Email Frequency Advisor

Email Frequency Recommendation for Online Pet Supply Retailer

Based on your company's focus on natural and organic pet products and your goals of increasing engagement and sales while minimizing unsubscribes, here is my recommendation for optimizing your email frequency:

Current Email Program Analysis

• Weekly promotional email with sales and new products
• Monthly newsletter with pet health tips, customer stories, and seasonal guides
• Opportunity to better align frequency with customer preferences and engagement patterns

Recommended Email Frequency and Cadence

1. Continue weekly promotional email, but segment list based on engagement:
   • Highly engaged subscribers (opened/clicked in last 30 days): weekly
   • Moderately engaged (opened/clicked in last 60 days): every 2 weeks
   • Less engaged (no opens/clicks in 60+ days): monthly
2. Increase newsletter frequency to bi-weekly (every 2 weeks):
   • Alternate between pet health tips and seasonal buying guides
   • Include customer stories and user-generated content in each newsletter
3. Introduce a monthly "VIP" email for your most loyal customers:
   • Exclusive discounts, early access to new products, free samples
   • Personalized product recommendations based on purchase history
4. Set up triggered emails based on customer actions:
   • Welcome series for new subscribers
   • Post-purchase thank you and product care tips
   • Replenishment reminders for consumable products
   • Win-back series for lapsed customers (90+ days no purchase)

Testing and Optimization Plan

• Implement recommended frequency changes gradually over 2-3 months
• Monitor key metrics like open rates, click-through rates, unsubscribe rates, and sales
• A/B test different subject lines, send times, and content formats
• Survey customers quarterly for feedback on email preferences and satisfaction
• Analyze results and adjust frequency and tactics as needed based on learnings

Best Practices for Email Content

• Provide high-value, relevant content that educates and inspires pet owners
• Use a mix of promotional and non-promotional content to avoid fatigue
• Segment content by pet type (dog, cat, etc.) for more personalized messaging
• Optimize for mobile as most users check email on smartphones
• Keep subject lines short, compelling and non-spammy
• Test different content formats like videos, GIFs, and interactive elements

By segmenting your list based on engagement levels, increasing your newsletter cadence, and introducing targeted emails for VIPs and key customer actions, you can deliver more relevant, timely content to your subscribers. Combined with a regular testing and optimization process, these frequency adjustments should help improve your email performance against your goals. The key is striking the right balance of value and promotion for each segment while staying responsive to subscriber preferences.