Wayyyyy too many Emails

15 years ago

What are you doing in that first 3 days. You might be giving folks the impression that they will get hammered with emails. Why not start at 2-3 times a week and stay there?

After having said that, finding the just right emailing frequency is something that I am struggling with myself...to the point of segmenting my list into sublists where some have requested more info and get more posts while others stay at one post a week...

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JayXtreme

15 years ago

Your niche has given you the answer already

Test different periods for sending until you reach an acceptable amount for them

Peace

Jay

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mdunn123 15 years ago

Originally Posted by JayXtreme

Your niche has given you the answer already

Test different periods for sending until you reach an acceptable amount for them

Peace

Jay

I agree with the above! Although keep in mind that you will always have unhappy people and whinny people with anything.
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Travis Van Slooten

15 years ago

According to Frank Kern and other gurus, daily emails are recommended. Although I have to say Frank Kern doesn't even send emails daily - at least one of the list of his I'm on.

At any rate, I agree with Intrepreneur that if I get more than one or two emails per week I unsubscribe. It's just too much "noise" - even if the info is valuable. A person can only handle so much information.

Travis

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shane_k

15 years ago

Originally Posted by tvanslooten

According to Frank Kern and other gurus, daily emails are recommended. Although I have to say Frank Kern doesn't even send emails daily - at least one of the list of his I'm on.

It doesn't matter what Frank Kern says.

The OP's own subscirbers are telling him what they want or don't want and that is proof enough.

If most of them are unsubscribing because of "Way too many emails" then you do not need any more advice or opinions from anyone else, even Frank Kern. If you want to keep your subscribers, then you slow down and don't send them so many emails. Simple and quick solution.

At any rate, I agree with Intrepreneur that if I get more than one or two emails per week I unsubscribe. It's just too much "noise" - even if the info is valuable. A person can only handle so much information.

Travis

So if you get more than one or two and would unsubscribe why would you even bring up the Frank Kern reference at all?

Just seems pointless.

Shane_K

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Ken Strong

15 years ago

Originally Posted by winebuddy

Most of my unsubs say the same thing "Wayyyy too many emails"

They're not necessarily singling you out -- they may be on a lot of lists (along with all the other regular emails and Spam they get every day) and they're just cleaning house a bit.

At least that's what many of my unsubs say... I think your mailing frequency sounds fine.

EDIT: Actually, on second thought I agree with shermancox above... try going every 3-4 days right from the beginning... and test different things, as others also mentioned.

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winebuddy

15 years ago

Yeah - I was going to say what mdunn123 just said...

I don't get many unsubs (maybe 2 in 40) but the ones I get all say the same thing.

Based on this - should I just let it ride and write it off to freebie seekers/whiners?

Also - my emails contain the exact stuff they signed up for anyway and a few extra bonuses. After my 4th email (the sales pitch for my site), I switch to maintenance mode at 1 every 3 or 4 days.

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Jay White

15 years ago

One right off the bat to congratulate them and ask for a whitelist, one the next day (your best in the series), then one very 3 days afterwards.

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Lindsay Brynn

15 years ago

I personally don't like it when I am e-mailed everyday by a list, but I think I could be different. I'm guessing it would depend on the niche.

Also I wouldn't mind if I was getting a lot of great freebies. But like others have said it doesn't look like you have a very high unsub rate, so it doesn't seem like something to worry about.

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ecis36

15 years ago

We run a small email list and we email them twice per month. That seems to be enough as our unsub ratio is pretty low, and we make some decent sales from this. We send one email on the 1st, and the second on the 15th.

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jjpmarketing 15 years ago

First it will depend heavily on your niche and the attitude of folks in that niche.

Is this niche a niche full of constant buyers? As in are they constantly looking for the latest product? Or is this niche a buy once in a blue moon niche?

Next it is going to boil down to the format of your emails. Are all your emails a promo for something?

You may want to consider updating the quality of the content you are sending out. If you are getting complaints of too many emails it is more likely that the content you are sending is not what your list is really looking for. Try to solicit some feedback from the list and find out what they are looking for.

You may even want to setup a forum or a method for them to send in suggestions as to what content you are delivering them.

There are some lists that I have been on that it was non stop promotions. I unsubscribed when all they did was promo, promo, after useless promo.

On the flip side I have also been on lists where I didn't hear from them enough. I would get emails and wonder who the he11 it was that was emailing me. That is always an immediate unsubscribe.

