This January, I took the time to declutter my inbox by deleting and unsubscribing to what equated to 7,000 emails =1 And I would like to add a note that these were my unread emails, there were many more which ended up in my inbox bin!

I cleared so many emails from my inbox that it froze. As it slowly restarted, I started to think about what I liked and disliked about different brands' unsubscribe process. I also chatted to my team and some colleagues/friends to confirm my thoughts on this sometimes irritating process.

With this in mind, here are 5 things you could use to switch up your unsubscribe process:

1. Asking your customers to re-enter their email address on the unsubscribe landing page

It's just an extra unnecessary step for the user - and can be quite annoying when unsubscribing from a mobile device.

2. Asking your customer to state why they are unsubscribing

Whilst it is important for brands to get insight into why their customers have unsubscribed, it shouldn't be compulsory in the unsubscribe process. Instead, offer them the chance to fill this out after unsubscribing.

3. Switching the continue subscribing and unsubscribe buttons around

I thought I had unsubscribed from a few emails, only to keep receiving them, purely because the buttons were switched around. Sneaky!

4. Hiding your unsubscribe link in your emails

If you edit the text size for your unsubscribe links in your emails, it makes it difficult to find the unsubscribe link to begin with. The link needs to be accessible to all - I know for example my mum wouldn't be able to find the link for some of the emails I unsubscribed to.

5. Sending a confirmation email for unsubscribing

The main purpose of unsubscribing is to remove that brand from your inbox, so as a customer who has intentionally stated I no longer want to receive emails from you, the landing page confirmation is enough.

What are your thoughts on the unsubscribe process? Any Do's and Don'ts you think are worth mentioning? Tweet us your unsubscribe ideas or annoyances.

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Brands who nail their unsubscribe process:

Whilst there can be annoying aspects of the unsubscribe process, some brands really nail theirs. It is worth mentioning in advance that I will not be unsubscribing from these emails!

Here are my top 3:

1. Doughnut Time:

One of my favourite emails to receive for obvious reasons, and they absolutely nail a few things in the unsubscribe process:

• Clear text for unsubscribe link in email (underlined and using the same font size as the rest of the text)
• It gives subscribers an option to confirm they are unsubscribing on the landing page
• It doesn't ask subscribers to state why they are unsubscribing, or fill out a survey

2. Mob Kitchen:

Whilst it is super important to know why subscribers have chosen to leave you, it also shouldn't be an obligation for customers to state why. Here's how Mob Kitchen do this well:

• A clear unsubscribe link in the email
• The landing page has the confirmation of your unsubscribe decision
• They present the option to state why you have chosen to unsubscribe: no obligation needed
  

3. ASOS:

Another great example of a simple unsubscribe process. Here's a few ways they make the process easy to understand for the customer:

• A clear unsubscribe link in the email
• They give you the option to unsubscribe, but also you can login and update your preferences
• The preference section has 4 clearly labelled options, each of which you can choose if you want to receive messaging for and for which medium you want to get them from