Some subscribers are such a pleasure to work with, you’d do whatever it takes to keep them around for as long as possible. Others…eh, not so much. Knowing how to deal with troublemakers is a skill not all marketers possess. For those who don’t, simply getting rid of them may be the best option. Got unruly subscribers on your list? Your friendly neighborhood email marketing company can tell you how to handle them without tallying up abuse complaints:

Give ‘Em the Bad News

It may seem like a risky move, but coming out and telling your subscribers that the relationship has turned down a rocky road is the best course of action to take. If it has come to an end, let them know that you can no longer provide them with the service they rightfully deserve, remembering to be polite in your tone. You want to let them down easy. Put emphasis on your unsubscribe link and they just may get the hint and proceed with opting out. If not, take the initiative to remove them from your list. While users are gaining more of the upper hand, never underestimate the level of control you have in the relationship.

Set the Tone Early

You can keep subscribers from getting out of hand by setting the tone and laying some ground rules from the very beginning. For example, if one of your subscriber’s actions could negatively affect the rest of your user base, send along a specific set of guidelines in your welcome email to let newcomers know what is expected. While this may not stop the worst of the worst from acting up, it may keep others in check. Hopefully you don’t have to enforce the rules too often but it is good to set policies for your subscribers to adhere to.

Keep an Eye on the Good Ones

There is a chance that you will have subscribers who are just bound to give you headaches. Although you want to manage these users accordingly, you don’t want to give them so much attention that you neglect the subscribers who are reading and interacting with your message. These are the people who are contributing to your success, so you want to pay them the proper attention and reward them for their support. It is important to get a handle on the unruly group in order to prevent disruptions, but your engaged subscribers are the most valuable.

Be a Good Marketer

So which party put a strain on the relationship? Was it the subscriber? Are you sure? I hope so because it would be an absolute shame to lay all the blame on your subscribers when it is you as the marketer who is at fault. It could be your service that caused them to become unsettled and leave the negative feedback that has you wanting to axe them from the program. Keep the satisfaction levels up and you will have far less annoying subscribers to deal with.