Businesses of all sizes often wonder if they’re doing email right— namely, if they’re emailing their subscribers often enough, or too often, and how to tell when they’ve crossed the line. Unfortunately, like so much about running your own business, there’s no one-size-fits-all answer. The key to digital marketing isn’t sending out a prescribed number of emails per week— it’s learning about your customer base so you can hit the bullseye of the content they want to see at the frequency they want to see it.

The Goldilocks of Email Marketing Frequency

The first question you want to ask yourself when thinking about your email marketing frequency is “What is the goal of my email program?” You could be trying to drive awareness off your brand, increase your sales numbers, or clean house of excess inventory. The second question to ask is “How often will I have something to send that my customers find valuable?”

Every one of your emails need to provide some value to your customers, or they won’t open them (or worse, open them only to unsubscribe). Whether that’s letting them know about a sale you’re running, an event you’re hosting, interesting content related to your industry, or updates on what you’re up to as a company, it’s important that the reason behind each email is apparent. When you show the value of your content clearly and distinctly, it will keep your subscribers engaged and looking forward to communication from you.

Being consistent with your emails is also important, first for practical reasons (you don’t want your readers to forget who you are and mark you as spam) and second for memorability reasons (keeping your business top of mind builds a relationship with your consumers). But you should aim to have a content-first approach, where you build your email schedule around the amount of content you have to share, and not vice versa.

Know Your Audience

In order to meet your subscribers’ needs, you need to first meet their expectations. Without even realizing it, consumers have expectations of what they’re getting when they sign up for a company’s email list. In order to make sure those expectations are accurate, let your audience know from the get-go what they’re signing up for. If you plan to send emails daily, weekly, or monthly, tell them that.

Another important factor to consider is what your peers in your industry and your competitors are doing. Being aware of the big picture you’re operating in is a good way to know the goalposts for what a successful marketing strategy looks like. If you haven’t subscribed to a few of their email lists, do so. Keep an eye on their email marketing frequency, the type of content they’re sending out, and where they go right and wrong.

Let Them Set The Pace

80% of email subscribers list too many emails as the top reason they unsubscribe from a company’s list. But fully half of those people say they would rethink unsubscribing for an “opt-down” option. The best way to keep yourself in your customers’ inboxes is to let them choose the kinds of emails they receive— which has the added benefit of letting you know what content they find most valuable.

If you find segmenting your email content too granular, you can also offer a “digest” option, combining all the content you’ve sent out over the week or the month into one message that your subscribers can navigate at will. Either way, giving them control over the content they receive from you will make them more likely to stay subscribed.

Set Your Email Marketing Schedule with My Content Co

My Content Co knows how to create relevant, engaging and timely digital content, just like you know how to grow your business. We specialize in creating SEO friendly websites, blogs, social media posts and newsletters that are consistent with your brand. Partner with us to get your email marketing frequency just right. Visit us online or contact us today at 410-324-3934 to get started.