Bronto Blog

It was a lovely morning (8AM) in Durham, NC as Kimberly and I rendezvoused in the friendly confines of our local Starbucks Barista. Kimberly was sipping on a tall peppermint mocha; I was working my standard “medium” (I refuse to call it Grande) coffee. As we began brainstorming this month’s topic for BrontoFire, Kimberly suddenly shouted out, “Don’t Hide That Unsubscribe.” After I cleaned up the coffee I spit out in a fit of laughter, I told Kimberly: “Great idea. Let’s roll.”

Below is a recap of the 45-minute conversation that ensued. We reviewed some of the big boys - Barnes & Noble, Big Lots, Costco, Reebok, TurboTax (Intuit). Enjoy.

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Barnes & Noble

DJ - I like how they have a bolded section, “How to unsubscribe.” However, why do I need to log in to my account in order to change my preferences?

Kimberly - Furthermore, DJ, I really don’t like the fact that I have to follow detailed instructions on how to manage my preferences. Don’t make me work so hard.

Big Lots

Kimberly - I like the phrase “we will promptly remove you from our list.” They are clearly telling me what they will do and then are doing it. I believe and trust them more because of this statement. To boot, I really like the fact that they list my favorite store and allow me to update it very quickly.

DJ - I am a bit torn on this. I agree with what you said, Kimberly, but really - how many people will read that. I just want to unsubscribe. I don’t love that unsubscribe is in all caps, but at least I can find it right away.

Costco

DJ - Okay, I know that they are required by law to put all of that legalese in the footer, but it makes it so hard for me to find the unsubscribe. The general rule - if it is hard to unsubscribe, it makes it easier to hit “mark as spam.” Also,”>

Kimberly - This KILLS me. Talk about throwing CAN-SPAM out the door. A consumer has the right to manually reply to the message and ask to be unsubscribed. Never lose sight of the fact that consumers still use the reply as a means to unsubscribe. By not allowing them to do so, they inevitably are left with no other choice than to file a complaint. DJ, I see this too often. It makes me ill.

DJ - I feel kinda sick also.

Reebok

Kimberly - Clean. Crisp. Extremely clear. Sometimes simpler is better. If a consumer wants to unsubscribe, there is really no need to try and stop them. They are not going to be a value to your company, hence “Don’t Hide That Unsubscribe.”

DJ - I’ve always been a proponent of incorporating the unsubscribe into the look and feel of the site and email. Keep it consistent so subscribers know where to look and what to look for. As you said, Kimberly, “clean and crisp.” I wonder - and I’m open to discussion on this - what would happen if this unsubscribe button was red. More unsubscribes? Fewer complaints?

Kimberly - Ah. So, Target does this. They use a red unsubscribe. I don’t necessarily mind, expect when images are turned off, it is the only thing that jumps off the page. Balance is key. I don’t mind adding color to the unsubscribe link as long as it is not the only thing I see when images are off.

TurboTax

DJ - First of all, I have to know the connection between Intuit and TurboTax. The message tells me that if I “do not wish to receive marketing e-mail from Intuit in the future…” Does that mean for all brands that Intuit owns (like Quicken, QuickBooks, etc) or just from TurboTax? Confusing. Again, if I have to think, I am more likely to just “mark as spam.”

Kimberly - I think that the two “click here” links cause confusion and the excessive amount of text really makes me have to work hard to figure out what I need to click to unsubscribe. However, I really like the sentence, “Every effort is made to offer only information that may be of value to you or your business.” Yet, if the consumer is determined to unsubscribe, this is really too cumbersome.

DJ - Kimberly, Kimberly, Kimberly. Who the heck is going to read all of those “pleasantries”? I just want to unsubscribe, darn it! Also, not sure if you noticed through the muddled prose, but TurboTax also includes a “DO NOT REPLY to this e-mail.” Blah.

Kimberly - I told you this happens too often.

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One thing to note is that in our somewhat random samples from above, all unsubscribe links are at the bottom of the message. The consumer has been trained to scroll to the bottom of the email to unsubscribe. What would happen if more marketers were to move and/or add an additional unsubscribe option to the top of the message? Would this reduce the number of complaints? Increase the number of unsubscribes? What would the impact be?If you are a marketer who has tested this approach, please let us know your results. Maybe there is a business reason to strategically make the unsubscribe link more prominent. For example, when you increase frequency around the holidays. What are your thoughts? Until the next BrontoFire…

DJ Waldow and Kimberly Snyder
Account Managers at Bronto

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Update: The results from the Bronto poll “Tell us where in your message you incorporate your unsubscribe link“ are in: