Absence makes the memory weaker

Let’s assume you use email as a marketing / communications tool for a reason - a good one that is – to engage your stakeholders in meaningful dialogue, and, from time to time, to call them to action.

One thing that is sure to diminish your ability to do this, in this oh-so-crowded email marketplace, is irregular communication with unpredictable gaps between missives.

I received an email recently from a company from whom I had not heard in a year. It took me a while to remember who they were and why I had subscribed in the first place. Sadly for them, I realised more quickly that they were not holding my attention, and unsubscribed.

Regular contact (allowing of course for high value and personalised content) enables you to build dialogue – which makes people less likely to disengage from it. It allows you to build anticipation from one communication to the next.

So it keeps your audience active, enthusiastic, and subscribed. As mentioned, you need to deliver the right content, but if you can do that, then you will have much higher response rates, and much lower unsubscribe rates.

You wouldn’t publish a magazine to which people were subscribed on an ad hoc basis – not for long, anyway. So don’t lose touch with your audience. Set a schedule, let people know what it is when they sign up, and keep to it – any keep in the forefront of their minds.