An Unsubscribe Request from Someone Not On Your Email Marketing List

It’s important to be diligent about unsubscribe requests, not only to respect the recipients wishes but also to keep your communications targeted to an engaged audience. In fact, it’s a legal obligation to include a method for unsubscribing in all of your email marketing.  However, it’s common for subscribers to overlook your unsubscribe instructions and simply send an email requesting removal from your list.  But what if the email address for the person asking to be unsubscribed isn’t in your list to begin with?

The root cause of this problem is almost always an issue of an email address or system forwarding communications to other email addresses.  For instance:

• Email Forwarding – As people move to new companies or create new email addresses, they often set up automatic forwarding to a new email address. The old address is the one on your email list and is what’s actually redirected to the new email address that you have no record of.
• Former Email Address – Some companies will redirect a former employee’s email to a colleague. Technically it’s the same thing as an email forward but can be more difficult to diagnose since it’s a different person that requested an email vs. the person requesting the unsubscribe.
• Group Mailbox – Some organizations will subscribe a group or shared email address that distributes an email to multiple people. In this case, one person subscribed but other recipients might be unaware of it.  So the group mailbox is the record in your email marketing list.

Investigating the unsubscribe request in a logical manner will expedite the process while inconveniencing the requester as little as possible.

1. Use the Unsubscribe Method that the User didn’t

An email request from a user to unsubscribe is often a reply or forward to your marketing email.  In this case, the customized link or instructions for the user are still active.  Click the link and complete the unsubscribe process for the user.

2. Search for Similar Data

Do a search in your email list for the person’s name. If you have that on record it can be used to unsubscribe the old email address that is forwarding to the new one.  You can also try searching by company or similar URL in an email.  This can often hint at a former or group mailbox that might be redirecting to the person that made an unsubscribe request.

3. Respond to the Unsubscribe Request

If you struggle to make any connection between the email address that wanted to unsubscribe and your list, try replying to the person.  It’s better to let them know that the email is likely forwarding from an old or shared account and then the two of you might be able to identify how the email is being delivered.  Even if you can’t identify how the recipient is receiving the email, the recipient should be able to forward you the email that they received so that you can use the unsubscribe link.

With some logical steps, digital marketers can often uncover the delivery method to an email address not on the email marketing list and fulfill our obligation of honoring an unsubscribe request.