Email Marketing: Segment Your Audience
One of the questions at Crain’s recent Small Business Forum, Doing the Web Smartly, was how to keep in touch with users via email. Specifically, what is the right frequency for sending out emails?
I’m motivated to ponder this question because, just this morning, I have received my weekly market update from Perl Mortgage. Perl does a lot of business, and, at some point in my past, I worked with them to install a computer network in their office. Ken Perlmutter, the owner, is a good guy: high energy, positive and friendly; very can-do.
So what’s the problem?
I’m slightly irritated to get his email. To put the two opening paragraphs together, I’m irritated to get an email from a customer who has spent a few thousand dollars with me and whom I personally like and respect.
In other words, I’m predisposed to like Ken and to want to receive communication from him, and I’m still irritated.
Those who know me know I’m sometimes irritable, but that’s not the issue here. It’s that I’m not ready to receive the information that he’s ready to send out. Although he doesn’t know it, I’m not in the market for a new mortgage and, unless my situation changes radically, I won’t be in the market for one any time in the next few years (if I have my way, any time in the next couple of decades, but that’s another story).
So let’s get back to the root question: what is the right frequency for sending out emails? The answer given at the forum by the e-tailing rep, was more frequently is better than less frequently because you never know when someone will be ready to buy and you want to be there when they are.
That’s a very generic answer and I disagree with the assumption behind it. The assumption is that you don’t know your customers or, more precisely, that you can’t know your customers. Maybe the assumption is that it’s too expensive to get to know your customers. In any case, when you make the assumption and send out emails that people aren’t ready for, your emails inflict incremental relationship damage on at least some segment of your market.
You need to take the time to segment your messaging or you need to give recipients the tools to meaningfully self-segment. Your messages should go out with a frequency that matches your prospect’s interest level. If you produce a weekly newsletter, allow your recipients to set their delivery frequency to something that works for them. Quarterly is reasonable. Depending on your business, annually may be reasonable.
Going back to the example from Perl Mortgage (who, just to be clear, is far from alone on this issue), I’d gladly review a message from them on a quarterly basis. And if there was an option to select that frequency myself, I’d do it. As it is, the only option I have is to permanently opt out of his mailing list, which I’m not ready to do. (That feature mismatch causes some stress, but that’s also another topic.)
I don’t know that the emailing services (Constant Contact, Emma, MailerMailer, etc) have figured this out, but I’d be surprised if they aren’t working on something. If you send out email using one of these services, contact them (constantly!) until they do. It will help you keep a larger, more meaningful mailing list that gets better results over time.
Feedback? I’d love to hear it!