Google the question, “How often should you send your email newsletter?” and you’ll get a plethora of answers. According to my inbox, Lands End seems to think the answer is several times a day. For others it is daily. One report that actually surveyed US adults is suggesting weekly or monthly. In that survey the number one reason people who opted into your mailing list still mark you as spam is because you emailed too frequently.

On the other hand, send out your email too infrequently and they’ll forget about you.

The true answer to How Often is, “Whenever you have something new and interesting to say.”

Every week you should have something new to say…

A new product…
A new story…
A new display…
A new event…

Just make sure you say something new… and interesting.

Don’t tell me about your new product. Tell me why you bought it and why you think I need it and how it will benefit me. Don’t tell me about your new event. Tell me why you are doing the event, why I should come, and how it will benefit me.

Rick Seigel, a retail consultant, used to include a joke at the bottom of each email. He knew the joke made people more likely to open the email and scroll all the way to the bottom, whether they read the rest of the email or not. It was new, fun, and interesting.

You have to say something new and say something interesting. Do those two things and you’ll never be accused of sending out too many emails. (Well, okay, there is always one in every crowd. Ignore him.)

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS What is black and white and red all over? An ugly blog template. (More bad blog jokes here.)

PPS Add your media contacts to your email list. Keep them in the loop of what is new with you. You never know when they need a new story that dovetails nicely with what you’re doing.

PPPS Yes, make sure you always share your newsletter on your social media platforms. I regularly got more comments and interaction on Facebook than I did from the actual email.