Despite a business’s best efforts, some subscribers simply want to opt out of engagement.
During this process, certain techniques are used as a last-ditch attempt to salvage the relationship.
Some of these efforts tend to be less successful than expected:
1. One-click cancellation
The one-click unsubscribe is best avoided.
Regaining audience members who have accidentally clicked on a button that unsubscribes from a mailing list is extra effort for something that can be easily stopped at the root.
Linking to another page that confirms cancellation is the best practice, as it avoids accidents and asks the subscriber think for a moment before leaving a service.
Avoid annoyance!
Holding someone hostage through an arduous unsubscribing process guarantees that they will never make the mistake of subscribing again and harms the reputation of the business responsible.
2. Forced form submissions
Some businesses offer an optional short survey to improve their service, but they never force it on the person to avoid further inconveniencing them.
Adding a simple questionnaire to an unsubscribe page is good, while demanding that someone fill it out is not.
3. The unsubscribe email
For mailing lists, an email to tell someone that they’ve unsubscribed comes across as incredibly mean-spirited and can nearly be qualified as spam.
They’ve made it to the cancellation page and confirmed their decision, there’s no point in adding in one last jab.
4. Required log-in
No one wants to log in to a service they’re not using anymore. This is doubly frustrating when they can’t remember their log-in information.
Users who do not want to subscribe to an email service anymore, really do not want to deal with the process of resetting their passwords.
Businesses who force this kind of confirmation find it is a great way to get their emails marked as spam in the future.