Unsubscribe Link

An unsubscribe link is a link that allows subscribers to opt out from receiving marketing emails sent by a particular brand. It is usually placed in the email footer and leads to the unsubscribe page.

• It is a legal requirement. CAN-SPAM Act and other laws regarding unsolicited email activity require adding unsubscribe link to every email that you send. These legislations were drafted to protect users from getting spam and give them control over their communication with brands via emails.
• It influences your sender reputation. If you make it hard to find the unsubscribe link, those users who want to leave will mark your email as spam. It will damage your sending reputation even worth than unsubscribing.
• It has an impact on email deliverability. Email service providers like Gmail, Outlook, and Yahoo analyze your sender reputation: if it seems doubtful, they may block your emails before they even get to the subscribers’ inboxes. The fewer emails reaches people, the less revenue you can get from your email marketing.
• Its’ absence discredits your business. If you hide the unsubscribe link, your audience may feel trapped, which will raise questions of trust among your subscribers. If you try to keep your subscribers from opting-out by not allowing them to do so, it will return in a negative attitude towards your brand and a wish to leave your mailing list as soon as possible.
• It encourages your mailing list’s self clearance. A normal unsubscribe rate is 0.05% from all delivered emails. Unsubscribing within these numbers is OK because it means you will communicate with the engaged part of your audience, achieving higher click-through and conversion rates.

You need to understand that unsubscribing does not necessarily mean the end of any relationships. Your unsubscribe link can lead to an unsubscribe page where you can make a small optional survey to find out why users unsubscribe. Besides, you can suggest continuing communication in socials or setting preferences on email sending frequency.

How to Add an Unsubscribe Link

Even if you forget to add an unsubscribe link, SendPulse will insert it automatically to every email template, caring about your sender reputation and your subscribers’ user experience.

You can customize the unsubscribe link by changing the wording, the font, its size and color, and the color of the background. Here’s an instruction on how to customize your unsubscribe link.

In the drag-and-drop editor, you can create a block called “Footer,” which contains that unsubscribe link, privacy terms, your company’s address, etc., and use this block throughout your email campaigns.

Unsubscribe Link Examples

Some of the unsubscribe link examples we’ve gathered breach the CAM-SPAM act; the others show how to conduct your email marketing with transparency. Let’s see the difference between them.

Poor examples

Architectural Digest. In this example, the unsubscribe link is hidden in one line next to the “Private Policy.” Chances are that users won’t find it here. Besides, the wording in the result isn’t logical: “View our Unsubscribe.”

Valfre. This brand places an unsubscribe link correctly but makes the font size so small, that it’s almost impossible to find the link without the magnifying glass. ?

Victoria’s Secret. The unsubscribe link is lost in the text at the email’s bottom. The word “Unsubscribe” is not underlined or highlighted in any way, so users will have a hard time finding it. Give it a try!

Good examples

Art.com. In this case, the unsubscribe link is highlighted in blue color — a uniform color for all types of links, which users find easily. It is separated from other elements in the email, has a larger font size, and placed along with “Contact us” and “Privacy.”

Mitsubishi. It’s quite easy to find the essential word “unsubscribe” here because it is underlined and bold. If it wasn't, you wouldn’t find it in the text.

National Geographic. The unsubscribe link has its paragraph, and it is underlined and bold, as well, so there’s no trouble to find it.

Gain more insights into why an unsubscribe link is your marketing friend in this blog article.

References

1. The article “Why Unsubscribe is Better Than to be Marked as Spam” by Litmus answers the question of why you should use unsubscribe links and be transparent with your audience.
2. The article “5 things you should know about email unsubscribe links before you click” by Naked Security allows you to step into user’s shoes because some spammers use unsubscribe links to cheat people.

Last Updated: 07.12.2023