An unsubscribe rate measures the percentage of recipients who opt out of receiving future emails after a campaign. It helps assess audience satisfaction and the relevance of your content.
Unsubscribe rate is an email marketing metric that shows how many recipients clicked the “unsubscribe” link or button in your email compared to the total number of delivered emails. This metric provides insight into whether your content, frequency, or targeting aligns with subscriber expectations.
Email service providers (ESPs) and internet service providers (ISPs) monitor unsubscribe activity as part of sender reputation. A high unsubscribe rate may indicate poor engagement, overly frequent messages, or irrelevant content.
Unsubscribe rate is calculated using this formula: (Unsubscribes ÷ Delivered Emails) × 100
For example, if you deliver 10,000 emails and 150 recipients unsubscribe, your unsubscribe rate is: (150 ÷ 10,000) × 100 = 1.5%
Most email platforms automatically track unsubscribes and provide reports for compliance with email marketing laws like the CAN-SPAM and the GDPR.
Monitoring unsubscribe rate is critical because:
Unsubscribe rate data is commonly used for:
Most marketers aim for an unsubscribe rate below 0.5%, though this can vary by industry and campaign type.
Possible reasons include irrelevant content, sending too often, or failing to set clear expectations during sign-up.
You can reduce unsubscribe rates by segmenting lists, personalizing content, and offering frequency preferences to subscribers.
