Finding Your Frequency: How Often to Send Emails
Updated
Anyone who has done email marketing has agonized over the question of how often they should be sending emails.
People do want to receive them—in a survey by Direct Marketing Associates, 59% of consumers said email was their preferred method of receiving information from brands, including new product announcements, sales and promotions, confirmations, delivery updates, and service messages.
But if you send too many, your customers might get annoyed and stop reading them or unsubscribe. Send too few and you could lose revenue and your customers’ attention. So what’s the right number?
According to the 2019 Consumer Email Tracker report, 59% of people who unsubscribe do so because they receive too many emails, and 36% of those surveyed said they would like to reduce the frequency of emails they receive.
Monthly vs. Weekly
So how much is too much? MarketingSherpa conducted a survey on email frequency, polling 2,057 adults on how often they’d like to receive promotional emails from companies. The top choice (86%) was at least monthly, and 62% preferred to receive emails at least weekly.
According to the 2016 National Client Email Report by the Direct Marketing Association, the most common marketing email send frequency (36%) is two to three times per month. Weekly emails were favored by 25% of email marketers, and 17% sent emails 4-5 times per week.
Send Selectively
To hit the frequency sweet spot, segment your email subscriber list so you’re not sending all emails to all customers. If you have targeted information to impart, be selective about who you deliver it to.
Survey customers to see what kind of information they want to receive, and make sure your emails contain valuable, targeted content. The Technology/Advice survey found that irrelevant content was the second most frequent reason for unsubscribing.
Watch the Numbers
As you fine-tune your frequency, keep a careful watch on open rates and unsubscribes. If either open rates fall or unsubscribes rise as your frequency increases, you’re probably emailing too much. If your email includes a purchase call to action, also keep watch on the revenue per email. Some studies indicate that transactions and purchase amounts increase the more emails a customer receives—if you experience the same trend, consider increasing the frequency of your sends to maximize revenue.
Guidelines can be helpful, but remember that only you can determine exactly the right email frequency for your business and your customers. Tailor your email plan to your company’s needs (do you need to communicate weekly specials? Provide daily updates?) and your customers’ preferences. Armed with that information, you can hit on the right frequency for both your company and your customers.