Frequency – How often should I email my readers?
When considering how frequently to launch a newsletter, there isn’t an exact science. It is important to compare numbers and contrast results between launches in order to identify the ideal frequency for your business. Be willing to explore and see what works; each agent might find specific frequencies that work with their audience.
Monitor metrics after each launch; specifically look at these important metrics:
- Unique open rate
- Click rate
- Total lead triggers
- Opt-out rate
Once you’ve identified a frequency that optimizes the above metrics, try sticking to that schedule. A benefit to email marketing is the ability to have flexibility for identifying what works best for each market. As you’re getting started try emailing your audience once every two weeks (highly recommended):
Sending emails biweekly can help increase a marketer’s likelihood of staying top of mind with readers. Email marketers should only send a biweekly newsletter if each email is able to have unique content. In order for a biweekly newsletter to be valuable and engaging, agents should consider:
- Do I have the quantity of articles to send emails at a biweekly frequency?
- Will my articles be of value-added quality that is both timely and appropriate for my target markets?
Why not email only on a monthly basis?
- Sending emails once a month can be effective but risks a lower engagement. At this frequency agents are more likely to be lost in the mix of the hundreds of other emails being received by an individual.
- Business trends move fast. Missing opportunities to provide key insights can cause you to miss opportunities to stand out as a trusted advisor.
Recommended days of the week and time of day to send an email
There is no ‘secret formula’ for figuring out what day and time to send an email that will ensure that everyone will open it. There are, however, general rules of thumb that can guide email marketers on their journey to find the most successful date and time for an email launch.
Three Don’ts:
- Don’t Send Emails at midnight
- Don’t Send Emails on holidays
- Don’t Send Emails during the weekend
Three General Rule of Thumb Experiments to try:
- Send Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday between 8-10am
- Send Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday between 2-4pm
- Send Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday between 8-10pm
Every area of the country and every target audience may have unique preferences, so you should be sure to test different launch timings for their industry and monitor metrics. Similarly to identifying a frequency, comparing the following metrics after sending a few launches on different days of the week and at different times:
- Unique open rate
- Click rate
- Total lead triggers
- Opt-out rate
Once a successful day and time has been identified – schedule future launches to occur then.
Keep in mind – Generating leads
Though the amount of your leads and the frequency of your audiences engagement will increase through email marketing, it is important to remember Dr. Jeffrey Lant’s “Rule of Seven”. This rule states that on average, sellers must contact their consumers a minimum of seven times in an 18-month period in order for a consumer to remember the seller.
Typically, only 25% of your current leads are sales-ready. Marketers shouldn’t worry though, because a whopping 50% of leads are qualified buyers. These qualified buyers only need to be nurtured with a few more touches while the mature into sales ready leads.
Nurturing these leads can take some time. Some studies report that each lead needs an average of 7-to-33 touches (times a business contacts them) before the individual responds positively. Therefore it is always important to remember – email marketing is an organic process. Email marketers should seek to plant seeds with their contacts, as they are nurtured them into future sales.
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