I'm sure that most of your email recipients feel like Allie in the Notebook. They pace back and forth in front of their computer staring at their inbox...waiting for your email. They keep hitting refresh, never losing hope that your email is coming.
But, your other contacts may not feel the same way. So, how often can you email your recipients without being annoying? What's normal? You're going to love this answer: it depends. Fortunately, here's a breakdown of respectable email marketing practices.
To send or not to send?
01. Your content is awesome. Do!
02. You are sending to a list of people who know you. Do!
03. You are emailing your mom. Do!
04. You already sent to this list this week. Don't!
05. Your content will not apply to some recipients. Don't!
So how often should you send?
More than once a day
As a rule, you can't get away with more than once in a day, but some occasions require it. An exception includes tech updates (like a system outage).
Once a day
This can be acceptable if you are ramping up to an amazing event, or if you are launching a new product. It's effective in a themed campaign, but it's too desperate if the emails are unrelated. If you're building hype for an open house, go for it! Otherwise, don't go too crazy.
Once a week
This is the ideal benchmark for email marketing. If your emails are short, sweet, and to the point, you can get away with weekly emails. Hold the lengthy, link filled newsletters for monthly marketing. If you are emailing your contacts relevant content, hit send!
Twice a month
If you have consistently high open rates to a targeted group of recipients, email as much as you want. But if you are just starting to email regularly, start here. You can always separate the consistent opens from those who aren't reading your emails.
Once a month
This is the sweet spot for newsletters, tech updates, new employee announcements, holiday related emails, and friendly check-in emails to acquaintances.
Four times a year
This is perfect for large quarterly reports, stat-filled emails, lengthy article filled newsletters, or long catch-up emails. Combine this with twice a month shorter emails, and your recipients will look forward to your emails.
Be consistent.
Try to send on a predictable schedule. This way, your recipients can start to depend on your emails and trust you. However, don't settle on a specific day too quickly. Do some A/B testing to see what time gets the best open rates for your specific recipients. Also, if you notice some recipients are not opening emails that you know want to read your content, go ahead and reach out to them. It's possible you have the wrong email address, or their mother, like Allie's, is hiding those emails. Let us know if you want any assistance interpreting your open rates and statistics! We're here to help.
