Email Marketing

Email Marketing Frequency

An email marketing campaign can produce big results for a small business. But if you flood your customers' inboxes with emails, your big results won't be the kind of results you were looking for. How much is too much when it comes to email marketing?

Frequency is the fine line between the success and failure of an email marketing campaign.

Most people won't tolerate a high volume of marketing-related emails. The moment your email campaign crosses the line from informative to annoying the relationship is over. Your customers will either unsubscribe from your mailing list or send your emails directly to the recycling bin.

The trick is to strike a happy balance between too much and just enough . . . And finding that balance isn't as easy as it seems.

Here are a few tips on how often to send out emails to customers and prospects:

• Make every email count. There are no hard and fast rules about email marketing frequency. It would be nice if there was a formula to calculate the perfect number of marketing emails to send to your customers, but it doesn't work that way. Instead, you kind of have to feel your way around and settle on the frequency that is right for your business. With that being said, the golden rule of email marketing frequency is to make every email count and only send an email when you have something worthwhile to say. If you don't have a good reason to send an email, then don't do it - save the opportunity for a substantive email that has a better chance of delivering a real result.
• Consider the context. Context counts in email marketing frequency. There may be occasions when it makes sense to increase the frequency of your emails. For example, suppose you own a clothing store and your big summer marketing initiative is called "Five Days of Summer". During those five days, it makes sense to email your customers a different promotion every day. However, sending an email every day of the year would be the equivalent of small business suicide. It would completely tank the success of your email marketing efforts. Use common sense with an eye on context, keeping in mind that less is almost always more.
• Test & Evaluate. Changes in the frequency of your emails should occur in degrees rather than in sudden leaps. If you are considering an increase (or decrease) in the frequency of your marketing emails, start with a gradual change and evaluate its impact on your response rates. If you are outsourcing the delivery of your emails, your email marketing company should be able to offer you advice based on even slight changes in email frequency.
• Adapt. Don't assume that successful email frequency rate will stay that way forever. Your company, consumer behavior, and the marketplace are all in a constant state of flux. The frequency and content of your emails will also need to change periodically just to keep pace.

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