Email Sending Frequency – How Often Should You Email Your List? 

Have you ever been unsure about clicking send before starting an email campaign? If yes, then you’re not alone. This small voice that keeps popping up in your head, wondering whether you have sent too many or too few emails, is something every marketer deals with. Deciding on the best email marketing frequency can be tricky; however, it isn’t only about numbers.

What do you think your subscribers will unsubscribe from? Your emails or your content? In other words, your subscribers unsubscribe because they find no value in your emails, regardless of the number of times you send them- even when using platforms like TrueSend to manage your email campaigns.

Why Frequency of Email Isn’t Only Numbers

Many would try to find a formula – perhaps, send an email twice a week or once every Tuesday morning. Yet, frequency in the email marketing process is a fluid concept, based on the recipient’s expectations and the relevance of the content.

Consider that if you deliver only one high-quality email every week, you may gradually build trust. But if you deliver three low-value emails, this trust will quickly evaporate.

How Often Should You Send an Email to Your List?

Now we come to the first basic question: how often should you email your list?

If we go by the common practice, you can begin with one to three emails per week, at least initially. That’s because your audience should always remain informed about your business activities without being harassed. However, there is one crucial caveat: that’s just the starting point, not a hard-and-fast rule.

The optimal frequency will depend on your audience’s level of engagement. Engaged customers may require more emails, but colder prospects may require less.

Knowing Your Audience First

Before adjusting the frequency of your email marketing efforts, you need to revisit who you will be sending emails to. Are they busy executives? Are they shoppers looking for deals? Are they longtime users of your product?

Your audience’s actions matter a great deal when deciding on frequency. For example, some people open emails several times a day, while others simply glance through them from time to time.

Ignoring that could easily result in an email marketing disaster.

Value’s Role in Determining Email Marketing Frequency

And here’s another truth: nobody cares about how often you email, just whether those emails add value.

Email marketing frequency is less important when the messages consistently educate, solve a problem, or entertain. In fact, you might actually be expected!

However, if the emails start feeling redundant or too much like advertisements, then even sending one message each week could be considered excessive. So ask yourself: would you even open your own emails?

Benchmarking by Industry: The Importance of Context

Industries work at their own paces, and this should be reflected in how often you send emails.

E-commerce stores will send more frequent emails, especially around sales and holidays. This is expected, and people expect it. B2B organizations might want to go with less frequent, but more content-driven emails.

Take, for example, an email benchmarking guide for SaaS businesses. It suggests sending behavior-based emails, such as onboarding messages, feature notifications, and usage advice.

Frequency Guide of SaaS Email Campaigns: Take a Deeper Look

Onboarding Emails

The onboarding emails must be sent regularly-sometimes even daily-as they provide much-needed assistance to new users at the very beginning.

In the case of onboarding emails, increased email marketing frequency does not make them irritating. Instead, they help the users and improve their experience.

Lifecycle Emails

Based on user behavior, email campaign frequency will change. Active users can get emails with useful information and tips. Inactive users can be contacted with re-engagement emails.

It helps you keep track of how relevant your emails are to your subscribers.

Product Updates and Announcements

Getting too many updates is definitely something the user does not want in their inbox. But then there is also the importance of not missing out on any updates and announcements.

Finding a balanced approach to the frequency of these emails is crucial.

Email List Segmentation: The Game-Changer

Failure to incorporate email list segmentation into your process makes frequency calculations difficult and ineffective.

By separating your email list, you can target particular segments. Instead of calculating what your frequency should be, you can ask, what should my frequency with this particular segment be?

Engaged users may receive more emails, while less engaged users may receive fewer emails. This method works better and is much more effective.

When Your Email Campaign Frequency Is Wrong

If there is anything wrong with your marketing efforts, chances are, it will appear in the metrics you collect during the process.

For instance, increasing unsubscribe rates indicates that your current frequency is too high, while low open rates indicate that your content is no longer resonating with your audience. Meanwhile, a lack of engagement in general can also point towards the need for increased frequency.

It doesn’t take any effort at all.

How an Email Marketing Service Can Help

Doing all of this on your own? That sounds like a recipe for headaches.

The right email marketing software makes the entire process easy. From automating workflows to analyzing performance data, email marketing services help take control out of the equation.

In other words, they turn speculation into strategy. And strategy leads to success.

Testing: The Secret Ingredient

Even when following best practices, there is nothing better than experimenting. What works for one particular audience does not necessarily apply to another.

Play around with your email frequency level. Send two weekly emails to one target group and three to another, then analyze how well each performed and make adjustments accordingly.

In time, you will figure out what frequencies resonate with your audience, and which do not.

Consistency Trumps Perfection

Finding the best email marketing frequency can be difficult. Send too often or too infrequently, and you will likely alienate your audience.

This is not to say you should follow a perfect plan; here is a piece of my personal advice: consistency wins over perfection.

An audience that knows when to expect your emails develops trust and loyalty. If anything, random bursts of emails tend to put people off.

Getting the Balance Right

It is important to note that the frequency of email marketing does not lie in reaching a particular figure but in striking a good balance.

Too few could mean your messages go unnoticed, and too many may make you a nuisance. In between lies the best strategy to consider.

However, once the right balance is achieved, your email marketing campaign will no longer appear like an attempt to promote but rather like a dialogue.

Conclusion

In summary, how often should you email your subscriber list? As indicated, there is no definitive answer to this question, as it depends on the target market, the content being sent, and the business owner’s goal.

By ensuring emails add value to recipients, segmenting email lists, and using an efficient email marketing platform like TrueSend, the process becomes far more effective and manageable.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What should be the frequency of my email marketing campaigns?

There is no standard frequency; however, most experts suggest starting with one to three emails a week.

2. How will I know if I am sending too many emails through my campaign?

The signs include unsubscribe requests, reduced open rates, and spam reports.

3. What are the recommended frequencies from a SaaS email frequency guide?

Behavioral emails include onboarding, lifecycle emails, and product updates. Frequency varies based on users’ actions.

4. How will email list segmentation affect email frequency?

Segmenting the email list enables marketers to customize email campaign frequency by target audience.

5. Do I require an email marketing service to create my email marketing campaign?

Although not compulsory, using an email marketing platform will significantly simplify the management of your campaign.