Watch Your Churn

On numerous occasions, I’m promoted how important it is to communicate to your site visitors through content. One of the best, most regular ways to do so is through some sort of email newsletter (yes, that’s what you’re reading right now). What you may not realize, however, is that how well your newsletter retains subscribers tells you a lot about your content, your site, and maybe even your sales. Let’s explore.

The rate at which your newsletter turns over subscribers is defined as your “churn rate.” The higher the subscribership base, the more subscribers you could lose — as opposed to a small subscribership base — and still retain the same churn rate.

If you have a newsletter, it’s a good idea to keep track of your churn rate on a monthly basis. If you’re going with an email management program, this is one feature you’ll want to look for (see the marketing tip from 1/12/00). You may even want the ability to send an “unsubscribe response,” that is, if someone requests to be removed from the list they are either sent a personal email or an autoresponder message, inquiring if they’re sure they want to be removed and inviting them back at any time.

Following up on an unsubscribe request can be quite revealing – we’ve actually gotten personal responses back assuring us that all that’s going on is a change of email addresses or a temporary transition between jobs or vacations. People appreciate the personal contact, and oftentimes, we get to know a single list member just a little better.

Ideally, you want your newsletter to have a low churn rate, which means you have a loyal and devoted readership. It’s what you should strive for. A low churn rate shows that you are providing your subscribership with meaningful content (as opposed to fluff or junk). It means that every time you send out a newsletter, you’re strengthening your relationship with your audience, and you’re building trust and credibility. It also means that the people who found out about your newsletter and signed up for it got what they were bargaining for. This is a good indication that your marketing efforts are working, that you’re maximizing your dollars and your time, and that your readership has been properly “pre-qualified.” In the case of some newsletters, particularly those issued by ecommerce sites, a pre-qualified subscriber is likely to equal a pre-qualified customer — again, an optimal way to maximize your marketing dollars.

A low churn rate also proves that your newsletter has intrinsic value – if people are continuing to read the content you provide them, then it’s possible that this content is worth something. Can you re-sell it? Collect advertising dollars for it? Cross-market with it? We’re talkin’ dollars here, and your newsletter can help you make more if you work it.

If you have a high churn rate and/or negative subscriber gain – watch out. You’ve got a problem and it needs to be fixed fast! What can you do to help reduce your churn rate and improve the quality of your subscribership base? Here are some helpful tips:

* Poll Your Readers – come up with a really brief survey to find out what your subscribers really want to read
* Solicit Outside Content – Can’t write it all yourself? Does your writing stink? As long as your content is useful to your readers, they will not likely mind or care who’s providing it.
* Get Personal – Are you personalizing the delivery of your emails? Even if you’re managing your email newsletter yourself “in-house,” there are simple and inexpensive programs you can download that allow you to personalize at least a portion of your email message.
* Speak From Experience – People like hearing how other folks handled similar issues. Let your readers in on what you’ve learned in the school of hard knocks.
* Monitor Your Marketing Efforts – Again, one of the factors that accounts for churn is a bad match between subscriber and list. If your churn is high, you ought to check into your traffic logs (and ad stats, if applicable) to find out where people are coming from and make adjustments to your placements and/or your strategy.

Strangely enough, if you pay attention, your newsletter may end up teaching you a thing or two, too!

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