how often should you send out email newsletters?
Written by Alex on December 31, 2024
How Often Should You Send Out Email Newsletters: Best Practices in 2025
Nobody wants to feel like they're shouting into the void. You've poured your heart and soul into crafting the perfect email newsletter, but are you sending it at the right time to get noticed? When it comes to email marketing, timing is everything. You can’t just send them out at 3 a.m. or when people are inactive.
You’ve got to execute the perfect time for the most impact.
I'll guide you through the best practices for when to send email newsletters in 2025 so that you can maximize your open and click-through rates.
Let's dive in and discover when is the best time to send out a newsletter!
How to Know the Best Times to Send an Email Newsletter
Determining the optimal send time for your email campaigns involves a delicate balance between understanding your audience and their preferences, the nature of your content, and your overall business objectives.
Based on my routine, I check my personal and work emails the first morning. This helps me catch up on anything I missed from the previous afternoon and evening and ensures I'm aware of any urgent messages that could impact my day ahead.
If you plan to send out emails with sales or promotions, consider timing them around your audience's lunch breaks. This is when they're more likely to check their inboxes, making it a prime opportunity to engage with them.
Know Your Audience and Their Preferences
First and foremost, you need to understand who you're talking to. Based on what I said earlier, this may align differently with your industry. Consider your target audience:
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What industry are they in? A B2B audience might be more likely to check emails during work hours, while a B2C audience might be more active in the evenings or weekends.
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What are their demographics? Younger audiences might be more active on mobile devices, meaning they could check emails throughout the day.
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What time zone are they in? It is crucial to factor this in, especially if you have a global audience. You want to ensure your email lands in their inbox when they're likely to engage.
Analyzing Your Content: Type, Quality, and Quantity
The type of content you're sending also influences the best send time.
- Promotional emails announcing sales or new products perform well on weekends when people have more time to browse and shop.
- Educational content or newsletters might be better received when people are more work-oriented during the week.
- The length and complexity of your email are also essential factors. A lengthy, information-heavy email might be better received when individuals have more time to read it, like during lunch breaks or evenings.
Balancing Your Business Goals with Subscriber Expectations
Think about what you aim to achieve with your email campaign. Are you looking to drive immediate sales, increase brand awareness, or foster a sense of community?
Remember to consider the importance of setting clear expectations with your subscribers. Inform them about the frequency of your emails and the type of content they can expect to receive.
This transparency fosters trust and improves engagement.
The Importance of Monitoring Email Open and Click-Through Rates
Finding the perfect send time isn't a one-size-fits-all scenario. What works for one business may not work for another. That's why monitoring your email open and click-through rates is crucial.
Use analytics tools to track when your subscribers are most active and experiment with different send times to see what yields the best results.
MailTag is one of the few open-tracking tools that comprehensively overviews your open rates, link-click rates, and other vital metrics.
Are you interested in A/B testing? Mailchimp has you covered. You can simultaneously send the same email to different audience segments to identify optimal send times.
Remember, data-driven decisions are crucial to maximizing your email marketing ROI.
The Science of Timing: When to Send Your Email Newsletter
You've poured your heart and soul into crafting the perfect email newsletter, but are you sending it at the right time to maximize its impact? The answer, like most things in life, is more complex. It's not just about hitting "send" whenever you feel like it; it's about strategic timing.
Let's explore the science behind the perfect time to share your newsletter.
Determining the Best Days for Maximum Engagement
Believe it or not, the day of the week you choose to launch your email newsletter can dramatically impact your open and click-through rates. Some days are simply better suited for grabbing your audience's attention. According to Moosend’s data, Thursday emerged as the best day, with Tuesday and Wednesday closely behind.
However, assume Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday are the magic days for your specific audience.
If you're targeting busy professionals, sending your newsletter later in the week, when they have slightly more breathing room, could be beneficial.
Finding the Optimal Time of Day to Increase Open Rates
Now that you know which days are generally best for sending email blasts, let's narrow our focus to the optimal time. This requires thinking about your audience's daily routines. If you're targeting professionals, sending your email around mid-morning (10 am to 11 am) could be a strategic move, allowing them to settle into their workday before being bombarded..
However, if your target audience is more diverse, consider sending emails during "shoulder hours" when people are more likely to check their devices.
These hours typically fall between 8 p.m. and midnight, when people are winding down from their day.
The Role of Testing and Adjusting Based on Performance Data
Avoid falling into the trap of thinking there's a one-size-fits-all answer to email marketing. What works best for one business might be better for another.
The key to long-term success is constantly testing and analyzing your email campaign performance data. Feel free to experiment with different send times and days. After each campaign, carefully examine the data, comparing open, click-through, and unsubscribe rates.
You can optimize your email marketing strategy and boost engagement by consistently monitoring and adjusting your approach based on your audience's behavior.
Frequency Insights: How Often Should You Reach Out?
