Google launches AMP for Gmail... what happens now?
Making the web better for everyone. It’s definitely a worthy objective. That’s the ideology that Google has been putting forward over the past years with its AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages) project.
Email frequency is something that your subscribers care about. A lot.
The number of emails sent over a period of time can have a significant impact on your revenue and on your engagement rate. Unfortunately, sending more emails doesn’t always lead to more revenue. Too much commercial pressure is the number 1 reason why people unsubscribe from promotional emails[i]. So how do you determine the optimal email frequency?
Sending too many emails can negatively impact your results:
Not sending enough emails can also have negative effects:
According to a study by the Data & Marketing Association[ii]:
A survey by Marketing Sherpa shows that 86% of respondents prefer to receive promotional emails at least once a month while 15% would like to receive an email per day[iii].
Look at your competitors. How many emails do they send per week? Per month? This does not mean that you are going to copy blindly their strategy but it should act as a benchmark for you to determine your ideal frequency. If you send a lot less than your competitors, you are probably missing out on opportunities. If you send a lot more, you might consider decreasing the number slightly to see the impact on your engagement rate.
Also, analyze your spam complaint and unsubscribe rates. If they are very high, you may be sending too many emails. Feel free to ask people why they are leaving on your unsubscribe page.
The number of emails sent will depend largely on what you offer. For example, if you sell snowblowers, you will certainly send more emails in winter than in summer. On the other hand, if you are a media company, you may want to communicate your news on a daily basis.
During subscription or through a preferences form, ask your contact how often they want to receive your communications.
Perform tests on different segments of your list. For example: new vs. old subscribers, millennials vs. generation X and Y, clients vs. prospects. If you find that the open rate is lower for a particular segment, decrease the frequency.
Calculate the engagement level of each contact based on his/her actions (website visit, email openings and clicks, purchases, etc.) then adjust your email frequency accordingly. You can also trigger automated emails directly based on the contact’s actions. Thus, those who engage the most will receive more emails and the others less.
As you can see, there’s no magic number to shoot for when it comes to the ideal email frequency for all. Believe me, I wish there were. But by following these tips, you should be able to hit the email frequency sweet spot for your enterprise and subscribers. Got a method to share? Please share your tips in the comments section!
[i] https://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/chart/why-consumers-unsubscribe
[ii] https://dma.org.uk/article/2016-marketer-email-tracker
[iii] https://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/chart/how-customers-want-promo-emails
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