So, you want to stop receiving emails from a certain list? Or perhaps you’ve been asked to moderate a discussion on your blog and you don’t want to keep getting these annoying messages. Or maybe your email address was leaked online and you don’t want any more correspondence from the individuals who discovered your personal information. Whatever the reason, when it comes to unsubscribing from email lists, it’s essential to keep in mind the best procedure for doing so.
Unfortunately, many companies and websites bury the steps to follow in order to unsubscribe from a list in tiny text at the bottom of a long, annoying email campaign. To help save you the agony of having to hunt down these steps, we’ve put together a comprehensive guide to unsubscribing from email lists. We’ll teach you the best way to go about it so you can easily find your way back to your inbox one day, hopefully, soon.
The Biggest Problem: Unwanted Email
The first step to removing yourself from an email list is to check your spam folder and garbage bin. You’ll often find unwanted emails in there, and it’s up to you to filter these out. If you don’t want to deal with spam, it’s best to create a secondary inbox specifically for this purpose. Doing so makes it much easier to keep unwanted emails out of your primary inbox and ensure you never miss an important message again. Don’t worry, you don’t have to do this for every email list you’re on; you can create a filter for specific lists so you don’t have to worry about the flooding. Plus, you can prevent people from signing you up for their lists in the first place with a clear opt-out policy.
Procedure For Unsubscribing From Email Lists
Once you’ve removed all the unwanted emails from your spam folder, it’s time to follow the proper procedure for unsubscribing from email lists. Doing so ensures you don’t accidentally end up on another list you didn’t intend to sign up for and that your decision to unsubscribe from a list is respected. The general guideline is to email the list owner or administrator with the request to cancel your subscription. In some instances, you may have to put your request in writing and provide proof of identity. Be patient; it may take the list owner or administrator a while to process your request. If you don’t get a response after a few days, it’s time to follow up via phone call or email.
How Long Does It Take For An Email List To Respect Your Decision To Unsubscribe?
Just like with any other online marketer, your best chance at getting unsubscribed from an email list is if the list owner or administrator hears you out and acknowledges your decision. In most cases, it won’t take long for them to remove you from the list. The longer you wait, the more irritated the list owner or administrator will become with your requests to be removed. They will almost certainly tell you to expect a prompt reply, as this is usually how they handle such matters.
What If The Email List Owner Or Administrator Doesn’t Respond To My Request?
In some instances, you may have to escalate your request by emailing the company’s legal counsel. But even then, you won’t get any guarantees that your request will be honored. Ultimately, it’s up to the list owner or administrator to decide whether or not they want to continue corresponding with you. The worst thing you can do is bombard them with requests to be removed; instead, be patient and try again in a few days. If you feel like you’re going through a never-ending cycle of requests to be removed, it may be time to rethink your strategy and find a different way to get the results you want. After all, there are hundreds of thousands of other customers who still want to receive the content these individuals are sending out, so you may have difficulty finding a place in the market for yourself.
Why Do Some Email Lists Only Appear To Be Unsubscribe-able From?
These are the questions we’d want answered, too, if we were in your shoes. It’s incredibly frustrating when you find out you can’t easily unsubscribe from a list, because they have a sneaky way of getting around this. Sometimes, the answer is as simple as the list owner or administrator forgetting to click on the unsubscribe button. In some instances, it takes a bit more work and perhaps even a little bit of ingenuity. So, let’s take a quick look at each of these methods and what makes them work:
The Forgotten Subscription Button
You’ll often find the unsubscribe button at the very bottom of the email. In some cases, this may be difficult to find, which is probably why you weren’t immediately unsubscribed when you asked to be removed from the email list. In the time it took you to find this inconspicuous little button, the list owner or administrator probably added you to an internal mailing list. Doing so makes it much easier for them to keep you up-to-date on the latest news and information, as well as product announcements and offers. If you find that you’re frequently missing out on important messages because you couldn’t quickly locate the unsubscribe button, it may be time to rethink your strategy and find a different way to get the results you want.
The Auto-Subscriber
Sometimes, you may find that you’ve been added to a list without your knowledge. Maybe you filled out a form on a website, which automatically added you to a mailing list. Or perhaps someone added you via your Google account. In these cases, it’s difficult to remove yourself from the list without the list owner or administrator’s permission. The best thing you can do is contact them and request that they remove you from their list. While this may seem like a long shot, there’s no harm in trying.
The Pre-Filled Email
Sometimes, you may find that you’re on a list even though you didn’t sign up for it. Perhaps you did sign up for a free trial or two-week freebie with a certain company, but after a while, you realized this wasn’t what you wanted and tried to cancel your subscription. In some instances, the company may have already added you to their list, which makes it even more difficult to cancel, as you’ll have to go through a tedious unsubscribe process. If this is the case, sit tight and wait for the list owner or administrator to respond. If they don’t, it’s time to try another tactic.
The Use of Scripts
Sometimes, the developers of an email marketing service will include small scripts or gadgets in their emails that are specifically designed to frustrate would-be subscribers. For instance, a service might send you an email every Friday with the subject line, “Is this Friday yet?” In these instances, it is often difficult to unsubscribe from the list without finding out what your answer is. Is this Friday yet? No. Is it Saturday yet? No. Is it Sunday yet? No. On and on it goes, because the script would never end. If you find that you’re frequently missing out on important messages because of these pesky scripts, it may be time to rethink your strategy and find a different way to get the results you want.
Hopefully, these tips and tricks for unsubscribing from email lists will help save you a great deal of frustration. Not only that, but they may also help you find your way back to your inbox one day soon. And that’s what matters most, right?