How often should you mail newsletters?

Newsletters can be a powerful marketing tool – but oversaturation can do more harm than good

How often should you mail newsletters?
Part II: I recently went through your free trial and I really like your newsletters and other value-added content. The newsletters are the right balance of expert material but without being over the head of the reader. My problem is: I don't know what is the best way to email the weekly newsletter and I am not sure that weekly might not be too much for my database.

–Timothy from NJ


Last week we spoke about using a CRM to email newsletters and other material and to generally manage your marketing. The next question concerns the frequency of newsletters. I have a few points to make regarding this topic:
  1. The frequency of how often you can send will depend upon the value you are delivering. If your newsletter is a sales pitch--more than once per quarter would be too much. On the other hand, if you have valuable up-to-date news, you can email much more often.
  2. The frequency would also depend upon your target. If you are emailing to consumers, then one time per month should be fine. However, if you are adding value to someone who is in business, such as a real estate agent, then weekly is not too much – again, if you are adding value. By the way, recipes and handy homeowner hints do not add value.
  3. Generally, this means that you can vary the frequency and content to different groups.
  4. You can also vary the method of delivery. For those who opt-out of emails, you can mail a newsletter. This is why a complete system should provide both email and print options. Of course, mailing is more expensive and monthly would be the most frequent you would want to mail.
–Dave


Dave Hershman has been the leading author and a top speaker for the industry for decades with six books authored and hundreds of articles published. His website is www.originationpro.com. If you have a reaction to this commentary or another question you would like answered in this column? Email Dave directly at [email protected].



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