In December of '08 I posted a blog called "When Daily Email Frequency Makes Sense." In it I argued that daily frequency makes sense only if you either set the expectation up front that you will email someone daily (if they opt-in), and that you can truly add value daily.
I wrote: "When does daily email make sense? It makes sense when it is what the user asks for and when it meets their needs. When doesn’t it make sense? Daily frequency without a subscriber’s specific opt-in to this frequency makes no sense at all. I’ve seen retailers kill their open and click metrics by over-mailing. Ultimately they destroy the trust of their subscribers in the process. To mail daily, you have to find the fanatics that get giddy when they hear from you, and let them raise their hand and ask for daily emails."
A comment came in that said: "I don't agree. I don't think a subscribers specific opt-in or not makes any difference. The issue surely whether or not the message is relevant, timely and pertinent to them."
While I agree that relevance is of great importance when sending email, permission must take place first. If you assume "hey, I've got great content that subscribers will want each day because it is so relevant to their needs," then you are making the decision for them rather than allowing them to make their own frequency decision. Any time you assume, you know what happens to U and Me. The key is to let each user decide what content, channel and frequency meets their needs. Their engagement or non-engagement is the ultimate bar, but first comes the raised hand of permission.
I wrote: "When does daily email make sense? It makes sense when it is what the user asks for and when it meets their needs. When doesn’t it make sense? Daily frequency without a subscriber’s specific opt-in to this frequency makes no sense at all. I’ve seen retailers kill their open and click metrics by over-mailing. Ultimately they destroy the trust of their subscribers in the process. To mail daily, you have to find the fanatics that get giddy when they hear from you, and let them raise their hand and ask for daily emails."
A comment came in that said: "I don't agree. I don't think a subscribers specific opt-in or not makes any difference. The issue surely whether or not the message is relevant, timely and pertinent to them."
While I agree that relevance is of great importance when sending email, permission must take place first. If you assume "hey, I've got great content that subscribers will want each day because it is so relevant to their needs," then you are making the decision for them rather than allowing them to make their own frequency decision. Any time you assume, you know what happens to U and Me. The key is to let each user decide what content, channel and frequency meets their needs. Their engagement or non-engagement is the ultimate bar, but first comes the raised hand of permission.
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Comments for Email Frequency Best Determined by the Subscriber? Yep.