The “Unsubscribe Paradox” — Why Losing Readers Is Actually a Good Thing

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“We’re sorry to see you go.”

It’s the standard message you’ll see when unsubscribing from a newsletter. But those words are a lie, and you shouldn’t care.

Here’s why you should want to lose subscribers.

Less bleeding money

The more subscribers you have, the more you pay. Email software is not cheap.

Let’s say you’re using Beehiiv as your newsletter platform. Their cheapest plan is $39 for 1,000 subscribers. If you get just one more subscriber after that, you’ll have to pay an extra $20 for a total of $59 per month.

That’s the usual pricing plan for every email software out there.

Of course, each platform has a free plan, but you’ll grow out of it in time.

So, losing a subscriber could help you save money if you're paying for your newsletter.

Losing subscribers can boost your open rates

It’s normal to feel discouraged when you see someone unsubscribe from your newsletter.

After all, the number of subscribers feels like a direct reflection of your efforts, whether it’s your consistency or the quality of your content.

As your subscriber count grows, it’s natural for your open rate to decline. This can damage your motivation if you’re not prepared for it.

But there is some good news.

When people unsubscribe, your open rate automatically increases.

For example, if you have 1,000 subscribers and get 200 opens per newsletter, your open rate is 20%. If one person unsubscribes, leaving you with 999 subscribers, your open rate increases slightly to 20.02% (200/999).

These small boosts in open rates can help offset the sting of losing subscribers.

Seeing a higher open rate in your analytics can be motivating. And it’s always encouraging to see those green numbers on your dashboard.

Not every subscriber is a good subscriber

It’s easy to assume every subscriber is a potential customer. But in reality, people subscribe to newsletters for all kinds of reasons.

For example:

• Some subscribe because they genuinely want to learn from you.

• Others are just looking for free content and have no intention of supporting your work.

Imagine you’ve just launched a new product and are promoting it to your subscribers. If someone unsubscribes during the promotion, it’s a clear sign they were only there for the freebies and weren’t interested in becoming a customer.

This is an important distinction to make.

Newsletters are a marketing tool. They help us earn a living and keep creating content. Without that income, 80% of writers wouldn’t be able to sustain their work. Writing for fun isn’t always an option.

That’s why separating engaged, like-minded subscribers from freebie-seekers is so important. A smaller, more aligned audience is sometimes more valuable than a larger, disengaged one.

When to clean your newsletter

You must remove the dead weight to keep your newsletter healthy.

A big subscriber count might feel impressive, but it can hurt your open rates and deliverability.

To make an informed decision about which subscribers to delete, you first need to find them. And that’s not too difficult.

Most email marketing tools have a way to filter subscribers by engagement metrics, such as open and click rates.

In ConvertKit, for instance, you can search for subscribers with:

• Average open rate

• Average click rate

• High unopen rate

Before deleting inactive subscribers, consider giving them one last chance to re-engage. Many successful newsletters send a simple reactivation email, such as:

“Hey, do you still want to receive our emails? If so, click here to stay subscribed!”

This approach helps ensure you’re not losing subscribers who might need a reminder.

I’ve never done this, but I’ve received these emails.

A good rule of thumb is to clean your subscriber list every three months. After this, it’s safe to assume they are not interested anymore, and you can remove them from your list.

Final thoughts

The reality of running a newsletter is that you constantly need new subscribers.

Don’t get discouraged when people unsubscribe. Instead, look forward to bringing new people to your newsletter.