Unsubscribes: Painful Breakup or Pruning the Branches for Growth?

March 31, 2025 by Michele Cavin, Creative Services Manager

The Necessary Evil We Love to Hate

Ah, unsubscribes. The tiny heartbreaks of the email marketing world. Like leaving a relationship or watching your favorite restaurant close down—painful, but sometimes inevitable.

For our cooperative communicator clients, managing unsubscribes isn’t just about letting people go; it’s about making sure the right people stay connected in the right ways. So, let’s talk about how to make the best of it (and maybe even cry a little less).

The Art of the Multi-Tiered Unsubscribe

Some of our clients are getting fancy with their unsubscribes—splitting them into categories like electric updates, fiber service, natural gas or propane news. It’s a brilliant way to let folks opt out of what they don’t need while keeping them engaged with what they do.

Because let’s be honest—just because someone likes their internet provider and doesn’t want to switch to your fiber service, that shouldn’t exclude them from receiving electric efficiency and news updates. Let’s not throw the baby out with the bathwater!

If you haven’t considered offering multiple unsubscribe options, now might be the time. It helps retain more subscribers overall while keeping your content relevant to those who stick around. It’s like letting people choose their own adventure—except the adventure is emails.

The Frankenstein Unsubscribe List: Why You Should Merge Your Platforms

We know some of you use email services beyond Inside Information. (Gasp, we’ll try not to clutch our pearls!) Maybe you have a Mailchimp or Constant Contact account working behind the scenes. If that’s the case, your unsubscribes might be living in different, disconnected silos.

Here’s the thing: just because someone unsubscribed from one platform doesn’t mean they won’t get your emails from another—and that’s a quick way to irritate your audience. Consider exporting your unsubscribe lists and consolidating them. It’s as simple as sending us that list to add to your Vortex.

It’s like spring cleaning, but instead of throwing out expired condiments, you’re respecting your audience’s preferences. (Really, though, maybe you should check that mystery jar in the back of your fridge.)

The Fine Print Matters: Clarifying What “Unsubscribe” Really Means

Nobody likes surprises, especially when it comes to email communication. Some of our clients have recently updated the unsubscribe messaging in their footer to specify that opting out only applies to marketing emails—not critical billing notices or power outage alerts. And that distinction can make a world of difference.

Because let’s face it: no one wants to miss the “Hey, your bill is due!” email just because they got tired of festive newsletter subject lines (even if they were particularly clever). Being transparent about what people are unsubscribing from helps reduce confusion and keeps essential communications flowing.

Critical Messaging: Which Unsubscribe Exclude List Should We Use?

Not all emails are created equal, and not all unsubscribes should be treated the same way. While marketing emails and promotional messages should always respect unsubscribe preferences, there are times when operational or billing-related messages must reach everyone—regardless of their opt-out status.

Before sending, consider the nature of the communication:

• Marketing and promotional emails: Should always respect segmentation and unsubscribe preferences.
• Service updates (fiber, electric, gas, etc.): May require a more nuanced approach—segmenting by service type ensures only relevant customers receive the message.
• Critical operational and billing notices: These should go to everyone regardless of opt-out status. If there’s a planned maintenance or pole inspection notice, billing issue, or safety notice, subscribers need to know.

Choosing the right unsubscribe list for each type of communication ensures compliance while also maintaining trust and engagement with your audience. When in doubt, err on the side of transparency—let subscribers know why they’re receiving a message, and reinforce the value of staying informed.

New Guidelines on Email Engagement and Deliverability

The email landscape is changing, and recent updates to engagement and deliverability guidelines mean it’s more important than ever to maintain a clean email list. Email providers are prioritizing active engagement, meaning that too many unengaged recipients can hurt deliverability for everyone on your list. This makes it crucial to regularly remove inactive subscribers and ensure your content remains relevant and valuable.

To help with compliance, we’ve updated our coding to include the unsubscribe link at the top of most emails, making it easier for recipients to opt out if needed. This small but significant change aligns with best practices and helps prevent your emails from being marked as spam.

PRO TIP: You might want to consider a contact update campaign to reach out to bounced email addresses by mail. Or another possibility is that we can work with you to craft a new reengagement outreach promotion to figure out who your engaged members are (and aren’t)!

Keep Calm and Maintain List Hygiene

Unsubscribes aren’t personal (usually). They’re just part of the email game. But with a little strategy—segmenting options, merging lists, and clarifying messaging—you can keep your email list clean, your audience engaged, and all of our sanities intact.

Regularly pruning inactive emails improves your email deliverability, reduces spam complaints, and increases engagement rates. Think of it as weeding your garden—healthy engagement thrives when you remove the dead weight.

And if all else fails, just remember: every unsubscribe is one less person judging our carefully-crafted hilarious-to-us subject line puns. Silver linings, folks. Silver linings.