What is unsubscribe rate?
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Every time you send an email, a small percentage of your list will decide they don't want to receive your emails anymore and hit the unsubscribe link. That percentage is your unsubscribe rate.
Technically, it's calculated as: (unsubscribes / emails delivered) x 100. Send 10,000 emails, get 40 unsubscribes, your unsubscribe rate is 0.4%. Most ESPs show this in your campaign dashboard automatically.
An unsubscribe rate measures how well your content matches your audience's expectations. High rates usually signal one of three things: you're sending too frequently, your content isn't what subscribers signed up for, or you're mailing too broadly without segmentation. A low rate means people are generally okay with what you're sending, even if they're not opening every email.
What's a healthy number? Under 0.5% is generally fine. Under 0.2% is excellent. Anything consistently above 0.5% is worth investigating. For comparison, this is a much less damaging signal than spam complaints, which damage your sender reputation directly. An unsubscribe tells the world you're mailing unwanted content. A spam complaint tells the mailbox provider.
If you're watching your unsubscribes and noticing spikes after certain campaigns or to certain segments, that's actually useful data. It's pointing you toward content or targeting issues you can fix. Check out how to reduce your unsubscribe rate for specific tactics.
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