Last month I posted about Barnes & Nobles tedious process for unsubscribing from their email newsletters. It was so complex that I honestly coudn't even figure out why I was receiving emails to begin with. By all appearances I was not subscribed to anything. This was confirmed after a couple of submissions to tech support, they also told me that I had already unsubscribed. Phew!
But then today, guess what lands in my inbox? Too easy, huh? It was yet another email newsletter from our friends at B&N.com.
My first thought was, "Here we go again." I quickly scroll to the bottom of the page and find the so-called unsubscribe links:
How to unsubscribe: This message was sent to stoney@polepositionweb.com on October 9, 2007. If you no longer wish to receive promotional email from Barnes & Noble, please click here [link removed]. If you have a Barnes&Noble.com account, you can also log in [link removed] to your account and follow the instructions under Change Your Communications Preferences.
I didn't notice if that was any different than the message at the bottom of all their other emails so I simply hit the "click here" link. You could say I was surprised when I was taken to this screen:
Could it really be this easy? I mean, yeah, it should be this easy, but it was so haaaaard before! Sure enough, one click and I'm told that I'm unsubscribed:
Though 10 days does seem long a long time to be removed from the list. That should be automatic. But still, I'm impressed.
So, just for fun I wanted to see what the process was like by logging in. I clicked the "log in" link in the email and was brought here:
Well, this is new. I logged in and was taken to an account screen. I quickly found the "Communication Preferences" area that gave me a couple of options:
The first option sent me to a page that le's me change if or how I want to be communicated with. Notice the yes/no options about receiving any kind of communications at all. By default my options were yes and well, contact me any way you can. Not what I expected to see after unsubscribing, but they did say it would take ten days!
The real disappointment set in when I click the link to change my "Keep me Posted" options. As you can see below this is the same sorry "we'll email you a link" scenario that I came across before.
Barnes & Noble needs to take a lesson from itself. All communication options should have a two-click (or less) unsubscribe option. But for now, I'm just happy they got it half right.
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Stoney deGeyter is the President of Pole Position Marketing, a leading search engine optimization and marketing firm helping businesses grow since 1998. Stoney is a frequent speaker at website marketing conferences and has published hundreds of helpful SEO, SEM and small business articles.
If you'd like Stoney deGeyter to speak at your conference, seminar, workshop or provide in-house training to your team, contact him via his site or by phone at 866-685-3374.
Stoney pioneered the concept of Destination Search Engine Marketing which is the driving philosophy of how Pole Position Marketing helps clients expand their online presence and grow their businesses. Stoney is Associate Editor at Search Engine Guide and has written several SEO and SEM e-books including E-Marketing Performance; The Best Damn Web Marketing Checklist, Period!; Keyword Research and Selection, Destination Search Engine Marketing, and more.
Stoney has five wonderful children and spends his free time reviewing restaurants and other things to do in Canton, Ohio.
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