Let's be honest. Figuring out how often to send newsletters is like finding the perfect dance rhythm—too fast, and you'll scare people off; too slow, and they'll forget you're there. Finding your ideal newsletter frequency is all about striking that delicate balance between staying top-of-mind and giving your subscribers valuable content without overwhelming their inboxes.
A study by Omnisend found that 54% of brands play it safe by email 2-4 times per month, while 32% opt for a more relaxed once-a-month approach.
Interestingly, sending emails just once a month yielded the highest open rate at 28%, with the 2-4 emails per month strategy trailing closely behind at 21%.
This data suggests that less frequent emails can lead to higher engagement. However, it's crucial to consider what works best for your audience and niche.
Daily vs. Weekly vs. Monthly Newsletters: Pros and Cons
- Daily newsletters are like that daily dose of caffeine—great for some, overwhelming for others. They're best suited for fast-paced industries like finance or breaking news, where readers crave instant updates. However, this frequency requires consistent, high-quality content to avoid subscriber fatigue.
- Weekly newsletters offer a good balance for many businesses. They provide enough time to curate engaging content without bombarding your audience. This cadence aligns well with the preferences of many consumers, as Campaign Monitor highlights that 61% want at least one email weekly from brands they follow.
- Monthly newsletters are like catch-up calls with friends—it's less about the frequency and more about the quality of the conversation. This approach works well for businesses with in-depth content or those promoting big events. However, the challenge lies in staying memorable amid the noise of other monthly emails.
The "20 Miles March" Approach to Consistency and Performance
Instead of getting caught up in the "how often should I email my list" dilemma, consider adopting the "20 Miles March" philosophy, popularized by Jim Collins. This approach emphasizes consistent progress over sporadic bursts of activity.
In the context of email marketing, it translates to finding a sustainable sending frequency that you can maintain over the long haul.
For many, sending an email every couple of weeks, averaging two emails per month, can be a good starting point. As Drip suggests, this strategy allows you to nurture relationships without overwhelming your subscribers. Consistency builds trust and familiarity, which is vital to long-term email marketing success.
Whether sending a weekly digest or a monthly newsletter, the key is consistently showing up and delivering value with each email.
Strategic Approaches to Email Newsletter Frequency
Determining the ideal email frequency for your audience is a crucial aspect of successful email marketing. While there's no one-size-fits-all answer to how often to send email marketing, a strategic approach can help you find the sweet spot.
Understanding your audience and their engagement patterns becomes paramount.
Leveraging Analytics to Inform Frequency Decisions
I recommend diving deep into your email marketing analytics to determine how often to send email newsletters.
Begin by analyzing metrics like open rates and click-through rates. If you notice a decline in these metrics after sending a certain number of emails, it might indicate email fatigue among your subscribers.
Conversely, if engagement remains high with more frequent emails, your audience may be receptive to more regular communication. Beyond open and click-through rates, consider evaluating metrics like conversion rates and unsubscribe rates.
For example, are subscribers who receive more frequent emails more likely to make a purchase?
Do higher email frequencies correlate with increased unsubscribe rates? These insights can provide valuable data-driven guidance on adjusting your email marketing frequency.
The Importance of A/B Testing to Refine Your Strategy
While analyzing overall email marketing metrics, A/B testing is crucial to determine the ideal email frequency as it varies significantly among different audiences. By segmenting your audience and experimenting with different email frequencies, you can better understand what resonates best with specific subscriber groups.
For instance, segment your audience based on engagement levels – send more frequent emails to highly engaged subscribers and less frequent emails to those who interact less.
By tailoring your email marketing frequency based on A/B testing results, you can optimize the effectiveness of your campaigns and maximize engagement.
Asking Your Audience: Incorporating Subscriber Feedback into Your Strategy
Building a successful online presence involves more than just pushing out content. It requires cultivating a robust and engaged community.
And what better way to foster that than by actively seeking and incorporating subscriber feedback into your content strategy? Listening to your audience offers invaluable insights into what they crave. It provides a direct line to understanding their preferences, pain points, and desires.
By actively incorporating their feedback, you demonstrate that you value their opinions and are committed to providing content that resonates with them on a deeper level.
Navigating the Challenges of Time Zones and Global Audiences
Reaching a global audience is exciting. It's an opportunity to share your message with the world and connect with people from all walks of life. But let's be honest: It also presents a unique set of challenges. One of the biggest hurdles is dealing with the dreaded time zone differences.
Think about it: when it's the crack of dawn in your part of the world, your audience on the other side of the globe might be sound asleep. This makes it tricky to find a suitable time to engage with everyone effectively.
However, with some planning and flexibility, it's possible to bridge the gap and get your content seen by people across different time zones.
Conclusion
Ultimately, the key to a successful email marketing strategy isn’t just about how often you send emails but how consistently you deliver value to your subscribers. By using data to guide your frequency, testing different approaches, and incorporating feedback, you can strike the right balance that resonates with your audience and builds lasting relationships.
No matter the time zone or cadence, what matters most is staying relevant, reliable, and always focused on providing content that your audience truly appreciates.