How Often Does Your Audience REALLY Want to Hear from You?

Ah, the age-old question – “How often should I email my list?”

When it comes to relationship marketing and building solid business relationships with your audience, a certain amount of interaction is vitally important. But is there such a thing as TOO much interaction?

Let’s compare three different scenarios and audiences.

Almost everyone has a long lost cousin, friend, or acquaintance who you only hear from once a year in the form of a holiday card. Sure, it’s nice that they reached out, but communicating just once a year doesn’t give you a chance to stay up to date with their family news.

Then you have your college roommate, who lives out of state but you only hear from him/her when there’s drama in their life or they need to vent about something. These are the people who are in touch more frequently than your cousin, but only when they need something – not because they have an interest in what is happening in your life.

And lastly, you have the mother who dropped off her 18-year-old daughter at college for the first time and who texts and/or calls every day, just to check on how things are going. Did she get to class on time? How’s the food at the dining hall? Do you like your roommates? What do you mean your books cost $800? Do you want us to come visit for Parents’ Weekend?

Each of these real-life scenarios can translate to a business situation.

Small business owners or solopreneurs who don’t create and/or use their email list to communicate with their past customers more than once a year won’t create name recognition among their customers.  They run the high risk of getting their emails deleted or marked as spam. One possible exception: seasonal businesses.

Business owners who only use their social media accounts or email accounts to promote their products and sales are only interested in making money from their audience. They don’t necessarily care about what their followers need at that moment in time. One possible exception: big box stores who offer coupons and other discounts.

Internet marketers and big box stores or companies who email every single day run the risk of annoying their audience and causing people to unsubscribe from their lists. One possible exception: business owners who follow leaders in their industry or who look forward to daily tips and/or affirmations from these leaders.

The bottom line is: you must know your market to know how often you should interact with them to build a solid relationship. There are always exceptions to every rule, and even within the same industries different businesses will experience different responses to their communications tactics. Research your market, understand their pain points, and create a solution for them.