Email Frequency: Best Practices For Email Marketers

One of the most important aspects of any successful email marketing campaign is effective frequency. Too often, email marketers only send out content when they have something new to share, but this isn't always the best practice. Instead, an email marketer should send emails on a regular basis to keep subscribers engaged. This will help to keep your list active and healthy over time (which will ultimately lead to better engagement and conversion).

There are several factors that you should keep in mind when deciding how often you should be emailing your list:

The Audience - When determining how often you should send emails to your audience, it is important to think about the types of content you send them. For example, if you send educational content to your list on a regular basis, they will be expecting new messages on a regular basis. However, if you only send promotional content to them a few times a year, they will probably not be interested in hearing from you as often. It is a good idea to find a balance between the types of content you send them.

Seasonality - Another factor that should be considered when determining email frequency is seasonality. If you are sending content related to the holiday season, it is a good idea to schedule your emails a few weeks before the actual holiday begins so that subscribers have time read and digest your content ahead of time. On the other hand, if you are sending content that is relevant to a specific season or time of year, you may want to hold off on scheduling emails until closer to the date. This will ensure that your subscribers will receive your content in a timely fashion.

Sales Cycle - It is also important to think about how often you should be communicating with your audience during the sales cycle. For instance, if a customer signs up for a free trial of your service, you may want to only send them a few introductory emails before setting them up with an experienced customer success agent to answer any questions they may have. However, once the customer has started using your service and has expressed interest in becoming a paid subscriber, you should start sending them regular messages about new products and features that will help enhance their experience.

How often do most email marketers email their list?

Image Source: Databox

Email Frequency Benchmarks: HubSpot’s research showed that most marketers send out between one and five emails per week to their lists (with two being the most common). This number should vary based on the frequency and type of content that you are sending to your list.

Mail Chimp's research supports HubSpot’s findings, showing that most businesses send out about one email per day to their lists. This does not necessarily mean that each message should be the same length, however, as you may need to create longer emails for certain occasions (such as a quarterly update or a promotional campaign).

Image Source: HubSpot

How often should I send emails to my subscribers?

Every business is different and there is no “one size fits all” answer. Many factors will influence how often you should send emails to your subscribers, including the type of content you are sharing with them, the lifecycle stage of their engagement with your business, and the preferences of your target audience. In some cases, it may be appropriate to send only one email per month, while in other cases you may need to send multiple emails per week.

The important thing is to be consistent with the frequency at which you communicate with your list and to keep the overall quality of your emails consistent as well. If you regularly send high-quality content to your list and provide valuable content with each email you send, then your subscribers will be more likely to engage with you on a regular basis.

Email Frequency Best Practices

1. Send more emails that provide value and less that are selling. Think of each email you send as a marketing opportunity rather than an opportunity to make a sale. Your goal is to share valuable information with your audience that will help you build trust and create long-term relationships with your subscribers. Sending too many sales emails can have a negative effect on your engagement rates and your bottom line because you’ll be reminding your subscribers that you’re trying to sell them something rather than giving them useful information.

2. Be consistent with your email cadence. Your subscribers are going to become more engaged with your content if you maintain a regular schedule for sending emails. Start by developing a content creation plan that will enable you to consistently provide quality content to your audience. Then set a realistic schedule for when you’ll send your emails and stick to it so you can keep your subscribers engaged and maximize the impact that your email campaigns have on your business.

3. Provide timely and relevant messages to your subscribers. The email messages you send should be relevant to the interests and needs of your target audience. Avoid sending generic email messages that promote your products or services whenever the occasion arises. Instead, take the time to segment your email list and send targeted messages that will be relevant to the interests of each individual subscriber on your list.

4. Provide opportunities for your readers to take action. It’s important to encourage your readers to engage with your email messages by providing them opportunities to do so. You can do this by adding links to your blog or website in the content of your email messages, asking people to sign up for a free trial of your product or service, or encouraging them to share your email with their friends.

5. Don’t forget to include a call to action at the end of every email message you send. Your call to action should tell your readers what you want them to do after they read your message, such as signing up for a free trial of your product, visiting your website, or sharing your email with a friend. You shouldn’t assume that your readers will automatically take the necessary action after reading your email – you need to tell them exactly what you want them to do so they will be encouraged to take the appropriate action.

6. Don’t send out too many email messages. Sending out too many email messages can cause you to come across as spam to your subscribers, which can cause your unsubscribe rate to increase and decrease the effectiveness of your marketing program. It’s a good idea to send one message per week to the majority of your email list and avoid sending multiple email messages a day or more than one message to the same subscriber in a short period of time.

7. Study Industry Averages. This tactic is particularly useful if you work in an industry that is highly competitive, since you need to understand what your competitors are doing in order to stay one step ahead of them. You can study industry averages by reviewing past marketing emails that your competitors have sent to determine what types of content they are including in their email messages and what types of subject lines they are using to get the attention of their subscribers.

8. Use send time automations. Set up automatic campaigns to send out your email messages to your readers at specific times of the day, week, or month. You can use this tactic to reach more readers than you normally would by sending your email messages at times when your subscribers are most likely to read them. You can also set up your email campaigns so that they automatically go out at the times that will produce the highest open rates for each message.

Putting it all together

If you want to successfully market your products or services through email, it’s critical to develop a strategy that will help you get the most out of your email marketing campaigns. Your email marketing campaigns are only going to be as successful as you make them and taking the time to properly plan and execute your campaigns can be the key to having a successful campaign that converts leads to customers for your business. Implement the tactics listed above and you should be well on your way to getting the most out of your email marketing campaign.