree with your questions, especially #2 where you ask if an autoresponder can be triggered by a contact going from 3 stars to 2 stars. that would be a great feature and very beneficial to a large contact list that is always changing.
I’m in the process of reengaging our 2 star/1 star contacts (yes, we have lots in the 1 star level) with a “let’s reconnect and make sure we’re sending YOU the correct info” type email.
I know there was a blog post from MC about this that I’m going to have to track down.
I know it’s been said before but please can we have a two-stage unsubscribe?
The argument that people want to leave quickly is not in dispute but it fails to take account of human nature and makes a massive assumption that people using the link were the original recipient.
Recipients will forward the email rather than click the forward to a friend link (because they, quite rightly, might wonder if you [or the sending organisation] store who their friend is). The friend accidentally (or deliberately) clicks unsubscribe and the original recipient is unsubscribed.
This reflects poorly on the organisation sending the email as the original recipient will not appreciate the ease at which this can happen.
It’s also not that customer focused to tell them that it was made possible by them not using the “forward to a friend” feature. This feature simply recreates functionality that the recipient has already got in their mail client so why would they use it when they’re used to using the default features of the mail client instead?
A further issue is that we’ve had people click this link expecting it to show them what email address is subscribed. Once they’ve clicked it it’s too late.
I realise adding extra options means more work but this does seem too easy to action accidentally.
It’s a really complicated issue, and there are strong points on both sides. FTR, there’s no reluctance to code anything on our part. Just very, very strong arguments from different sides of the fence. So all I can say is that we’re definitely listening, and taking in all the feedback about this. We appreciate your time. The experience is technically customizable via our API, but if you’re not a developer, or have a dev on staff, I realize that’s of no use to you. Thanks for the feedback.
Hi Ben
Thanks for the reply I really appreciate you taking the time to respond. I also understand (and sympathise) because it’s an issue where there’s no right or wrong. Different users will also have different requirements based on who they are mailing. For example, if you’re sending mail to a non-technical audience then their behaviour will be different to techies. It would just be great to be able to tailor the unsubscribe behaviour to your audience.
I’m a developer so fixing this via the API route is a possibility. This is work being done for a charity though so it’s unpaid work in my spare time.
If there’s no reluctance to code a solution then would it be possible to code it and then offer this as an option and let people choose? The strong arguments suggest that there won’t be agreement on the right route whatever happens but perhaps allowing people to choose would help?
If there’s no possibility of this changing in, say, the next 6 months then please let me know and I’ll go the API route.
Thanks again.
Making it an option is not impossible, but I can’t predict if/when it would happen. The nerds run the show here. I’m just a pretty face. Who blogs. I’d suggest the API route.
Cool, thanks for your honesty. Obviously it would be great if it could be added as an option but I’ll go the API route for now. Many thanks.
I know in most situations having the unsubscribe and update profile links makes sense. However if I do not want those to show on my emails is that possible?
Hi Robb,
Heh, this is similar to a question asked by another “Rob” that I just answered over here: http://blog.mailchimp.com/mailchimp-crm-integration-with-salesforce-highrise-batchbook/
Basically, MailChimp’s built for email marketing, which means we’re built for sending one-to-many messages. When you’re sending one-to-many messages, all kinds of spam regulations, deliverability best practices, infrastructure issues, and netiquette apply. So we’re kinda “hard wired” to never remove that unsub stuff.
You’re probably thinking about sending one-to-one sales or transactional message (?) where you wouldn’t typically need or want an unsub link (but you probably want tracking).
If it’s sales emails you’re thinking about, look into our CRM integrations: http://mailchimp.com/crm/
If it’s transactional emails you’re thinking about, look into our integration with Amazon SES: http://mailchimp.com/features/simple-transactional-service/
Thanks Ben! I appreciate the quick response. That makes sense and I suspected that was the answer.
Hi Ben and “the nerds who run the show at [MailChimp]”,
I wanted to throw in my 2-cents into this discussion as it relates to the “one-step” versus “two-step” unsubscribe process.
We are not yet a paying customer of MailChimp but are strongly considering becoming one. However, the whole unsubscribe process enforcement and the lack of control that customers of MailChimp have over it is not letting us make the commitment.
