Are You Really Sending Out Enough Emails?

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Key takeaways

• There’s no one-size-fits-all sending frequency. It depends on your goals; if you want to grow brand awareness and sales, send more often.
• Use at least a three-step email series (Announcement → Reminder → Last Chance) rather than relying on a single email.
• Three core steps for every campaign: Segment (smaller lists by shared interests), Simplify (one clear call to action, avoid information overload), Send (emails in a series to prompt action).
• Multiple messages work because recipients are busy and easily distracted, repetition increases the chance they’ll act.
• Measure impact by tying emails to actual conversions/purchases, opens and clicks aren’t always reliable indicators.

Introduction

There always comes a point during a campaign where marketers ask themselves, “How many emails should I be sending out?”

Daily, weekly, monthly, or any time that sales are dropping? These are all potentially the correct answer, but it really depends on what you are trying to achieve. If you are trying to expand your brand and generate more sales, then the right answer is that you need to be sending out more emails, more frequently.

Consider this – how many times do you need to ask your kids to do something before they actually do it?

Typically, it will take several rounds of repetition before they act. This is sort of similar to email marketing.

Of course, this is not to say that the people in your contact list are children, but rather that they are busy, distracted, forgetful, and likely do not have your business as their highest priority. If you do not continuously ask, then they will probably not act on your request or appeal.

This does not mean that simply sending out a greater number of messages with a more frequent delivery rate will inherently be more effective. It means that knowing how to ask, when to ask, and not being afraid to ask more than once will be more effective than relying on just one email.

What you Need to Do

With this in mind, there are three things that every email marketer should be doing when they set out on an email campaign.

• Segment – Break down your contact list into smaller lists so that you can send out emails that are more focused on the shared interests of that group.
• Simplify – Don’t try to pack in too much information into one email. Keep things simple and make a clear call to action.
• Send – Send out emails in series to inspire and remind recipients to act.

“Approaching email marketing this way means you’re not relying on one message to do all the heavy lifting,” says Dave Charest from Business2Community. “You’re focused on getting the right messages to the right people at the right times.”

So, you may be asking – Why is sending multiple emails more effective?

Consider it this way. Many people start out on one task, but then quickly become distracted or occupied by something else before they can finish. This is no different from the customers that you are trying to connect with through an email.

“Even if they want to take advantage of an email offer you send them, they can get pulled into something before they take action,” says Charest. “And then your offer is forgotten.”

Three Easy Steps

For this reason, it is recommended to use at least a three-step email series to create the most effective email campaign. These emails can be sent out to your contact list and should follow this format for the biggest impact.

• Announcement – This email lets your customers know of an upcoming promotion and lets them to know what to expect.
• Reminder – This email acts to reaffirm what has already been established and reminds potential customers who have expressed interest in the promotion to act.
• Last Chance – This email is the final call to action and can help put a sense of urgency and limitation to a promotion, which can inspire customers to act before it is too late.

Try to keep track of when people make purchases in relation to the email that you have sent. Opens and clicks are not always the most accurate measurement, so instead try to connect your emails to actual conversions.

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