And on another side I am on a list that sends me promo after promo for products, but the quality of the products are so good that I wouldn't dare unsubscribe.

You really need to find out what your list wants. Quality is always better than quantity. If you improve the quality of your content and still get unsubscribes, eventually over time the quality of your list will improve and will also increase your conversions.

Not everyone is constantly looking for freebie after freebie. Just find out what your list wants and provide only the highest quality of what they are looking for.

It is also possible that you are sending emails that are too lengthy. Keep your emails, short and to the point and have them linking to something for more information. The people interested will click through and the people that aren't will delete your emails, but won't be so annoyed because of the length or due to information overload that they will unsubscribe.

But really when it comes down to it, any comments on this thread may or may not be hearsay. You are better off testing and tweaking your emails based on the results of those tests. Testing and tracking results will give you all the information you will ever need in regards to any campaign be it email or otherwise.

Dennis Grubbs
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Dan C. Rinnert 15 years ago

You never know with people.

I have a Yahoo group, which is a two-way mailing list for those not familiar with Yahoo Groups (you can also read messages from the website), and had someone eMailing today, not understanding why they were receiving messages and wishing they would stop.

Well, (a) you subscribed to the list and (b) unsubscribe instructions are in every eMail.

I guess the problem is, well as far as (a) is concerned, that people don't remember what they have and haven't signed up for. Adding to that is that some marketers don't make it easy for people either. I've been on lists where the marketer changes the eMail every time he/she sends a message. I don't know how many of those I've marked as spam simply because I didn't recognize the sender's name!

But, back to the original point and I don't think a 5% unsubscribe rate is a big problem. That means 95% of people are happy with the information. If I sign up for something, it's because I wanted that information. And, if I'm getting that information, I don't see why I'd complain about getting it too frequently. My complaint would probably be that I didn't get it ALL on day one and that it was spread out over 3 days. Who has time to wait?
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- Dan C. Rinnert 15 years ago
  
  Expanding on one of my points, I think not sending often enough may be a bigger problem than sending too often.
  
  A daily eMail may be too much for some, but it doesn't bother me. Every couple days is fine too. Once a week is okay. But, once you start going into every two weeks or once a month, then people are going to forget they subscribed. You'll be more likely to lose subscribers or be reported as spam simply because they have forgotten they subscribed to your list.
  
  The important thing to remember is that you are not the center of the universe. Your subscribers' lives do not revolve around you. They will quickly forget you. They have jobs and families and friends, and those are the things their lives revolve around. It's easy to forget you subscribed to something, no matter how important it seemed at the time. And, odds are that you're not going to have something earth-shattering to send them, no matter what frequency (or infrequency!) with which you send them mail.
  
  Still, they need to receive something of value. Doesn't have to be earth-shattering, of course. But, it should be something worthwhile and not just "filler" to provide an excuse to eMail them a promo.
  
  Sure, some people say that they will unsubscribe if you eMail them too often (according to their own subjective view of "too often") but, if people are unsubscribing based on quantity rather than quality, those perhaps aren't the people you want on your list anyway, because they're not reading the information, but counting the messages.
  
  But, I don't know that people really unsubscribe because of quantity. They may say it is, but more likely it is because of a lack of quality, and they identify quantity as an excuse. No one notices a quantity of quality, but they do recognize a quantity of junk.
  
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  Paul Myers 15 years ago
  
  Mike,
  
  5% of your total new subscribers leaving very early on is fine. It should drop a lot for the people who've been on the list for more than, I'd say, 10 emails.
  
  I looked at your site. You're not going to do much better than that, because you're giving away a free book as an incentive. There are some people who'll sign up just to get the book (which is part of the game), and not feel good about just dumping you. They'll see the feedback form at Aweber and put in whatever reason lets them feel good about it. The easiest one is "too many emails."
  
  In the welcome series for my newsletter, I tell new folks they'll get 4 more emails over the course of the next week or so, reminding them to do something with the (free) book they just got, and giving them tips on it.
  
  I get emails saying, "You've just told me you're going to spam the hell out of me, why should I stay on your list?"
  
  Ummm... Spam? That whole "Have to confirm the subscription, there's an unsubscribe link in every message" thing went right by ya, huh? Along with the reason for those 4 emails?
  
  Or, my favorite, "You're just like every other slimy ******* out there! All you want is to get your hands into my wallet, with these daily emails hammering me to buy one or another product!"
  
