Appendix B: Email Frequency Guide

Email frequency is one of the most debated topics in email marketing, and the answer is always ‘it depends’. This table provides starting points by industry, but your optimal frequency should be determined by testing with your specific audience. What works for one brand may cause unsubscribes for another, even within the same industry.

Industry	Recommended Cadence	Notes
Ecommerce DTC	3-5x per week	Higher frequency tolerated due to promotional nature. Revenue scales with frequency up to a point. Test to find your ceiling.
SaaS B2B	1-2x per week	Quality over quantity. Decision-makers have limited attention. Each email must justify its existence.
SaaS B2C	2-3x per week	Mix product updates with educational value. Users expect more communication than B2B buyers.
Newsletter/Media	Daily to 3x per week	Only go daily if content quality sustains. Inconsistent quality kills daily newsletters faster than anything.
Nonprofit	1-2x per month	Over-contact is the number one risk for donor fatigue. Donation asks should be spaced out significantly.
Financial Services	1-4x per month	Regulatory constraints limit frequency. Each email must provide clear value to justify the send.
Healthcare	1-2x per month	HIPAA limits marketing content and frequency. Patient communication has separate rules entirely.
Real Estate	1-2x per week	Varies significantly by stage in the buyer journey. Active buyers tolerate more. Lurkers want less.
Travel/Hospitality	2-4x per month	Seasonal surges are acceptable (daily is fine during a flash sale or holiday push).
Education	2x per month max	Students and parents are already overwhelmed with communications from multiple institutions.
Professional Services	1-2x per month	Thought leadership cadence. Each email should demonstrate expertise and build trust.
Retail	3-5x per week	Promotional intensity is expected by subscribers. Sales-driven audience self-selects for frequency.
Restaurant/Food	1-2x per week	Tied to promotional calendar. Weekly specials, seasonal menus, events.
Events	Ramp to 3-5x per week pre-event	Proximity dictates frequency. Daily emails in the final week before an event are normal and expected.

These are starting points. The right frequency for your brand depends on your content quality, your audience’s expectations, and your engagement data. If your unsubscribe rate rises above 0.3% per send, you’re likely sending too often or your content isn’t matching expectations. Watch the relationship between frequency and engagement rate. When engagement drops as frequency increases, you’ve found your ceiling.

Start at the lower end of the range and increase gradually while monitoring engagement metrics. It’s easier to increase frequency (subscribers welcome more of what they like) than to decrease it (reducing frequency signals that you were previously sending too much, and the trust damage is already done).

One more thing on frequency: the subscribers who complain about getting too many emails are rarely your best customers. Your best customers want to hear from you. Don’t let the vocal minority drive your frequency decisions. Look at the data for your most engaged, highest-spending segments separately from your overall list.

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