You Can Lead a Subscriber to Water (often) but you Can’t Make Him Drink (or in this case open your email)

As an email marketer, do you walk that fine line of optimal sending frequency? Should you increase the rate of your email campaigns or should you send your email campaigns out less often?

 Can you teach an old dog-new tricks, because, just like working with the dog,  the only way you're going to know if a sending frequency change works in your favor, is by trying it.

When it comes to an increase in mailing frequency, do you believe having more is better and actually merrier; or do you believe that having too much of a good thing is really a bad thing?

Can you teach an old dog new tricks?

On the other hand, will any change in mailing frequency upset the apple cart?  Will you be forgotten, out of sight out of mind, if you mail less? Will your newsletters be missed or will a decrease in mailings get your subscribers attention as absence makes the heart grow fonder, or does it?

Should you increase your mailing frequency, hoping to  engage your subscribers more often? But then again, if everything appears to be working well why change it.  After all, you don’t want to kill the goose that laid the olden egg by upsetting your happy subscribers who seems totally satisfied with the amount of email they receive from you.  In this case it may not be prudent to change your email frequency, not without consulting your subscribers, first.

Is sending large volumes of email really an ends to a mean (more subscriber engagement, higher ROI?)  Frequency Balance(tm) is the key factor here, between how often you want to mail compared to how often your recipients want your email.  And why do you want to mail more often – because you have something to share?

Something urgent, something new, something relevant, something borrowed (list?) something blue?
Or are you increasing your mailing frequency because:

• You have a sponsorship deadline and you need bigger numbers?
• Your reports indicate the more email opens, the more money.
• This is the only list you have to send to and have so much to say.
• You want to engage your customers more, encourage them to visit your website, follow a link etc.

Sounds logical, increase your mailing frequency, increase your customer engagement.  However some email marketers have noticed, at times, there is an adverse effect on subscriber engagement; when you email too much, it declines.

On the other hand, barring Results not Typical, several email marketers have noted an increase in subscriber engagement when they increase the mailing frequency.
What’s a marketer to do?

Do your own research; compare the numbers between sending frequency and engagements per campaign and see if you notice an engagement decline or an increase.
Make sure you're using a healthy list and:

• Be Consistent when you measure your results.
• Adjust your mailing frequency base on engagement ratios (currently 2 X a week out of 7 day, increase to 3X a week out of 7 days).
• Segment your list from highly engaged customers who interact with your product to segments comprised of those with less interest.

And test, test, test, the frequency and the type of content you’re planning on sending.
Your content should continually engage your customers:

• Provide them with an offer that instigates your email recipient to interact with your offer.
• Let you subscribers provide you with information about their mailing preferences in content and engagement.
• Occasionally ask your email subscribers for comments and opinions.
• Don’t forget to set your recipients expectations, what they are going to receive from you, with a Welcome letter.
• Appropriate targeting and segmentation will grow the value of your email message, which in the long run, drives engagement.
• Don’t spill the beans all on the first page, have your copy give them a reason to click to read more.

Contact Dundee Email Services to learn more.