  Yo! If you're going to comment on the content, try reading it first.
  
  Dumbass.
  
  The people who subscribe, get the book and quietly leave... Fine. That was part of the offer. They could unsubscribe at any time, including the first email. I just hope they read the book and get something out of it.
  
  The sorry sods with the bogus excuses are not going to get anything out of it. They've proved they don't read, or they don't think about what they're reading. There's no way they're going to do the amount of thinking that book requires.
  
  Not my prospects. I want them to leave.
  
  Same with your offer. The people who are serious about learning to make really good wine are going to read your book, your emails and your other products. The people who think they'll magically learn to make great wine and impress the babes are going to unsubscribe fast.
  
  You want them to do that. They're not clogging up your list, running up your monthly bill, and hitting the spam button every time you send out an email.
  
  They are not your prospects.
  
  Whenever a thread like this pops up, you'll get people saying how often they'll accept mail before they unsubscribe. Cool. That's their absolute right.
  
  Got nothing to do with you. Ignore it.
  
  They are not your prospects.
  
  What does your perfect prospect want? That's what you offer and that's what you deliver. Ignore the wishes and desires of everyone else. You're not forcing anyone to sign up, and you're not holding anyone hostage.
  
  Be very clear on what you offer, and you'll find the people who want it will come from everywhere.
  
  Those are the ones you want to concentrate on. Not the ones who try to make you change to suit their preferences, but really don't want what you've got anyway.
  
  Oh... as Tina mentioned... I've gone 3 or 4 weeks between issues in the past and gotten the "Too many emails" thing as soon as I send one. For the most part, they really DON'T mean me. They mean too many overall. Enough of them say that to make me pretty sure it's true.
  
  Overload makes people forget to be clear. Don't take it personally.
  
  Paul
  
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Ian Mc

15 years ago

If I'm your subscriber I'm wondering what you have to say that's so valuable and important that it can't wait until a weekly or at the most a twice weekly update. You're going to have to send me something that's very worthwhile every single day or I'm going to delete you as a pain in the posterior. I don't care if you are John Reese or John Doe.

So do you?

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sevenish

15 years ago

I've not been in the game as long as others here, but I get better results if my first 4-5 emails -- if not all of them -- remind them at the beginning of the message why they are receiving the message (I.e. Horace, you opted in to learn all about goat farming and bee keeping in New York City and following is some important information about goat farming and bee keeping in New York City).

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Paul Myers

15 years ago

good tip to bring out for people so i think the consensus is 3-4 days

Classic example of either not reading or not thinking about what he's read.

By the way... May I recommend the sig file rules as your next reading effort? They're actually serious about that whole "No affiliate links in your signature" thing...

Paul

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esr

15 years ago

I, too, would unsub if I rec'd three messages in three days. I just feel stalked, or that the sender is trying way to hard to sell me something.

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drmani

15 years ago

Originally Posted by winebuddy

Most of my unsubs say the same thing "Wayyyy too many emails"

1 a day is too many? Especially if I am giving them more free stuff and the original download they got?

Your opinonsssss?

Because they did not indicate that your content was
not valuable, here's an option you might try.

At the end of your first or second autoresponder message,
you might add:

- - -
P.S. - If you think I'm emailing you too frequently and
want to receive the 'lite' version of this newsletter
(no more than 1 email a week), please sign up to this
other list of mine... ht tp://OtherListOptin.com
- - -

May keep a few of those unsubs for longer!

All success
Dr.Mani

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Jeff Henshaw

15 years ago

Because they did not indicate that your content was
not valuable, here's an option you might try.

At the end of your first or second autoresponder message,
you might add:

- - -
P.S. - If you think I'm emailing you too frequently and
want to receive the 'lite' version of this newsletter
(no more than 1 email a week), please sign up to this
other list of mine... ht tp://OtherListOptin.com
- - -

May keep a few of those unsubs for longer!

All success
Dr.Mani

Dr. Mani to the rescue again.

Thanks a bunch. I never would have thought of that.

Regards,
Jeff Henshaw.

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jjpmarketing

15 years ago

I have to add one piece of info on too much email. If you are in the IM niche and do a lot of affiliate marketing... it is really, really good to be on a lot of lists. This lets you know what the latest and greatest releases are as they are released... not 3 to 4 weeks after the fact. It will help you capitalize on SEO.

But back to the original post... stick to the basics. Test, tweak, test, tweak... wash rinse repeat.