When you include list-unsubscribe headers in your messages, the email clients like Gmail, Outlook, and Apple Mail will add an “Unsubscribe” link or message at the top of your emails.
So really, the list-unsubscribe header is like the opposite of burying your unsubscribe link at the bottom of a message in light gray text.
List-unsubscribe is a standard feature in GMass, available on all plans. When you turn it on, you give the email clients (notably Gmail, Apple Mail, Outlook.com, and Yahoo) the ability to add an easy unsubscribe option at the top of your messages.
And yes, that can be a good thing — even if the idea of seeing wave after wave of unsubscribes is cold and frightening to your gentle bones.
Plus, if you’re a bulk sender (defined as sending 5,000+ emails per day to gmail.com addresses or a similar volume to Yahoo/AOL addresses), you’re required to have one-click list-unsubscribe in place.
In this article, we’ll cover the list-unsubscribe header in depth — both what it is, and why it can be beneficial to you. We’ll also cover how to set up list-unsubscribe in GMass and who should and shouldn’t use it.
List-Unsubscribe Header: Table of Contents
What Is the List-Unsubscribe Header?
Wait… You Want Me to Make It Way Easier for People to Unsubscribe? Really?
Should You Use List-Unsubscribe in Cold Emails?
How to Enable List-Unsubscribe Headers in GMass
List-unsubscribe headers in GMass: The newest tool in your costa rica phone number library unsubscribe management toolbox
What Is the List-Unsubscribe Header?
List-unsubscribe are email headers which shares an unsubscribe mailto link and/or an unsubscribe URL, plus optional action instructions, with an email client. Email clients will then use that information to add quick unsubscribe links to the messages you send.
The concept of list-unsubscribe dates back to 1998 (you can read all about its origins here) but email clients have adopted it gradually. Very gradually. (For instance, Apple only began processing the list-unsubscribe headers in the Mail app in 2016; Yahoo added it to its mobile apps in 2018.)
List-unsubscribe is a user-friendly feature: It makes it easier for someone to unsubscribe from a list. There’s no scrolling through and email or hunting for an unsubscribe link. Instead, a person is one immediate click away from getting off an email list.
However, as we’ll discuss, it can also be a marketer-friendly feature. While it does make it easier for people to get off your list, there’s a real upside nonetheless.
How the list-unsubscribe links look in different email clients
Here’s list-unsubscribe in action in Gmail on desktop.
List-unsubscribe header in Gmail desktop
