If your business isn't taking advantage of email marketing yet, you may be missing out on a relatively inexpensive way to attract new customers, encourage repeat business, and increase your overall revenue. When it comes to bringing in new customers and marketing to existing clients, email marketing can be much more effective than using social media. One important element of successful email marketing campaigns is following best practices for frequency. Here’s how.
Consider Your Goals
First of all, you need to decide what you want to get out of your email marketing. Is your goal to get people to visit your website? Are you trying to promote and increase sales? Do you want to get customers to subscribe to your social media channels? You need to set specific goals for each of your email campaigns as well as an overall marketing strategy, and then use analytics tools to keep track of your progress over time. That way, you can adjust your course as needed to get the best results possible.
Optimal Email Frequency
There isn’t a one-size-fits-all strategy for how often to send out marketing emails. Some companies send out emails on a daily basis as a part of their hands-on customer contact strategy, sharing a tip of the day or other useful advice. Others choose to send emails only once a week or once a month, offering a regular coupon or special offer. In the end, you should decide what works best for your company’s goals and your specific subscribers.
Best Practices for Email Marketing
Generally, best practices are to send out emails on a regular schedule that your customers can count on. The current average frequency for emails sent by professional email marketing agencies is 1-3 times a month. Of course, the most important thing is to provide relevant content that your readers will appreciate, so it’s better to skip a week or an entire month if you don't have anything valuable to share. Content marketing strategy should always come first, and it should be the driving force behind any email marketing campaign. Be careful not to skip sending emails more than a few times in a row, however, as you may lose some subscribers if they don’t hear from you regularly.
Danger of Sending Emails Too Often
If you think you can’t have too much of a good thing, think again. While it’s important to communicate regularly with your customers, there is a definite line between making valuable customer contacts and simply bugging them. Each time you connect with your customers, you need to provide valuable information that is goal-oriented and serves to reinforce their loyalty. If they feel you are over-marketing to them, they may simply unsubscribe – and you’ll lose a valuable opportunity.
Have a Schedule
While you may decide to tweak it as you go or make exceptions, having a regular timeline for sending out your marketing emails is essential. A timeline gives content writers and account managers a schedule to work with so that they can plan ahead. It also gives your customers a regular routine, such as planning to get that oil change as soon as they receive this month’s coupon. It encourages your customers to actually look forward to hearing from you.
Need Help Setting Up an Email Marketing Campaign?
Your specific email marketing schedule should depend on your marketing goals, individual company, industry, customer base, and a number of additional factors. If you’d like to discuss setting up an email marketing campaign, the expert team at Get YOU Found™ is eager to help. Simply contact us today to get started!