Gmail Unsubscribe Link: Email marketers forced to become relevant

In case you haven’t already seen it, news was announced late last week that Gmail will start adding an unsubscribe link to marketing communications – whether they are legitimate or not. Email marketers will have to make a concerted effort to deliver relevant communications.

Starting from this week, a new, clearly marked “unsubscribe” link will appear at the top of the header field in marketers’ emails. Previously only appearing for a small percentage of users, the feature will now be made available for most promotional messages with unsubscribe options, Google said on Thursday. Email recipients do not need to take action for the links to appear.

The change simply makes it easier to find the “unsubscribe” link. With the new setup, the link appears prominently at the top of the message, alongside the name and email address of the person or company sending it. So what used to be like searching for a needle in a haystack will, for some, become more like an open invitation to say good-bye. By clicking the link, users can opt out of a company’s emails without leaving Gmail.

Whilst this may be seen as great news for those of us on the receiving end of these types of e-missives, the announcement is just one of an ever-growing amount of pressures on email marketers who are already dealing with dwindling engagement rates and increased churn from the 425 million+ Gmail users (last count, June 2012).

Read the full article here>> Gmail Unsubscribe Link: Email marketers forced to become relevant - idio.