It feels as if MailChimp is trying to make the job of its Compliance Geeks easier by dictating overly strict requirements to its paying customers – who are ultimately responsible for their email etiquette and CAN-SPAM compliance of their emails.
I do understand it would make the job of the Compliance Geeks harder to weed-out the “bad guys” and still have the majority of the responsible paying customers do what they need to maximize ROI and keep email recipients happy.
I had a quick discussion about this with Jay via live chat and with DeAnna via support ticket. The response I received from the support ticket was very polite but ignored the bulk of my questions giving me an unequivocal answer – “nope”.
I mentioned to Jay via chat that MailChimp’s paying customers are most definitely losing subscribers due to “mistaken clicks” on the unsubscribe link. Since unsubscribe process is usually “two click”, people like to click the unsubscribe link to see what’s there – think Groupon’s funny video.
Once they click – the MailChimp system AUTO-SUBMITS the unsubscribe form and removes them from the list immediately. I know you are using this auto-submit behavior to prevent accidental unsubscribes that TrendMicro creates by following all links with the email. However, as your UX and engineering teams can confirm, this type of a workaround feels extremely forced – HTML forms are not meant to be auto-submitted. In other words, it is the wrong way to solve the issue.
Your UX team created a beautiful interface to design various “FORMS” for each of the lists. The Unsubscribe Form has content that your paying customers write and style – and expect to be read. But recipients of the emails see this content just for a split second before the form auto-submits.
Do you think most of your customers know that their unsubscribe links are actually one-click instead of two? Could you do a quick poll and post the numbers?
Could your paying customers be losing email recipients due to the negligence of the MailChimp system in making it clear that unsubscribe is going to auto-submit the form they diligently designed?
Your argument is that you do send “a good bye” email and let the recipient re-subscribe by typing back – everything. This is very not user friendly, and invokes the wrong emotions
– ask Aarron Walter.
CAN-SPAM law only dictates that the unsubscribe process should be easy (“You can’t charge a fee, require the recipient to give you any personally identifying information beyond an email address, or make the recipient take any step other than sending a reply email or visiting a single page on an Internet website as a condition for honoring an opt-out request” – http://business.ftc.gov/documents/bus61-can-spam-act-compliance-guide-business).
CAN-SPAM in no way demands immediate unsubscribe without reading any content on the unsubscribe page.
Please humor us and do a quick statistical analysis of how many mistaken clicks there are on the unsubscribe link. Easy enough: take the number of VIEWS of the unsubscribe page versus number of times the unsubscribe form (with pre-filled email) is actually MANUALLY SUBMITTED.
Please publish these numbers so that all paying customers can see how many email recipients they may have lost due to the overly restrictive and not transparent unsubscribe process within MailChimp.
Thanks for your time!
Arsen
I forgot to mention an interesting point of contrast between how MailChimp’s internal user interface differs from the unsubscribe process.
In the MailChimp UI, many delete actions have an unusually strong confirmation. For example, when deleting a “list” the system will present a modal popup with explanatory text and will require the customer to not just click a “Yes” button, but will force him/her to type the word “DELETE” (case sensitive).
I can see the benefit of doing this: to prevent customers from mistakenly taking drastic actions that are hard to reverse.
However, this stands in stark contrast with the immediate one-click-unsubscribe approach.
This begs a question: The internal UI is meant to be used by marketing professionals, and they have to confirm their action by typing the word “DELETE”. The unsubscribe UI is meant for persons-at-large who are much more likely to perform an action by route without giving it much thought. Wouldn’t the same type of strong confirmation be required?
Thanks!
Please don’t take this the wrong way, but I’m finding it very hard to walk in your shoes. It’s obvious you care a lot about this topic to be writing such long comments (and you’re not even a MailChimp customer yet), and I sincerely appreciate the thought you’ve put into this. But why so much concern if a few people unwittingly click unsubscribe? I love my subscribers too, and hate to see them go (which is evident in our functionality, like Chimp Chatter showing you the faces of people who unsub, and our exit surveys asking people for feedback, and our target sub rate stats show you how many new subs you need to maintain positive list growth).
