Once, twice, regularly? How to get results without annoying your recipients

Article from June, 11th, 2003.

A lot of marketers ask this question - "How often should I send my e-mails?" On one hand - more is better. Repetition generates results - this has been demonstrated again and again in TV and print ads. But e-mail is different. It is very easy to annoy the recipients, and once you do it, consider that customer lost. But if you paid money to purchase mailing lists, then you have to use these e-mail addresses several times, otherwise you will lose money.

Here is a rule of thumb - never send out messages more often than once a week. There are some exceptions for that, such as daily news newsletters, daily tips, daily jokes, etc. But the people have signed up for those themselves. Besides, the companies, which run these newsletters say that eventually the effect "wears out" and the recipients don't react to the ads the way they did in the beginning. In fact, while some people don't unsubscribe, they just stop reading these messages partly or entirely.

The other rule of thumb is that you won't be able to create a successful marketing campaign if you offer 100% advertisement. If you want to send out ads regularly and often (weekly/biweekly/monthly) - create a newsletter. Here is an example - let's say you sell gas grills. Why not create a weekly barbecue recipes newsletter? You can send the people living in your area recipes for marinades, barbecue sauces and so on, placing your ads at the very bottom. And make sure you give clear directions how to subscribe and unsubscribe.

This marketing campaign will be much more effective, since it won't look like spam. Furthermore, your recipients may recommend it to their friends and you will get more subscribers, which means you can save on paying for e-mails.

But not all e-mails follow these rules. Consider mortgage refinancing industry. Most of "refi" activity takes place when the rates change significantly. So when the rates are falling - you should advertise aggressively. But if the rates are high and stable - no one is going to want to refinance his or hers mortgage. The same is true for some seasonal businesses. Don't try to sell snowboards in June (unless you live in Australia). Don't sell bikini in January. You get the idea.

To sum up:

1. Regular is better,
2. More than once a week is too often,
3. Offer quality content in addition to advertisements.

Relavant links:

    • Bulk emailer - send you bulk email regularly

Next week: Do it yourself - software for a complete cycle of e-mail marketing
Prev week: Atomic Mail Verifier - software for keeping your lists updated

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