While many have predicted a recent update from Gmail could see people unsubscribing from business e-newsletters in their droves, others think the automatic addition of a big ‘unsubscribe’ button to marketing emails could be a good thing. There is no doubting Gmail’s new unsubscribe button does sound ominous. The benefit, say Google, is to help users get rid of the emails they no longer want clogging up their inbox easily. Initially this will most likely mean that companies do see their subscriber numbers drop. There is, however, one very useful advantage to this.

With modern email platforms, at the moment if someone dislikes the email they receive they can simply mark it as spam. If this happens too often, the email platform you use may ban you from their service. Email platforms are, quite rightly, very keen to wipe out spammers. Gmail’s big unsubscribe button instead cuts to the chase and allows recipients to say: “thanks for all your emails but I’d rather not read them anymore, no hard feelings”. Email platforms simply then remove their name from your list. They notify you this has happened but you don’t get a penalty.
Of course, let’s not forget that there are still rules to follow to ensure those who get your emails really do keep on reading:

Integrity: Your subscribers must agree to receive your email in the first place. By all means offer an incentive to sign up and make it easy for them to do so but make it clear what they’re signing up for and never buy unsolicited email address lists.

Frequency: Emails sent out should be regular but infrequent. Weekly at most, any more and you’ll not only run out of things to say but people will feel hounded and unsubscribe very quickly.

Content: Only sending out high quality content will help you determine how often your emails get sent out. Don’t simply email for the sake of it and only hit ‘send’ when you’ve got something worth saying. Only also talk about subjects relevant to you, your business and the recipient.

Secrecy: Personal data is personal. If a subscriber says you can use their email address to send them information, the permission only extends to you. While some firms do give people the option to allow you to pass on details to third parties, as far as we’re concerned when someone signs up to your email, that’s all they should be signing up for. Respect their privacy and they’ll thank you for it.

While only Google has announced this ‘unsubscribe’ feature as part of their arsenal in cleaning up the internet, other internet based email systems like Hotmail and Yahoo could soon follow. We really do think it’s a good thing and while it may mean businesses end up with smaller email subscribers, that smaller group will be more receptive to your business. Just so long as you play by the email rules.

Matt Rycroft is head of online marketing at mmadigital