How to Design an Unsubscribe Flow
A step by step guide that will boost your retention.
Hi, Anastasia here, with another edition of Growing Pains. In this newsletter, I dive into product growth, drawing from my dual experiences as a founder and a product manager.
Do you have feedback or topics you're dying to explore together? I’d love to hear from you! Drop your thoughts in the comments or reach out here.
Let’s dive in!
In this issue, I’m tackling something that doesn’t get enough attention yet is crucial for maintaining a healthy relationship with your users: the unsubscribe flow. It’s a tricky balance—make it too hard to leave, and you risk frustrating users and harming your brand; make it too easy, and you might lose them without understanding why.
Step 1: Understand Why People Unsubscribe
Understanding your user and designing an experience that fits their specific needs and concerns is crucial to product growth. Without knowing why people stop using your product, you can't effectively design a flow preventing them from unsubscribing or winning them back in the future.
To gather this information, you have two main approaches:
Ask users who recently unsubscribed. By "recently," I mean within the last month. If too much time passes, they might not remember the details or may not prioritize responding to your survey due to decreased relevance.
Consult your customer support team. Together, create a list of hypothetical reasons why people might cancel their subscriptions. Then, design a survey for users who are unsubscribing right now. Incorporate this survey into your current unsubscribe flow, and give it some time—days, weeks, or even months—to collect data and analyze a substantial sample.
As you gather more data, you will gain a better understanding of why your customers churn. This allows you to refine and adjust your survey—questions and available options—to gain deeper insights and more context. Remember, it's a continuous process; you'll likely go through several iterations to find the optimal balance where the survey is both effortless for users and insightful enough for your needs.
Here's what Express VPN asks users when they decide to unsubscribe.
It shows us that people don't always cancel because they're unhappy with the product. Life changes — maybe their needs shift, their budget changes, or the product just doesn't fit their lifestyle anymore.
Knowing these reasons helps us shape our services to better match what our users need right now. It's all about being flexible and keeping our product useful and relevant.
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Step 2: Offer Solutions to User Problems
Once you understand why users consider unsubscribing, it’s crucial to offer them solutions tailored to their specific issues.
We often highlight product benefits on our landing pages to attract subscriptions. In the same way, when presenting alternatives to unsubscribing, we shouldn’t just list all our features. Instead, focus on offering solutions that directly address the reasons why they're thinking about canceling.
For example, let’s see how Express VPN does it. When a user selects a reason for unsubscribing, they immediately see the potential downsides of leaving — the so-called "undesired outcome." While we usually emphasize the positive outcomes or successes that our service can bring, addressing unsubscriptions requires highlighting what users might miss out on if they leave. This approach helps underline the value of staying subscribed.
Also, the unsubscribe process is different from signing up, where we usually give just one call to action. When unsubscribing, we need to address various concerns that might make the user want to leave. For example, we can show them options to review their renewal dates, plan details, or remaining data if that helps ease their concerns.
This flow still makes it easy for the user to cancel their subscription at any time — they don't have to jump through hoops or be put on hold. However, if they decide not to cancel immediately, they can choose other options that address their concerns.
Here's an easy guide on how to respond to different reasons for unsubscribing:
Step 3: Gather All the Data
If you're collecting responses through your own system and can match them to the user's profile (like how long they've used your product, how often, and what features they use), you're good to go.
If you're using an external survey tool that isn't linked to your database, it's wise to add a few extra questions. These should help connect the dots between why users unsubscribe and how they interact with your product. This deeper insight can help you tweak your strategies to prevent future churn.
Step 4: Make a Last-Minute Offer
Everyone loves a good deal, right? If a user is about to unsubscribe, try offering a big discount—like 50% off for the next month. After that, the price goes back to normal. This can work well if the user isn’t using the product much anymore or is looking for something cheaper. It gives you a little more time to, perhaps, offer a better solution that might make them stay.
Step 5: If They Still Choose to Leave, Part on Good Terms
If you can't offer what the user needs and they decide to leave, make sure the process is straightforward:
Confirm the subscription cancellation clearly.
Let them know how long the subscription will remain active and how they can use this remaining time.
Inform them about the date and amount of the last charge.
Offer a clear option for how they can renew the subscription later—sometimes a small discount on renewal can bring them back.
Show how they can stay connected: by subscribing to your newsletter, following your social media, etc.
Suggest other products you offer that might better meet their current needs.
I’ve shared some examples from Express VPN's unsubscribe flow, which impressed me with its thoughtful design. If you have other examples that caught your eye, please share them in the comments.