In its survey on the reasons people unsubscribe from permission emails, HubSpot found Email Frequency topped the list. So how do businesses determine the perfect balance of promoting their brand without annoying customers? It starts with understanding what customers want.
From baseline preferences to customization
In a Return Path study analyzing the correlation between email frequency and read rates, the company found that:
• once-weekly emails had the highest read rates
• the more frequent the emails, the lower the read rate
So while weekly might be a good starting point, businesses need to do some legwork to find the magic formula for each subscriber. Here are 10 methods to determine that frequency sweet spot.
1. Vary content. Just text, one video, several images—try some different approaches and see which ones get the best responses. The more engaged readers are, the more of emails they’ll read and the longer they’ll stay subscribed.
2. Prune those emails. Aim for quality, not quantity, so customers who want the emails get them. Too many annoyed recipients reporting a business as spam could blacklist them from an Internet service provider.
3. Play around with delivery times. Customers may be too rushed to do much more than skim emails at 5 a.m.. Try sending an offer at 8 p.m. when they might be in their PJs and ready to shop online.
4. Automate based on triggers. Consider using a receipt email to recommend items based on what they just purchased. While non-transactional emails only have a 17.3% median open rate, transactional emails have a 45.9% open rate, making it a great marketing opportunity.
5. Segment. Blanketing an entire email list is a waste of customers’ time and the company’s resources. Take the time to create relevant messages for each customer to increase engagement and cut down on reports of spam or unsubscribes. That same HubSpot survey found that irrelevant content was the second most common reason customer unsubscribe.
6. Monitor the rate of emails that are being deleted without being read. If this number goes up, cut back on email frequency immediately.
7. Offer a variety of email frequencies. Giving customers some control may decrease unsubscribes and spam reports. Bonobos catches potential unsubscribers with an opt-down page, letting them choose from weekly or monthly frequencies or a 30-day break.
8. Collect data. Track each user’s engagement to learn about their behavior, schedule, likes and dislikes, then use the information to determine content and frequency.
9. Pay attention to complaints. In another Return Path study, the company found that primary accounts—those that check their email most frequently—would tolerate up to five emails in one week from a company before complaining about frequency.
10. Don’t leave customers wondering. Just as sending too many emails could tick off customers, sending too few could result in lost revenue. Stay top of mind so that when customers are ready to buy, they’ll come to you before your competition.
Play around with frequencies and put in the effort to really analyze how customers respond. It could make a big difference in revenue. Contact Juvlon to know more about email marketing.