Still, “list churn” is a given in email marketing. And if you’re a subscriber who is *that* quick to click an unsub link down in my footer w/out reading, you’re probably not reading my emails. I’m frankly a little happy to see you go if you’re not that engaged (or lucid).
So to help me better understand where you’re coming from, what kind of business are you in? Why would errant clicks matter so much? Helping us understand your business case would likely be more effective than wondering about our logic or design decisions. Again, I appreciate your time here.
re: your “TYPE DELETE” analogy, we do that to prevent accidental data loss, which is extremely difficult to recover from. Unsubscribing is not that difficult to reverse.
Hi Ben,
Thanks for your reply. I do understand your point of not worrying about subscribers who are quick to click the unsubscribe link since they are probably not reading the emails. However, this is easier to relate to when talking about a monthly/weekly newsletter that is used just to communicate with your otherwise engaged/paying customers. Let me try to better explain where I am coming from.
Things look different when email communication is in the core of the business model. We have used various email providers (including custom-built with ISP whitelisted IPs, feedback loops and bounce handling) over the years, but were researching something new for a new hyper-local deals service.
Due to its competitive pricing, powerful API, and extremely user-friendly internal interface, MailChimp was on the top of the list. The first surprise came after we found out that there is no way for us to link directly to our own unsubscribe page (http://kb.mailchimp.com/article/about-no-outside-unsubscribe-suspension/)
In the current competitive deals space it takes some marketing creativity and unique promotions to be able to attract hyper-local subscribers. This means that each single subscriber has a very defined and real cost. If a subscriber signs up due to a great giveaway, and later wants to unsubscribe proving a reason like “I just signed up for a one time offer”, it is something to worry about. Thus, one of the business requirements was a very carefully crafted unsubscribe page letting the subscriber know what it means to “unsubscribe” (no more deals like that, it was not a one-time offer, etc.) There is no way to describe or customize this dynamically this within the footer of the email.
With most other providers we worked with, the Deliverability and Compliance Teams have authority to make case-by-case exceptions for trusted and pre-approved customers. For example, some have the customer sign a form taking responsibility for the CAN-SPAM compliance. With MailChimp this was not possible and not negotiable. This was the first surprise.
Later, I thought there is this “forms” section under each list that seems to let me customize the “Unsubscribe From” and make it say exactly what I want – including images and merge tags. Thus, I spend a few solid hours playing around with the overall MailChimp interface (not just the forms) learning how things work (and getting to like it more and more). My customized unsubscribe form had just some jibberish lorem ipsum, but it did look like it may do the trick to let us have the messaging we need to prevent mistaken unsubscribes. Sending a test email and clicking the unsubscribe link, did bring up the form – albeit with a not-prefilled EMAIL field. Hmm, I thought, this is due to it being a test message. Let’s try a real campaign to my own email. Message received. Unsubscribe link clicked. Form is visible for a split second, and … is auto-submitted telling me “You were unsubscribed successfully”. This was not at all expected. I guess being caught by surprise, and again being told, this is not negotiable, is what made me care even more about this topic. The first suggestion would be to somehow make it very clear (like you do with the “TYPE DELETE”) that the unsubscribe form is not going to be visible to people clicking the unsubscribe link in the email.
If it would be a technical limitation requiring development time and not being in high demand, I can see not supporting the two-click unsubscribe. However, the functionality is already there, but it is purposely handicapped by the auto-submit due to a policy/preference reason.
As you mentioned, there are strong points on both sides. For a B2B service such as MailChimp, in my humble opinion, it would be beneficial to segment the customers into regular users and power users. Maybe those power users would need to be MailChimp certified (like Google does with AdWords Certification Program) and would be able to do some advanced customization – after receiving permission from the Compliance Team.
Thanks!
Hi
Can u please tel me how I go about adding the unsubscribe form in the footer of the mails we send out. Please help as this is urgent for us to start sending our mails to our clients
Hi Stephanie,
You actually don’t insert an unsub form into your footer. Just a link to your form. And here’s a link to a tutorial on that:
http://kb.mailchimp.com/article/how-do-i-place-my-unsub-unsubscribe-tag-in-my-html-version