How to Calculate Unsubscribe Rate And Reduce It

Understanding Unsubscribe Rate and Why It Matters

An unsubscribe rate is the percentage of subscribers who opt out or remove themselves from your email list. Findings in Capterra's 2024 Advertising Preferences Survey show that 25% of consumers worldwide unsubscribe from digital marketing communications.

While unsubscribing is normal, you shouldn't dismiss the figure, especially if your stats are climbing. To calculate your unsubscribe rate, you can use the formula below:

💡 The resulting percentage of this unsubscribe rate formula is a key metric that reflects how well you meet your audience's expectations. It can indicate that readers don't find your content relevant. Or they may be overwhelmed by your email frequency or volume.

A high unsubscribe rate signals to email service providers (ESPs) that your content is unwanted, which may cause emails to be marked as spam. This situation can lower your sender reputation (trust and authority) and harm your email deliverability.

What Is a Good Unsubscribe Rate?

While it's ideal to keep your unsubscribe rate below 0.2%, you can consider your email list healthy enough if your rate is 0.5% or lower.

You can also refer to these industry averages collected by WebFX to see how your unsubscribe rate fares:

What Is a High Unsubscribe Rate?

An unsubscribe rate higher than 0.5% or your industry average signifies that your emails are ineffective for reasons we will discuss further in the next section.

Ignoring a high unsubscribe rate can lead to:

• Continued decline of unsubscribe rate and lower subscriber engagement due to unoptimized message content and sending frequency.
• Increased likelihood of delivery failure because your emails could get routed to spam.
• Erosion of sender reputation when ESPs and internet service providers filter out your emails after flagging them as spam.
• Compliance risks because anti-spam regulations mandate the availability of an unsubscribe option for email marketing.
• Higher marketing costs to acquire new subscribers to replace those who unsubscribed.

Why People Unsubscribe from Email Campaigns

Understanding why your subscribers want to stop receiving your emails is the first step to fine-tuning your email strategy. Here are the top reasons for losing email engagement:

📌 Unclear or incorrect expectations at signup

Customers become frustrated or feel misled when signup forms don’t explicitly state the types of emails they'll receive and how often they'll arrive.

📌 Email fatigue

Also called email burnout, this factor typically results from:

1. Too many emails

Subscribers can feel overwhelmed when they receive one or more emails daily. In the US, 56% of respondents to a GetApp poll said they would unsubscribe if they received four or more messages (emails or SMS) from the same company within 30 days.

2. Repetitive emails

Recipients become annoyed and disengage when emails say or offer the same thing.

📌 Poor design

People are likely to unsubscribe when your content format is hard to read due to dense text blocks, too small text, or misaligned sections. Poor design also includes hard-to-click buttons and images that look stretched out or break the layout.

📌 Unsubscribe triggers or technical issues

Subscribers are turned off when their email reading is constantly disrupted by broken links or links leading to error pages, slow-loading or broken images, non-working CTA buttons, and forms that fail to submit.

📌 Unawareness of subscription

People often forget they signed up for your mailing list, especially if they receive the first email at a much later date since registering. Most of the time, the immediate benefit, such as a discount or promo offer, was their primary focus, not ongoing communication with your brand.

How to Reduce Unsubscribe Rates

Here are techniques to reduce and maintain low email unsubscribe rates:

1. Use double opt-in

Collect subscribers through double opt-in. Compared to a single opt-in, a double opt-in requires people to do an extra step after providing their contact details. Once they give their address, they should click a button or link in your confirmation email.

While the process is longer, it helps improve deliverability because they validated their address. Moreover, completing the steps signifies their consent and openness to engage with your content. Double opt-ins can even help you skip routine email verification altogether.

2. Allow users to manage and update options

The current trend is to include a link to your "manage preferences" page or a "preference center" instead of just an unsubscribe option at the header or footer of your email. Users can select their preferred content category (special offers, product news) and frequency.

These specifications will set clear engagement expectations and are likely to boost your subscriber retention rate.

3. Maintain list hygiene by regularly removing unengaged users

Email list cleaning or scrubbing will help you send emails to only interested subscribers. Practice list hygiene at least quarterly to remove incorrect addresses, inactive subscribers, and bounced email addresses.

📌 Email verification software like VerifiedEmail can help you customize and automate this process.

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4. Personalize emails

You can include your subscribers’ first names in the subject line and email body to grab your recipients’ attention and make them feel valued. Also, use segmentation, subscriber preferences, and your ESP's analytics to tailor your messages.

5. Boost email engagement through interactive content

Dynamic elements like the ones below are more memorable and engaging because they encourage recipients to actively participate:

• Clickable surveys
• Animated GIFs or mini slideshows
• Interactive quizzes
• Countdown timers
• Accordion or expandable sections (with details hidden under clickable headings)
• Click-to-reveal offers

Remember to test your emails because not all ESPs support advanced interactivity. Have fallback versions when that happens.

6. Segment your audience

Segmentation is grouping your subscribers into segments based on the available information about them. Segmenting your list allows you to send the right offers to the right people at the right time. Data can include:

• Demographics (age, location, interests)
• Purchase history/shopping habits (average orders/frequency/ return rate) and past interactions
• Engagement level
• Type of lead magnet
• Sales funnel/customer journey stage
• Preferred email cadence

For segmentation by email cadence or sending frequency, A/B test your sending time to determine which day and hour have the best open rates. Once you've identified the best day and time, follow a consistent sending schedule.

Make Your Email Subscription Marketing a Keeper

A low email unsubscribe rate strengthens your email marketing. Use smart targeting, frequency management, and good list hygiene to improve sender reputation and email deliverability.