If you do newsletters, how often can you send to your database without bugging them so much that they unsubscribe?
If you’re on social media, when is the ideal time to post to get the most attention?
If Google loves an updated website, how often should we be publishing content?
Newsletters
Do a quick google and you’ll find articles written by newsletter software companies who’ll say “61% of consumers want to see at least one email a week from brands they follow.” I personally don’t. I believe it all depends on your product/service. The real question is, how often does your customer buy your product?
Take the job of being a real estate agent as an example. There will be two types of audience. (1) contacts who are on the lookout for the latest properties and (2) those who have purchased through you already. The first group will want to hear from you at least weekly if not more often – as soon as the property comes on the market so they can get in first or plan their open home visits. The second group would likely be bothered receiving that many emails. However, you do want to be the agent they contact should their children, neighbours, friends, or family ask for a referral for a good agent. So, a quarterly newsletter would do the trick for them. You could make it seasonal as long as you ensure there is value – when to plant what in the garden, how to clean gutters, etc.
Another example: if you sell beauty products, then I’d recommend monthly newsletters – enough time to get a shopping fix, enjoy receiving and unwrapping the products, and begin using and enjoying the product. If you’re leading edge or keeping up with trends, there’s a chance you could get away with weekly or fortnightly.
The real answer will lie in the data. If you have a high unsubscribe rate, ask yourself:
- Am I sending too often?
- Am I sending value?
- Am I sending to the right people?
Here are some examples of what you should hope to achieve with your newsletter.
Industry Average Average Unsubscribe
Open Rate Click Rate Rate
Architecture & Construction 22.51% 2.51% 0.32%
Beauty & Personal Care 16.65% 1.92% 0.30%
Business & Finance 21.56% 2.72% 0.20%
Daily Deals 15.06% 2.23% 0.10%
Health 21.48% 2.69% 0.40%
Insurance 21.36% 2.13% 0.25%
Legal 22.00% 2.81% 0.22%
Real Estate 19.17% 1.77% 0.27%
Restaurant 19.77% 1.34% 0.39%
And just for a quick little brag – here are some stats of what we achieve for our clients.
Architecture & Construction 40.50% 1.50% 1.20%
Beauty & Personal Care 49.71% 10.11% 2.40%
Business & Finance 53.06% 8.04% 0.00%
Legal 50.61% 33.87% 0.58%
And don’t forget, there is nearly a full series of articles to help you achieve the same results – I’m not hiding anything!
Social Media
Again, it will depend on your audience and when they are online. If you are targeting corporate clients, then posting before and after work will likely get more engagement. If you are trying to attract stay-at-home parents, afternoon nap time presents an opportunity.
There is a theory that you should post when your competition posts – so that you can try and get some of the market share. Maybe they’ve done all the legwork on when to post, so you just jump on their coattails. But that’s a big risk if you’re putting ad spend into it.
The best way is to start and experiment. Keep an eye on your engagement and start learning when works best for you. There are ‘best times’ already decided on that can be found with a Google search:
- Instagram – early in the morning, more specifically Saturday at 11am and Sunday at 7am.
- Facebook – Mondays through Fridays at 3am, Tuesdays at 10am and midday.
- LinkedIn – between Tuesday and Thursday, either early morning, lunchtime, or early evening.
- TikTok – Sunday at 4pm.
- YouTube – Sundays between 8am and 11am, or after 5pm.
Website Updates
Google loves a regularly updated website, the more time you put into it, the more results you will yield. The issue with this is the commitment. Once a month is a good start and once every three months would be the recommended minimum. If you have a monthly newsletter, publishing the articles on your website will care for most of the work. Updates can also be some new photos, a promotion you are running, a new product, or even a customer testimonial.
The reason to update your website on a regular basis is that the Google algorithms see it happening and will treat the site as relevant (appropriate to the current time, period, or circumstances).
Be like Nike
It’s all about the audience. How often and when people want to hear from you is the second hardest question in marketing. The first is, what they want to hear from you. The answer is no shortcut, you just need to start with your best guess, experiment, and monitor. Be like Nike and ‘just do it’.
Next month we’ll talk about reading the data and making changes to try and achieve your goals.