42244

econsultancy_xml

So how often is too often? Email marketers can run the risk of damaging the relationship built up with a customer by sending emails too often, causing customers to ignore or delete them. After a recent purchase from Figleaves.com, my wife has received a staggering 14 emails in the space of 3-4 weeks with a range of offers. This, to me at least, is far too often, and has led to her forwarding the emails straight to the deleted items folder, so it isn't good for Figleaves either. Internet marketing author <a href="http://www.davechaffey.com/">Dave Chaffey</a> says: <blockquote> "The reason why they may send emails weekly or even more often is simply that up to a point, the higher the frequency, the higher the monthly sales." "Reminders, and an increased range of offers in the inbox do work. The risk, of course, is that those customers who don’t respond see the retailer as a spammer." </blockquote> In <a href="http://www.doubleclick.com/us/about_doubleclick/press_releases/default.asp?p=534">DoubleClick's 2005 Email Consumer Survey</a>, 49% of respondents classified spam as '"email from a company I have done business with but that comes to frequently''. How often should retailers be sending out emails? According to Chaffey, if you send emails too often for the customer, they will lose interest and the emails will lose their impact.: <blockquote> "Weekly is possibly too often and five times or more per month is definitely too often, regardless of the product range or offers." </blockquote> According to Darren Fell at <a href="http://www.pure360.com/index.html">pure360</a>: <blockquote> "This has all to do with the relevancy of the communication. If it is generic marketing communication then it should deliver exactly what they told you they would send. I'd say 1-2 mails per month for general information." </blockquote> Are there risks in not sending emails often enough? Obviously, sales volumes may be affected, but, according to Andrew Robinson at <a href="http://www.facultas.co.uk/">Facultas</a>, this can affect the cleanliness of your list, as you will not be purging old addresses often enough. This can also harm your sending IP reputation: <blockquote> "You may also stimulate a complaint rate which is higher than normal because recipients have forgotten who you are or whether they signed up to receive email from you. This may cause your IP to be blocked at some providers." </blockquote> Find the right level of frequency for your customers Monitoring the level of unsubscribes is also a good indicator of how the customer feels about the emails they receive, though many people prefer to forward the mail to their deleted items folder or report spam, so this method is not perfect. The answer may be for email marketers to take a more sophisticated approach - monitoring open and click rates and adjusting frequencies according to the responses. More simply, you could ask your customers how often they want to receive emails. A simple check box during registration might be enough to ensure that this problem is overcome, with the customer in control and presumably happy.

<FormattedContent xmlns="http://www.e-consultancy.com/schema/formattedContent/"> <Paragraph> <Emphasis>So how often is too often?</Emphasis> <LineBreak />Email marketers can run the risk of damaging the relationship built up with a customer by sending emails too often, causing customers to ignore or delete them. <LineBreak /><LineBreak />After a recent purchase from Figleaves.com, my wife has received a staggering 14 emails in the space of 3-4 weeks with a range of offers. This, to me at least, is far too often, and has led to her forwarding the emails straight to the deleted items folder, so it isn't good for Figleaves either. </Paragraph> <Paragraph>Internet marketing author <Link URL="http://www.davechaffey.com/" Window="New">Dave Chaffey</Link> says: </Paragraph> <Block> <Paragraph> <Quote>"The reason why they may send emails weekly or even more often is simply that up to a point, the higher the frequency, the higher the monthly sales."<LineBreak /><LineBreak />"Reminders, and an increased range of offers in the inbox do work. The risk, of course, is that those customers who don’t respond see the retailer as a spammer."</Quote> </Paragraph> </Block> <Paragraph>In <Link URL="http://www.doubleclick.com/us/about_doubleclick/press_releases/default.asp?p=534" Window="New">DoubleClick's 2005 Email Consumer Survey</Link>, 49% of respondents classified spam as <Quote>'"email from a company I have done business with but that comes to frequently''. </Quote></Paragraph> <Paragraph> <Emphasis>How often should retailers be sending out emails?</Emphasis> <LineBreak />According to Chaffey, if you send emails too often for the customer, they will lose interest and the emails will lose their impact.:</Paragraph> <Block> <Paragraph> <Quote>"Weekly is possibly too often and five times or more per month is definitely too often, regardless of the product range or offers."</Quote> </Paragraph> </Block> <Paragraph>According to Darren Fell at <Link URL="http://www.pure360.com/index.html" Window="New">pure360</Link>: </Paragraph> <Block> <Paragraph> <Quote>"This has all to do with the relevancy of the communication. If it is generic marketing communication then it should deliver exactly what they told you they would send. I'd say 1-2 mails per month for general information."</Quote> </Paragraph> </Block> <Paragraph> <Emphasis>Are there risks in not sending emails often enough?</Emphasis> <LineBreak />Obviously, sales volumes may be affected, but, according to Andrew Robinson at <Link URL="http://www.facultas.co.uk/" Window="New">Facultas</Link>, this can affect the cleanliness of your list, as you will not be purging old addresses often enough. </Paragraph> <Paragraph>This can also harm your sending IP reputation: </Paragraph> <Block> <Paragraph> <Quote>"You may also stimulate a complaint rate which is higher than normal because recipients have forgotten who you are or whether they signed up to receive email from you. This may cause your IP to be blocked at some providers."</Quote> </Paragraph> </Block> <Paragraph> <Emphasis>Find the right level of frequency for your customers</Emphasis> <LineBreak />Monitoring the level of unsubscribes is also a good indicator of how the customer feels about the emails they receive, though many people prefer to forward the mail to their deleted items folder or report spam, so this method is not perfect. </Paragraph> <Paragraph>The answer may be for email marketers to take a more sophisticated approach - monitoring open and click rates and adjusting frequencies according to the responses. </Paragraph> <Paragraph>More simply, you could <Emphasis>ask your customers how often they want to receive emails</Emphasis>. A simple check box during registration might be enough to ensure that this problem is overcome, with the customer in control and presumably happy. </Paragraph> </FormattedContent>

2007-05-09T20:15:00+01:00

econsultancy_xml

Controlling the frequency of emails that you send to your customers is a key aspect of any email marketing strategy, and the big question is how often should you do it? There is no simple answer - send emails too often and you risk annoying the customers so much that they unsubscribe; not often enough and you run the risk that they will forget they signed up in the first place.

<FormattedContent xmlns="http://www.e-consultancy.com/schema/formattedContent/"> <Paragraph> <Emphasis>Controlling the frequency of emails that you send to your customers is a key aspect of any email marketing strategy, and the big question is how often should you do it? </Emphasis> </Paragraph> <Paragraph>There is no simple answer - send emails too often and you risk annoying the customers so much that they unsubscribe; not often enough and you run the risk that they will forget they signed up in the first place. </Paragraph> </FormattedContent>

false 1171

For further information about email marketing, download Econsultancy's <a href="http://econsultancy.com/reports/email-census">Email Census</a> (based on a survey of digital marketers) and the <a href="http://econsultancy.com/reports/email-marketing-buyers-guide">Email Marketing Platforms Buyer's Guide</a> (particularly relevant for the UK market). See also the <a href="http://econsultancy.com/reports/email-marketing-statistics">Email Statistics Compendium</a>.

363284

How often should you email your customers? false

2007-05-17T17:57:00+01:00

how-often-should-you-email-your-customers

2009-04-29T22:54:15+01:00

2009-10-13T09:03:51+01:00

1178