List-Unsubscribe

How to get help

If you're having trouble implementing the List-Unsubscribe header or an Unsubscribe button, I'd love to try and help. Send me an email at list-unsub@deliverability.com.

Case study - Lyris ListManager

Here is an example of a default Lyris configuration with the List-Unsubscribe header. Lyris really implemented this well (not surprising since I was working very closely at the time with John Buckman, founder of Lyris).

Not only does Lyris use VERP (notice the numbered codes in the List-Unsubscribe URL) but they also make the List-Unsubscribe header a default on new lists. Administrators can easily turn on the rest of the RFC 2369 headers (List-Info, List-Subscribe, List-Help, etc.) with one click.


From: cavenders@westaradv.com
Date: August 30, 2006 3:22:22 PM CDT
To: Joshua Baer <josh@domain.com>
Subject: Cavenders.com - Labor Day Sale!
Return-Path: <bounce-127080-722348@mailer.sitebrand.com>
List-Unsubscribe: <mailto:leave-127030-722244F@mailer.sitebrand.com>


Interesting juxtaposition - RFC 2368 (mailto)

Funny, I just realized for the first time that RFC 2368, the RFC approved just before the one containing the List-Unsubscribe header, was the spec for the mailto: URL format.

Will Using the List-Unsubscribe Header Harm My Deliverability?

At LashBack, senders are often approaching us asking whether they should use the list-unsubscribe header.  By and large, the biggest concern many senders have is the impact the use of the list-unsubscribe header may have on deliverability. 

While the presence of the word 'unsubscribe' may be perceived as a sign of commercial email, I am not aware of any cases where messages may be filtered for the mere presence of this word, yet alone the list-unsubscribe header.  Several years ago, Spam Assassin did assign points for the list-unsubscribe header, but these tests were moved in version 3.0 (http://spamassassin.apache.org/tests.html). 

If filtering companies and ISPs were to filter mail based on the list-unsubscribe header, they'd be filtering some of the best mail that consumers want, including the following:

Yahoo! Groups
Computer World
Delta Airlines
Bath And Body Works
Bloomingdales
Davids Bridal
Speigel
Time Life
Albertsons
CompUSA
American Express
Creative Labs
JC Whitney
Payless
PC World
Coolsavings
Hotels.com
And MANY more (if you'd like a full list, let me know)

Without spelling out all the benefits of the list-unsubscribe header, I urge senders to ignore any fears of a negative deliverability impact.  Next time, I will spell out how it can actually improve deliverability.

Eric Castelli
CTO
LashBack LLC

Case study - StrongMail Systems

StrongMail has always had the ability to add in custom headers since its inception. This mean of course that any customer can take advantage of the List-Unsubscribe header today and it has already been tested in customer situations with success.

You can specify a specific email address to send un-subscription requests to or even use a un-subscription URL if supported by the receiver. The StrongMail platform offers many different methods for allowing end-users to unsubscribe. As customers take advantage of our extensive reporting system which again includes support and reporting of un-subscriptions internally, they can make this a seamless process when combined with the List-Unsubscribe header.

Here is a screenshot one of the ways you can take advantage of the header:

In StrongMail, the unsubscribe system can also generate a personalized and unique unsubscribe option for each email based on the recipient and campaign. You can apply the uniquie option as well for the List-Unsubscribe header by applying "List-Unsubscribe: ##UNSUBSCRIBETAG##" instead in your header options.

Learn more about Unsubscribe at Lashback

Learn more about Unsubscribe from the Lashback blog

ReturnPath info on List-Unsubscribe

ReturnPath just posted about List-Unsubscribe to their online resource center