Benoit Marketing

“In the 2008 holiday e-mail season, retailers turned up the gas on their e-mail campaigns, hoping to salvage what was predicted to be a flat or down consumer spending season,” says Loren McDonald in an article at MarketingProfs. If handled haphazardly, that’s a risky strategy that increases the likelihood of spam complaints and unsubscribe requests. But if managed carefully, you can increase your e-mail volume to some recipients without losing their goodwill.

The trick is to think in terms of sending the right message to the right subscriber at the right time—a formula that has worked really well for our clients. In the month of December we sent e-mails for clients with a very specific offer and message and timing. For example, we sent a ski package e-blast on the day the area was receiving 2 feet of fresh snow. The open rate was an outstanding 50% open rate. But in this economic tough time, we are recommending more than one e-mail a month. Increased frequency can be good customer service and if you have a targeted message, it may be worth increasing the volumn.

The Po!nt: Customers like to hear from you. If you have a friendly customer relationship, relevance could trump the frequency question.