How Often Should You Email Your Subscribers
Recently I have asked that question in a marketing related, private forum. The answers were quite interesting and mostly driven by fear.
- I don’t want to annoy my readers.
- I am glad to find something to write about every now and then.
Have you ever been not really in the mood for writing a blog post or a valuable message to your e-mail list members? I have to admit that I felt a bit like that this morning. So I browsed through a popular article directory and wanted to find one useful article, which I can republish and share with you. But before I found an appropriate article, I decided to write this one myself instead.
Lead Type (melting in the oven of your mind) [image credit]
Here is the lesson I have learned about articles in article directories
- It seems that everybody who can write writes and submits articles to article directories. It takes some time till you find an author who has genuine expertise, who does not rehash the same facts as everybody else.
- The best and only good part of most articles is the title.
- Only a few really good articles from a few writers get re-published a lot.
- In most cases you could and should write a better blog article yourself.
What turns me off most are false claims, and assertions which are not substantiated by facts or resources. For example I read the following statement.
“Studies reveal that one newsletter a month is optimal in communicating with your subscribers.”
That’s Bullshit Marketing!
I mean, come on, even common sense tells you that this is bad advice. And the pseudo-expert author even tries to make it more believable by calling his source “Studies.” Where are the studies? Why doesn’t he refer to them? I guess I do not really need to answer that question, do I.
Without a doubt there is a small group of publishers who might have some email subscribers for whom the once a month schedule works great. But what about everybody else?
The truth is, you need to determine the best schedule for your subscribers yourself, and you will even find — depending on your topic and market — that your schedule should vary over time. This is true because of the following external reasons.
And there are really more influence factors. That said, I have learned once a month is usually not enough to keep your email list members engaged with you. Excellent e-mail marketing is about building a relationship, starting a dialog.
If you publish your email newsletter once a month only, you are leaving a lot of opportunity on the table.
The main motivation for every single e-mail you send to your email list must be to provide value and to help.
How much of help is it to send news that might be old already when you send it out once a month? Do you really only want to help your members and customers once a month only?
Good email marketing creates a connection on the personal level between the author, who represents your brand, and the reader.
Here are a few ideas for subjects your member will want to hear about more frequently.
Make it a mix, make it educating as well as entertaining. You will see more response from this type of newsletter, when your message is more than just the dry facts about topic X, Y, or Z.
Actually you can sign up to my newsletter at the top of the page to learn more about the subject.
Yours
John W. Furst
P.S.: Now, what do you think? How often is too often and how few is too few? Leave a comment below.
Mr. John W. Furst , the founder of Email And Internet Marketing Strategies For Business - Fcon21 says, “My mission goes far beyond making my clients more profitable, I want them to become market leaders.”
How Often Should You Send To Your Email List?
The truth is, you need to determine the best schedule for your subscribers yourself, and you will even find — depending on your topic and market — that your schedule should vary over time. This is true because of the following external reasons.
- season
- overall market condition
- activities of competitors
And there are really more influence factors. That said, I have learned once a month is usually not enough to keep your email list members engaged with you. Excellent e-mail marketing is about building a relationship, starting a dialog.
If you publish your email newsletter once a month only, you are leaving a lot of opportunity on the table.
The main motivation for every single e-mail you send to your email list must be to provide value and to help.
How much of help is it to send news that might be old already when you send it out once a month? Do you really only want to help your members and customers once a month only?
Good email marketing creates a connection on the personal level between the author, who represents your brand, and the reader.
Here are a few ideas for subjects your member will want to hear about more frequently.
- How to use your services and products
- Stories from people in your industry
- Case-studies
- Surveys (engage the reader) and survey results
- Upcoming events in your market
- News about your offer
- Add personal experiences and stories
Make it a mix, make it educating as well as entertaining. You will see more response from this type of newsletter, when your message is more than just the dry facts about topic X, Y, or Z.
Actually you can sign up to my newsletter at the top of the page to learn more about the subject.
Yours
John W. Furst
P.S.: Now, what do you think? How often is too often and how few is too few? Leave a comment below.
Image source: “Lead Type (melting in the oven of your mind)”, ©2007 by jm3/flickr. - Some rights reserved. - CC BY-SA 2.0.
Mr. John W. Furst , the founder of Email And Internet Marketing Strategies For Business - Fcon21 says, “My mission goes far beyond making my clients more profitable, I want them to become market leaders.”
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