Commentary

Have A Merry Opt-Out: Consumers Like Being Able To Unsubscribe From Holiday Emails

Almost all consumers appreciate opt-out messages around the holidays, and feel brands that offer them are empathetic. 

The ostensible purpose of these emails is to allow people to opt out of painful reminders. Yet many will unsubscribe for other reasons or ignore holiday emails altogether, according to “Empathy Can Boost Holiday Sales: 81% Of Consumers Are Inspired When Seeing Holiday Opt-Out Emails,” a study by Capterra. 

Of the consumers polled, 39% choose to opt out when given the chance.  And marketers should know that many consumers ignore holiday emails:

  • I deliberately don’t pay attention to emails that contain holiday or special calendar event messaging — 51% 
  • I set up spam folders to filter email — 40%
  • I use an ad/spam blocker, free or paid — 24%
  • I give feedback to a brand’s preference center to block certain messages from my email — 18%
  • I avoid my email during holidays or special calendar events when possible — 9%
  • Other — 4%
  • I don’t do anything intentionally to avoid holiday or special calendar event emails — 19%

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Sentimental days are most likely to drive an opt-out, sales-driven events least likely. These percentages will always or sometimes opt out, the remainder will always do so.  

  • Back-to-school — 84% 
  • Valentine’s Day — 84%
  • Father’s Day or Mother’s Day — 83% 
  • Thanksgiving — 83% 
  • Winter holidays (e.g., Christmas Kwanza or Hanukkah) — 83%
  • New Year’s Day — 81% 
  • Graduation — 80% 
  • Black Friday — 75%
  • Prime Day — 68%
  • Your birthday — 63%

Brands that offer opt-outs appear:

  • Empathetic — 60%
  • Personalized — 53% 
  • Authentic — 52% 
  • Value-oriented — 51% 
  • Trustworthy —51% 
  • Engaging — 50%
  • Memorable — 45% 

That said, people always don’t always opt out to shield themselves. The main reasons are:

  • I receive too much spam — 80% 
  • I receive too many emails from the brand — 74%
  • The email content is not relevant to me — 68% 
  • I don’t remember subscribing or never subscribed — 57%
  • The email content is too long or takes too much time to read — 16% 
  • The email content makes me feel bad or sad — 7% 
  • Other — 4% 
  • None of the above — 1% 

Gen Zers are the most prone to opting out of holiday messages, and men are more likely than women to do so. 

One caveat: It pays to look at the unsubscribe process: few consumers find it very easy to opt out:

  • Very easy — 25%
  • Somewhat easy — 58% 
  • Somewhat difficult — 15%
  • Very difficult — 2%

Capterra surveyed 869 U.S. consumers. 

To see the full study, click here. 

 

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