Why Your "Unsubscribe" Button Is Costing You Money
Most small business owners in Brisbane treat their email list like a bucket with a massive hole in the bottom. You work hard to get a new customer—maybe a homeowner in Carindale who needs a plumber, or a local business in the CBD looking for an accountant. You get their email address, you send them a few updates, and then it happens: they hit "Unsubscribe."
When someone unsubscribes, they are gone. You can't talk to them anymore. You can't send them your monthly specials. You can't remind them that you exist when they need your services again. In marketing terms, that person has just become significantly more expensive to win back because now you have to pay for ads to find them all over again.
But here is the reality: Most people don't actually want to leave you forever. They just don't want the specific email you sent them today.
Maybe you're sending three emails a week and they only want one a month. Maybe you’re a landscaper sending tips about lawn care, but they live in a unit with only a balcony garden. They don't hate your business; they just hate the clutter in their inbox.
By giving them a "Preference Centre"—which is just a fancy way of saying a "Choices Page"—you give them a way to stay in touch on their own terms. Instead of losing a customer forever, you’re letting them tell you exactly how to sell to them.
What is a Choices Page (Preference Centre)?
Think of it like this: When you go to a restaurant, you don't just get served whatever the chef feels like cooking that day. You get a menu. You choose what you want, how you want it cooked, and what you don't want on the side.
An email preference centre is a menu for your emails. When someone clicks the link at the bottom of your email, instead of a boring page that says "You have been unsubscribed," they see a page that asks:
How often do you want to hear from us? (Weekly, Monthly, or only for big sales?) What are you interested in? (New products, local Brisbane events, or DIY tips?) Would you like to take a break for 30 days?
This small change can stop up to 40% of people from leaving your list. For a business with 1,000 people on their list, that’s hundreds of potential sales saved every single year.
The Real Cost of Getting This Wrong
I’ve spoken to dozens of tradies and shop owners across Queensland who think email is dead because people keep unsubscribing. It’s not dead; it’s just being used poorly. If you keep blasting everyone with the same generic message, your email platform costs will go up while your actual sales go down. You end up paying for a list of people who aren't even looking at what you send.
When your unsubscribe rate is high, Google and Outlook start to think you are a spammer. They start hiding your emails in the "Promotions" tab or the Junk folder. This is why you need to stop sending emails that people don't care about. A choices page fixes this by ensuring that the people who stay on your list actually want to be there.
Step 1: Give Them Timing Options
Frequency is the number one reason people leave. If you’re a real estate agent in Paddington and you send out every single new listing to your whole list, you’re going to annoy people who are only looking for a specific type of house.
On your choices page, offer these three options:
1. The "I want it all" option: Send me everything as it happens. 2. The "Weekly Digest": Just send me one email on Friday with a summary. 3. The "Monthly Update": I only want to hear from you once a month.
By giving people the "Monthly" option, you save the relationship. They might not buy from you today, but they’ll still see your name once a month. When they finally need your service in six months' time, you'll be the first person they call because you stayed in their inbox without being a nuisance.
Step 2: Let Them Choose the Topic
If you run a multi-service business, this is a game-changer. Let's say you run a home maintenance business. You do plumbing, electrical, and roofing. A customer who just had their leaking tap fixed might not want to hear about roofing for the next three years.
On your page, let them tick boxes for what they care about: Plumbing Tips & Deals Electrical Safety Updates Roofing & Gutter Maintenance
When you send emails that make money, it’s because you are sending the right offer to the right person. If I know a customer only cares about plumbing, I won't waste my time (or their patience) sending them electrical offers. This makes your marketing much more efficient.
Step 3: The "Snooze" Button
This is a secret weapon that most Brisbane businesses completely ignore. Sometimes, life just gets busy. Maybe your customer is going on holiday, or they’ve got a big project at work and their inbox is overflowing.
Offer a "Snooze all emails for 30 days" button.
It’s a very "human" thing to do. It says to your customer, "I value your time and I don't want to annoy you." Once the 30 days are up, they automatically start receiving your emails again. You haven't lost them; you just gave them some breathing space.
Step 4: Keep It Simple (Don't Be Too Clever)
I see a lot of marketing agencies try to make these pages look like a NASA control panel. Don't do that. Your customers are busy. They are likely looking at this on their phone while waiting for a coffee or sitting in traffic on the Gateway Motorway.
Your choices page should have: Your logo at the top (so they know they’re in the right place). A clear headline: "How would you like to hear from us?" Big, easy-to-tap buttons or checkboxes. A clear "Save Preferences" button. A tiny "Unsubscribe from everything" link at the very bottom as a last resort.
How Long Does This Take to Set Up?
If you are using a decent email tool (like Mailchimp, ActiveCampaign, or Klaviyo), setting this up takes about two to three hours. It’s a one-time job. You build the page, you link it in your email footer, and then it works for you 24/7.
If you don't have the time to do it yourself, any local marketing pro should be able to knock this out for you quickly. It’s a small investment that pays for itself the very first time it stops a high-value customer from hitting that "Unsubscribe" button.
Is It Worth the Effort?
Let’s look at the numbers.
If you have a customer who spends $500 a year with your business, and you lose 10 of those customers every month because your emails are too frequent, that’s $60,000 in lost revenue every year.
If a choices page saves just half of those people, you’ve just added $30,000 back to your bottom line for a few hours of work. In my experience working with local Brisbane businesses, these are the small "one-percenters" that separate the businesses that struggle from the ones that dominate their local area.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
1. Asking too many questions: Don't ask for their birthday, their dog's name, and their favourite colour. Just ask about the emails. 2. Making it hard to find: The link in your email should clearly say "Update your preferences or unsubscribe." 3. Not testing it on a phone: 70% of your customers will open your email on a phone. If the buttons on your choices page are too small to click with a thumb, they will just hit unsubscribe instead. 4. Being boring: Use your brand’s voice. If you’re a fun, local business, say something like "Don't leave us! We'll be quiet if you want, just tell us how much is too much."
What Should You Do First?
Don't overcomplicate this. You don't need a 10-step plan.
Tomorrow morning, go into your email software and look at your "Unsubscribe" settings. See what the page looks like that people see when they click that link. If it’s just a blank page with a "Goodbye" message, you are losing money.
Start by adding just two options: "Keep me on the monthly list" or "Unsubscribe from everything." Even that tiny change will start saving customers immediately.
Summary for the Busy Owner
The Problem: People unsubscribe because of too many emails, not because they hate your business. The Solution: A "Choices Page" that lets them pick how often they hear from you. The Result: You keep more customers, your emails get opened more often, and you make more sales. The Cost: A few hours of your time or a small fee for a pro to set it up. The Timeline: You can have this live by the end of the week.
Stop letting your hard-earned leads walk out the door. Give them a choice, and they’ll stay with you for the long haul.
Need help getting your emails to actually drive sales? At Local Marketing Group, we help Brisbane businesses stop wasting money on marketing that doesn't work. Whether you're a tradie in Chermside or a boutique in Bulimba, we can help you turn your email list into a reliable source of new jobs.
Contact Local Marketing Group today to see how we can grow your business.