Email Frequency – How Often Should You Send?
April 27, 2006 at 2:03 pm
Q. How often should you communicate with your opted in contacts list?
a. Every month
b. Once a quarter
c. Sporadically
The answer is – that there is no hard and fast answer! The jury it out.
Some marketers would say ‘every month, others would suggest you
ask your contacts and then stick to that, still more would say every quarter.
The reality is that how often you send should be all about relevance. Chris
Baggott makes a great analogy in his blog. He says you should manage email
frequency like any relationship. You talk to your partner every day, your best
friend once a week (or maybe not?), and your mother once a month.
Say something when you have something to say – and when you don’t, shut up.
On the plus side
Because sending email is so cheap, many email marketers often don’t care if
they’re overdoing it on the frequency. They have certain messages to get out
there, so they don’t care if their response rates aren’t that high.
They’ve got that off their list.
On the other hand
We recommend to our clients that an email structure be put in place at the outset
and at least try and stick to that. Most businesses should have something to
say after a period of, say, 3-4 months. If not, then maybe it’s a stagnant
business.
When you move to become an email publisher, unless you schedule the next edition, 6, 12, or 14 months can fly by without an email.
Even here in Brightspark HQ, we’re all running around working on this
email because it really has to go today – last working Thursday of April is technically the very last day of spring! Without a promise to your contacts regarding frequency of send (in our case, seasonal), you’re more than likely to fall into the trap of time passing you by.
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