Advice on Outbound Email Volume

[Eric_Nguyen2]

Hi,

Since the start of the year, we've been on a pretty aggressive outbound email schedule...and am now a bit concerned with our overall volume and how it could be affecting our reputation/deliverability.

- Are there general guidelines as to outbound volume?
- Should I not exceed a certain number of emails in a given week/month?
- My unsubscribe rates have been low and steady...any advice on what to look for here?

Thanks in advance for your time!

[Anonymous]

I think every audience is going to have a different threshold as to how much is too much.

The general rule of thumb I've followed is that once a week is too often, once every 2 weeks is not enough. Depending on the lead, tinkering your email touches between 8-13 days is generally considered a reasonable amount of touches. 

Don't be afraid to play with the number. If you email every 8 days and see unsubscribes climb, increase the duration between touches. If you're at 13 days and aren't seeing a decrease in the metrics you feel are worth tracking (unsubscribes, open rates, etc), decrease the time between email sends.

Edit: I'd also like to add that, not every lead needs to be touched this often. Depending on the activity level of the lead, you may not need to hit them with many outbound emails. You also may want to give several months off for certain cold leads, and see if giving them time before re-engaging can heat them back up.

I hate to do the popular "every lead is different", but its' the truth. 

[Anonymous · Accepted solution]

There are not really guidelines it really depends on your audience and the quality and targeting of your messages. Also, it helps if you are setting frequence expectations for your audience and not emailing too many "acquired" lists. 

I know some marketers that send ~30 messages over 30 days to their audience (but they are highly targeted workflows). I know others that are just email a 2-4 per months. The thing is you hear about people in both scenarios getting black listed if they are using poor quality lists. 

Keep a close eye on your unsubscribe and deliverability rates. Also you should monitor your standing with the blacklisting services. 

http://mxtoolbox.com/blacklists.aspx

Hope that helps, 

Jeff

[Anonymous]

is there a standard report we can run to trend the email volume? TIA!