10 unsubscribe pages that will make you change your mind
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Let’s face it — an email unsubscribe is one of the worst fears a marketer could have. We concentrate so much on the content and sales pitch of every email, we strategize the schedule of sending emails, we worry about not being boring and repetitive… And yet, people unsubscribe. And that’s okay. You can’t please everyone.
Maybe it’s the content of the email, maybe it’s the frequency, maybe it’s the fact that the person might not like or need the product or service anymore. But unsubscribe pages are something that we should think about more.
What does your unsubscribe page look like? You have no idea, right?
Well, some brands gave it some thought and decided that engaging the reader and letting them think one more time whether they should click that dreaded button. And some of the results are great.
Here are some of the most creative, funny and effective (or should I say ineffective, since they turned people back) unsubscribe pages yet.
Charity: Water
Option 1: You click the unsubscribe button.
Option 2: You get a video in which you watch the non-profit’s CEO gets splashed with water balloons.
According to Charity: Water, they sent more than 70.000 emails containing this unsubscribe page. More than 740 watched this video that way, and only around a 100 unsubscribed.
I guess a lot of people prefer poking fun at CEOs more than not getting an email. 🤷♀️
Puma
The athletic wear giant is playing the emotions card, with a cheeky message saying ‘Remember the good times’ and a film reel. They also add “It’s just not the same without you”. If that makes you feel bad about leaving, they have also added a re-join button, so you can quickly redeem.
Vimeo
Vimeo hits the target perfectly. They know what the thing that annoys their customers is — they don’t want to get EVERYTHING in their email. They also don’t want to be flooded with emails, just be informed about the things that are interesting to them. That is why their unsubscribe page gives their contacts the opportunity to set up their preferences and pick what kind of content they do or don’t want to get.
It also has interesting visuals and copy.
Bonobos
Similar to Vimeo, Bonobos gives the reader an option to set up their preferences. But instead of picking what type of content they want to get, they pick out the frequency: once a month, a few times a month, once a week… And the copy makes it sound like by unsubscribing, you are breaking up with the handsome man in the visuals. And no one really likes that, right?
Aaaand, there’s a part two. After you set up your preferences, Bonobos sends you a CTA and a button that leads you back to their site, and icons that lead to their social media profiles. Great usage of an unfortunate event!
J.Crew
Imagine you are a woman who was looking for a top once, saw some good ones and wanted the price to drop, so she subscribed to see some good deals another time. And then has an inbox full of deals for men’s or children’s clothes. You can make it easier for your customers by sending them information only about the arrivals they would want to see. J. Crew did this to stop customers from unsubscribing, and also let them decide how often they want to get emails.
Sidekick
Sidekick is Hubspot’s email tracking function, and they decided to do it the other way around — they unsubscribed from their readers.
They sent their readers an email around the Christmas holidays, with a visual showing a greetings card and saying “Happy Holidays — We’re unsubscribing you”. The full copy contains a reference for Santa Claus’s list. Those who wish to stay subscribed to the Sidekick, can just click the button, it’s simple.
Groupon
This one is in a way similar to the CEO being splashed with water, but we wouldn’t want to spoil it to you. The point is that, by unsubscribing, you are punishing Derrick — aka the guy that sends the emails, because they were boring or bad. If you want to redeem to Derrick and say sorry, you can subscribe back.
Yankee Candle
Sometimes all you need is a snooze button. Yankee Candle gives its customer just that — before you unsubscribe forever, get some rest for a month. If we’re still annoying you, you can decide on unsubscribing.
Grammarly
Grammarly also gives its subscribers the ability to pick out their preferences. If you use Grammarly, you know how valuable those Grammarly insights are — the Progress Report has helped me remember many of the regular grammar mistakes I have been doing, for example. That is why I wouldn’t choose to unsubscribe. They also explain it well in the copy that by choosing your preferences, you are ultimately helping Grammarly improve their product.
Ping Pong design
This one isn’t even a real unsubscribe page, it’s just a great, fun UI design for an unsubscribe page a colleague of mine stumbled upon. It’s the good ol’ duel scenario — win the game and leave forever :)
I thought I would include it for some additional inspiration. Maybe someone is brave enough to contact the designer and incorporate it.
