What’s the Frequency, Kenneth?

“Sir, is there a hard and fast rule for how often one should send out content?” I asked The Effective Detective.

“Watson, you of all people should know by now that there is only one hard and fast rule: there are no hard and fast rules; certainly when it comes to marketing,” answered The Detective.

“My apologies sir, so any frequency will do?” I asked in return, certain that the absurdity of  my question would be answered with a devastatingly sarcastic response.

The Detective raised an eyebrow and gave me a look intended to wilt flowers. I braced myself, but then he smiled, and responded in a surprisingly mild manner.

“Clever, Watson. Let us actually examine the question you have raised. The question of how often you should send out content is a real concern for many marketers. Sadly, I have noticed an unfortunate tendency on the part of some to fall into an age-old trap: trying to please everyone,” The Detective paused briefly, long enough for me to interject with another question.

“I am confused sir, what does the frequency of contact with one’s list have to do with pleasing everyone?”

“Ah, Watson, now that is a more appropriate question for someone of your intellect and experience,” he replied. I sat back, realizing the sarcastic response had just been delayed. At this point I figured that retreat was the better part of valor and shut my mouth and listened to his response.

“The frequency of contact is a balancing act: too infrequent, people forget you, and either unsubscribe or simply ignore your emails. Too frequent, people are annoyed with you, and unsubscribe, and even worse, may report you as spam.

“We are all afraid of being labeled spammers so we err on the side of less frequent. Nothing wrong with that decision, per se, but then some of us make that fatal mistake: we try to please everyone, so we opt for the lowest possible reasonable frequency – often once a month, and end up pleasing no one,” The Detective paused here, waiting for my response, but I stubbornly remained silent.

“This is directly related to our belief that bigger is always better, so we take anyone on our list instead of aiming at our true market, which would welcome our emails,” The Detective paused again, and raised his eyebrow. I realized he would not stop until I asked a question so I relented and obliged.

“So there is no hard and fast number, but is there a range?” I asked.

“Bravo Watson, you have hit the nail on the head! If you are truly developing a high quality list, touching them much less than once a week is not advisable, once every other week if you are truly paranoid. Remember, not everyone opens every email! If you send out only once a month and someone misses one or two, they may perceive that they haven’t heard from you in months! You may want to include an offer once a month or so, and depending on the offer, you could include it in your regular email, or send a separate, in which case you would send two in one week.

“Here is the truly interesting point Watson. The real trick is not so much frequency, it is the content. If you cannot keep your content interesting and fresh, then any frequency won’t be right,” The Detective concluded. “Let’s move on then, shall we?”

“As you wish sir.”