Back to Glossary
Campaign Types

Email Frequency

How often you send emails to your subscribers, a critical factor in engagement and unsubscribe rates.

Definition

Email frequency refers to how often you send emails to your subscribers - whether daily, weekly, monthly, or otherwise. Finding the right frequency balances staying top-of-mind with your audience against overwhelming them. Too few emails and subscribers forget you; too many and they unsubscribe or stop engaging.

Why It Matters

Frequency directly impacts both engagement and list health. Under-mailing leads to low engagement and forgotten brands. Over-mailing causes unsubscribes, spam complaints, and email fatigue. The right frequency maximizes lifetime value while maintaining healthy engagement rates.

How It Works

Optimal frequency depends on your industry, content value, and subscriber expectations. Some audiences want daily updates; others prefer monthly digests. Monitor key metrics (open rate, click rate, unsubscribe rate) as you adjust frequency. Let subscribers set their own preferences when possible.

Example

Finding optimal frequency through testing:

Week 1-4: Send weekly newsletters - 25% open rate, 0.2% unsubscribe rate

Week 5-8: Increase to twice weekly - 22% open rate, 0.4% unsubscribe rate (declining engagement)

Week 9-12: Return to weekly + 1 promotional email - 24% open rate, 0.3% unsubscribe rate

Conclusion: Weekly cadence works best; add promotional emails selectively.

Best Practices

  • 1Set clear expectations at signup about email frequency
  • 2Offer frequency preferences in your preference center
  • 3Monitor unsubscribe rates as you change frequency
  • 4Segment high-engagers who can receive more emails
  • 5Quality matters more than quantity - only send valuable content

Frequently Asked Questions

There is no universal answer - it depends on your audience and content. Most B2C brands send 1-4 times per week; B2B often sends bi-weekly or monthly. Test different frequencies and monitor engagement metrics to find your sweet spot.

Watch for declining open rates, increasing unsubscribe rates, and more spam complaints. If these metrics worsen as you increase frequency, you are likely over-mailing. Also ask subscribers directly through surveys.