How Often Should We Mail Out Newsletter?

Dear Direct Response Letter Subscriber:

Subscriber WG asks: "How often should we contact our customers
with a newsletter?"

There are two schools of thought here.

The first is that you should not e-mail your subscribers too
often, because if they hear from you too frequently, they will
unsubscribe from your newsletter.

The second says you should e-mail your list as often as you
can, because the more frequently you can send them offers, the
more orders you will get and the more money you will make. 

Which one is correct?

Actually, both--but for different markets. 

For most B2B marketing, the first school of thought is true. 

Research shows that when you e-mail your subscribers more than a
few times a month, the open rate begins to decline. 

So if your priority is having subscribers read your content, a
monthly or at most weekly schedule is best. 

But for B2C marketers who are selling products directly on the
Internet--e-commerce sites and especially info marketers--the
more often you e-mail, the greater your revenues. 

Yes, the average open rates go down. 

But because your subscribers are getting so many more e-mails
from you, your weekly online orders and revenues skyrocket. 

Caveat: Not all the e-mails you send your list can be sales
messages. 

If all you send are e-mail marketing messages, your open rates
will plummet -- and your opt-out rate will soar. Your list will
evaporate and your online revenues will vanish.

So what's the optimal ratio of sales messages vs. content
messages in your e-mails? 

You want to send as many sales messages as you can while not
causing subscribers to delete your e-mails without opening them
... or opt out of your list. 

The ideal ratio for achieving that goal -- maximum orders and
sales, high open rates, few or no opt-outs -- is this: 

Slightly more than half of your e-mail messages -- 50% or more --
should be pure content: news, information, data, and other
educational articles of interest to your subscribers. 

Logically that means slightly less than 50% of your e-mails, but
as close to half as possible, can and should be sales messages --
offering a product for sale online. 

The majority of online marketers worry about sending too many
e-mails.

But years ago in a lecture she gave, online marketing expert
Amy Africa wisely told the audience that the biggest mistake
most online marketers make is not sending enough e-mails to
their lists. 

"If you do not e-mail frequently enough, you are leaving money
on the table," she said.

Sincerely,

Bob Bly

P.S. If you have or are going to start an e-newsletter but are
worried about producing enough articles to publish on a regular
schedule, my folio "Ready-Made E-Zines" gives you dozens of
pre-written articles you can drop into your e-zine. Use them as
is or edit to fit your style. Click here to use the article folio
risk-free for 90 days: 

www.readymadeezines.com

This article appears courtesy of Bob Bly's Direct Response Letter found at www.bly.com.

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