Finding the right email frequency is a balancing act

Finding the right email frequency is a balancing act: you want to stay top-of-mind without becoming the "spammy" brand your customers reflexively archive.

While there isn't a single universal number, here are the industry-standard best practices for keeping your cadence healthy.

1. Quality Over Quantity
The most important rule is that frequency should follow value. * If you have something genuinely helpful, exciting, or profitable to share, you can email more often.

• If you are sending "just to check in" or "remind you we exist," you are likely over-sending.

2. The "Sweet Spot" Benchmarks
For most businesses, these general guidelines provide a solid starting point:

• Minimum: Once a month. Anything less and customers often forget why they signed up, leading to higher spam reports when you finally do reach out.
• Maximum: Twice a week. For non-news or non-daily deal brands, three or more emails a week often leads to a sharp increase in unsubscribes.
• The "Goldilocks" Zone:Once a week or bi-weekly. This maintains a consistent presence without overwhelming the inbox.

3. Segment by Engagement
Not every customer should receive the same frequency. You can adjust your cadence based on how they interact with you:

• Active Fans: If they open every email, they can handle (and may want) a higher frequency.
• Lapsed Customers: If they haven't opened an email in 90 days, drop them to a "monthly digest" or a re-engagement sequence rather than the weekly blast.

4. Let the Customer Decide
One of the best ways to reduce "unsubscribe" rates is to offer a Preference Center. Instead of a binary "In or Out," give them options:

• "Send me everything" (Daily/Weekly)
• "Just the highlights" (Monthly)
• "Only send me alerts about [Specific Category]"

Implementation Tip
If you are worried about your current frequency, check your Open Rates and Unsubscribe Rates over your last five campaigns. If you see a steady decline in opens or a spike in unsubscribes, it’s a clear signal to scale back the frequency and increase the relevance.