Being Too Shy About Email Frequency Can Spoil Results
Most hospitals and medical practices recognize that email plays an important role in nearly every marketing plan. For some, it’s a “heavy lifter” tactic that is used in support of many goals. In other situations, email supports larger strategies.
We know from experience that—done correctly—email is a powerful marketing and advertising tool. Unfortunately, some plans falter when they are too timid about sending email “too often,” and effectiveness is undermined.
As the saying goes, email is deceptively difficult. On the surface, it appears to be “free” and “easy to do.” But “send frequency”—how often you dispatch email to your subscribers—is an important element of the formula.
The fear is that too many email contacts with subscribers or opt-in readers will have a negative effect. One of the big names, and a thought leader in the email industry, Return Path, recognizes the delicate balance. “Send too little and you miss out on sales opportunities, leaving money on the table. Send too much and your customers could become annoyed, leading to complaints, list churn, and deliverability issues.”
It turns out that in email optimizing, under-mailing may be more harmful to measurable results than over-mailing. A large-scale study by Return Path of retail sending frequency and resulting subscriber complaints revealed that many marketers are unrealistically gun-shy. For main subscribers in the study, “the more they got, the more they opened.” And in fact, “sending emails more frequently often results in making more money.”
Unfortunately, there is no universal formula or magic number. And it’s important to evaluate the frequency, timing and purpose of email messages hitting the subscribers’ inbox. By this study, however, findings suggest that recipients have a greater acceptance of email content than is generally considered.
And in our experience, the subject line, content and other email factors are major considerations in its effectiveness and response rate. For more guidance in finding the right frequency, and bringing together the other variables, please connect with us today. We’d be glad to help.
And for additional reading about this topic, click through to our free reference library, and these articles:
