The Better Marketing Blog

TL;DR: Media Shower research shows the best newsletter frequency for B2B marketers is at least once a month and no more than twice a week. The best time to send is mid-week at mid-day (Eastern time), but it doesn’t matter much which day you send (as long as it’s a weekday).

At Media Shower, we’ve sent thousands of newsletters for over 500 clients. We’ve got the latest statistics on newsletter marketing below – both from the latest industry research, as well as our own experience.

What’s the Recommended Frequency for Sending Newsletters?

In a study by MarketingSherpa, 86% of subscribers said they would like to receive promotional emails from their preferred brands monthly. This indicates customers are open to more email communication from their favorite businesses, which can be used to drive sales and loyalty.

So, which frequency is best for your business? According to research by Campaign Monitor, newsletters should be “no more than twice a week and at least once a month.” The study also shows us there isn’t much difference in the open rates between any days of the week except for a slight dip on the weekends, as you can see from their graph below:

Data from Omnisend largely agrees with these findings: not much of a difference during the week, but lower on the weekends.

Conversely, it seems that emails convert higher on Thursdays and Fridays:

However, the differences between days are quite small, at levels where you may only see drastic changes when sending high-volume email newsletter blasts. For most marketers, it doesn’t matter much, as long as you’re sending during the week.

To get all our newsletter marketing best practices in one quick video, click here to watch the webinar.

What Factors Should You Consider in Newsletter Frequency?

There are a few key factors to consider:

• Newsletter purpose and goals: What are you trying to achieve? For example, if you’re in the education industry, you might create a weekly newsletter focusing on learning resources and tips to help teachers and students. (Monthly might not be enough.)

If you’re in the tourism industry, you might opt to create a quarterly email focused on upcoming events related to the region where your company is located. (Daily might be too much.)

• Your target audience: If you’re in the education industry, the target audience might be parents who read your newsletter after the workday, so a weekly delivery on the weekend might be perfect. 

The target audience for a tourism-related quarterly email might be business owners and travelers who receive it on their smartphones or computers during lunchtime at work.

• Your open rates and churn: By tracking open rates and churn (read our post on tracking best practices), you can see what’s working for your customers. By watching what your customers do, not just what they say, you can adjust your email newsletter’s send frequency and topics to get better results and improve customer engagement.

Again, you want negative churn (i.e., a positively growing email list where new subscribers outnumber unsubscribes) and an open rate of about 20%.

What’s the Optimal Time to Send Newsletters?

Conventional wisdom says mid-week at mid-day (Eastern time). It’s a great place to begin, but testing to find your optimal time makes sense.

Is your audience made up of techies? Techies tend to be night owls, so that will override conventional wisdom. Are they bankers or insurance underwriters who are much more likely to be on a traditional work schedule? Or are they stay-at-home moms juggling kids, schedules, and online jobs? 

And where in the world are they located, in which time zones?

Here are some tips to help you find the best send time for your newsletters:

1. Split test: Split testing is a great way to determine the best send time for your newsletters. You can send two versions of your newsletter and compare the results at different times. A good rule of thumb is to use about 12 data points (i.e., three months for a weekly newsletter) to conclude.
2. Analyze subscribers’ locations and time zones: This can be done using tools like Mailchimp’s Geo tool.
3. Consider the type of content you’re sending: If your newsletter focuses on a consumer product, consider when your consumers will likely purchase (or think about purchasing) the product.
4. Consider subscriber goals: Are you increasing conversion rates or reducing churn?
5. Consider the season: Emails are less likely to get read between Christmas and New Year, along with other major holidays like the 4th of July or Labor Day in the U.S. Best to take a week off.

TL;DR Summary

The right newsletter cadence is somewhere between monthly and twice a week. Monday through Friday work hours are great for your newsletter, but check your metrics to find what works for your demographics. 

Shoot for negative churn (a growing subscriber base) and an open rate between 15% and 25%. (Note that available rates vary between industries, as well as the size and quality of your list.) Test different frequencies and see what works best for your audience. 

To get the full newsletter marketing best practices list in one quick video, click here to watch the webinar.