Many Consumers Unsubscribe from Emails Weekly

While email has been a marketing mainstay for decades, it continues to evolve based on consumer behavior. Research firm Capterra has identified three trends that are driving that evolution and offers advice that email marketers at small and midsize businesses (SMBs) can take to address these developments.

“In the world of email marketing, more is not necessarily better,” says David Jani, analyst at Capterra. “Amid the overwhelming volume of content online and tighter regulations for deceptive advertising, it’s critical for SMBs to take a fresh look at their email marketing strategy to ensure their value proposition is front and center.”

Trend No. 1: Consumers are quick to unsubscribe from emails that don’t serve them.

One of the most difficult aspects about email marketing is getting customers to subscribe, but keeping them is even harder. Capterra’s 2024 Advertising Preferences Survey found that 25 percent of global consumers unsubscribe from digital marketing communications at least once a week. This is most often because they don’t see value in the content or receive too many communications.

To reduce email unsubscribe rates, Capterra recommends personalizing campaigns to ensure they’re relevant; segmenting email databases; and tailoring content to specific subsets. As email subscriber bases grow, companies should also regularly audit their email databases to ensure they’re reaching the right customers for the right reasons.

Additionally, email marketing should focus on providing value to customers, according to Capterra. While many companies see email as an opportunity to talk about themselves, a strong email strategy puts the customer at the center, addressing their needs and pain points, the firm says.

At the same time, a key component of any email marketing strategy is defining and tracking key metrics, such as open rates, click-throughs, and sales. By understanding what success looks like, SMBs will have a clearer picture of how and what they want to communicate to customers and improvements they should make to future campaigns, Capterra says.

Trend No. 2: Companies are not providing clear reasons to sign up for emails.

While customers expect real value from the email content they receive, not enough companies (only 58 percent) explicitly describe the benefits of subscribing to their emails at sign-up, and just 24 percent provide promotional incentives for signing up.

To boost sign-ups to their email databases, Capterra suggests providing discounts to customers who sign up, sharing exclusive offers or valued information available only to subscribers and seeking referrals from existing recipients by incentivizing them to sign up friends.

Trend No. 3: Ethical email marketing practices are increasingly important for consumer trust.

Some marketers feel inclined to use sensational headlines to attract customers already inundated with online content. However, companies that resort to clickbait risk losing their customers and could be subject to fines or legal action. In fact, 34 percent of consumers would report companies that use misleading subject lines in their email marketing, Capterra’s research found.

While misleading claims or ignoring customer privacy preferences might temporarily inflate open rates and subscriber numbers, it rarely pays off in the long run, according to Capterra. The firm’s data showed that 33 percent of consumers globally have stopped doing business with companies that use deceptive marketing tactics.