Email marketing can be one of the most cost-effective ways to reach constituents, raise money, and keep stakeholders engaged.  But it has to be done carefully– otherwise it can actually turn constituents away.

A new global consumer email study from direct marketing agency Epsilon reveals valuable insights into what keeps North American consumers reading and what makes them unsubscribe to email lists.

A clear majority — 55% — of North American consumers report occasionally unsubscribing from email lists, while a full 14% admit to frequently unsubscribing, according to Epsilon.

The two main reasons for unsubscribing to Email lists across the globe are 1) irrelevant content and 2) high frequency of messages. Another common concern is that email addresses are being sold or shared, which also drives rates of unsubscribing.

So how to manage email marketing effectively? Do some research with your constituents.

It’s important to understand what drives your constituents, what interests them, and with what frequency they prefer to receive messages from you.  There are several ways to do this:

1.  Track constituent responses. If you’re not doing so already, start using an email application or service that allows you to track responses to your e-mailings. Many applications allow you to track click-through rates, how long constituents spend on each article, rates of deletion without reading, etc, and deliver that information to you in quick and user-friendly reports.  Track every communication you send out, and begin taking notes on which topics are most interesting to your constituents.

2.  Test your hypotheses. Once you start noticing trends in what type of articles and issues most interest your constituents, start looking at tone.  Are there ways you can better “package” your information to make it more appealing?  It’s easy to test– send the same email to all of your constituents and just change the title or subject line.  If you send the message to half your list with one title, and to the rest of your list with another “spin” in the subject line, does one significantly improve the click-through rates?  If so, bingo!  You’re learning how to better package your communications for success.

3.  Conduct surveys. Some constituent management tools or email services allow you to send out periodic surveys to your constituents and offer you quick interpretations of results.  This is one of the best ways to get honest feedback.  Are your messages being sent too frequently, too infrequently, or is your frequency right on?  Which topics most interest your constituents?  Once results come in, take a look at whether there are ways you can further segregate your email lists to better target your messages?

By using these three strategies, you will get to know your constituents and can significantly decrease ‘unsubscribe’ rates.

The Future of Email Marketing

The vast majority of North American consumers — 87% — report that they still use email as their primary online communications tool, according to the Epsilon survey.  And only 6% of North Americans (compared to a whopping 28% of consumers in Asia) think of instant messaging as their primary communications tool.  Surprisingly just 4% of North Americans listed social networks as their primary communication tool.

While trends seem to be moving toward increased reliance on social networks and instant messaging, it appears that email marketing still has several years left as the most effective form of communication in North America.  So nonprofits, let’s make the most of it!

By Elizabeth Beachy, Upleaf Co-founder