What’s the Right Email Send Volume?

What’s the Right Email Send Volume?

Are you sending too many emails?  Or not enough emails?  That’s a question that’s been perplexing email marketers for years.  Thankfully, there is an answer.  But believe it or not, the answer is not a one-size-fits-all.  Your optimal send volume may be different than another businesses optimal send volume.

Figuring out the right email send volume for your lists all depends on your vertical, what it is you’re sending and how your subscribers typically engage.  Nailing down the right email send volume for your business can greatly boost your bottom line.  And yes, there’s a very simple way to figure all of this out.

First, here’s how to know if you’re sending too many emails.

•   You’re getting too many SPAM complaints

•   You see a drop in engagement metrics

•   Unsubscribes are surging

•   Your ROI is falling through the floor

Now, you probably send two types of mass emails (excluding direct emails).  Offers and newsletters/content.  If you’re sending offer after offer, you’ll find that no matter how many, or few sends you make, your SPAM issues will increase, your engagement will drop, your list will shrink and your revenue will fall.

Subscribers get annoyed by constant over-pitching.  And they’ll let you know it by leaving.

If you’re sending more newsletter/content emails than commercial emails and you’re still experiencing these issues, you’ve got a serious content problem.

You need to be sure your content is fun, engaging, enlightening and, importantly, geared towards your list vertical.

Segment, segment, segment.  Don’t send newsletter/content emails to demographics who aren’t interested.  Would you send an article on baby nutrition to a college student?  Most likely not.  But you may be doing it anyway, without even knowing it.

With EmailOversight you’ll be able to segment your lists easily and target the right audience with the right messages at the right time.  You’ll know what the right email send volume is for your business.  And this goes for both offer emails and content emails.

So what’s the right email send volume?

This question is a little trickier.  You already know if you’re sending emails too often if you’re suffering the four key points above… but how do you know if you’re not sending enough?

According to a study conducted on promotional email frequency, consumers actually expect to receive and appreciate receiving commercial email messages.  Your subscribers want offers.  And of course they love good content emails regularly too.

But how often do they want offers?

86% of respondents say they like to see a promotional email at least once a month.

And 15% say they’d like to see one every day.

Now, 60% say they’d like a promotional email at least every week!

It stands to reason that your offer email sends should be at least weekly.  Perhaps twice a week.

But like we said earlier, it all depends on your business, your vertical, your engagement rates and your content to promo ratio.

A good rule of thumb is send at least two content emails for every offer email, then dissect the data from there and adjust.  But again, this is not the same for every business.

Let’s say you operate an online Christmas cookie store.  It’s February and your sales have screeched to a halt.  Should you send more offers or more content?  Nobody is looking for Christmas cookies in February, but they sure might like a recipe for home made hot cocoa.

Keep the relationship alive with your subscribers.  Send them content they’ll enjoy.  They’ll stay engaged and buy your offers when the time is right.  You can still send offers, but up the content sends.  In fact, by knowing your subscribers, you can engineer products around their content consumption.  Maybe that free hot cocoa recipe they all love can become your next best-selling product.

Now, let’s say you run an online action sports business.  Again, it’s February.  Should you be sending more content or offers?  Well, if you’ve got the latest Solomon ski’s on sale for half off… the answer is simple.

But if you’ve segmented your list properly and you know that 50% of your subscribers are into surfing and hiking (out of season), you’ll want to send that segment some great free content revolving around their lifestyle.  Especially if they’ve never engaged in offers or content relating to skiing.

Knowing all the data on your subscribers and properly segmenting them is key.  It’s knowing and listening to this data that can turn a small business into a money making machine.

But every business is different.

Here’s how to really figure out the optimal send volume for any business

The right email send volume depends completely on your business.  Regardless of vertical.  The only way to really know what the right email send volume is for your business, is by utilizing your subscriber data.  Data you may not even know you have!

And it’s easy.  With the tools available at EmailOversight you’ll be able to get a deep insight on your subscribers and know precisely how many emails your business should be sending.  Should you send more content?  More offers?  The data will tell you.

You can easily segment your lists in a detailed and precise manner, track engagement in newsletter/communication sends and email offer sends.  You’ll know what time of day and what day of the week is best for newsletters, and what days and times are best for offers.

You’ll know if you’re sending too many emails, or not enough.  Again, the data will tell you.

The data insights you’ll find with EmailOversight not only answer this important question, but can allow you to boost your bottom line, find hidden revenue streams and even create new products based on engagement metrics.

EmailOversight can not only help you optimize your email lists, but we can help optimize your business.

 

 

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