One of the biggest inner-beliefs that exists when I talk to business owners about the value of email is "yeah, but people don't want to hear from us, it will annoy them!". It's an interesting angle and don't get me wrong, there's definitely a fine line, but assuming that paying customers don't want to hear from you isn't too far thinking your best friend is too busy for a quick phone call.

My rule #1 with email marketing: Don't over think it, the stats will tell you what you need to know.

Think it through

Contrary to my rule #1 above, you do need to create a strategy for email which works for your business over the long-term. First, if you're having doubts, I'd encourage you to sign-up to the email lists of a few big brands you know of (even if they're not in your sector, brands you like; cars, travel, fashion etc.) and see how often they email you, what with and see how you feel about it.

I have developed my own perspectives about the approach;

• B2B Businesses - it's not about the hard sell BUT it does require a hook! So use email campaigns to build interest and desire in your products/services but give people a reason to do something there and then. Make them interesting and keep them regular. You've heard of right time, right place...well that's hard with email because you never know when the right time is for your prospective customer, so instead make it right place (their email inbox) all the time (or at least, pretty often). Keep front of mind.
  
  With services like Hubspot, Mailchimp, Drip etc. you can get so many reports and alerts to help you work out where to spend the time to progress the sales conversation. Make the most of it but activity should lead to impact if it's well planned and executed. Also don't think too linear about it - not every person should get the exact same email at the exact same time. The more you personalise the approach and the content, the higher your chance of success.
  
  
• B2C Businesses - if you're in e-commerce, keep pushing our offers and incentives to get those credit cards out of wallets and paying for your goods! If you're in a more traditional sales cycle, use your content and offers strategy to get people to make appointments, request further interest, watch a demo etc. - anything that gives you a sign they are really interested. Then put a keep-in-touch strategy in place to keep them warm and move them along the sales funnel.

Give choice where possible

It doesn't have to be all in or all out - some people like getting emails daily, others prefer weekly/monthly summaries. Equally, some like emails in the evening, others first thing in the morning. We're not all the same and there are systems which will take care of this for you if you let them. The data led approach is proving some very interesting impact results so where possible, give choice. On that note, really think through the potential for unsubscribes and what are they unsubscribing from? Everything or just a particular type of communication.

Secret - We've discovered the best day to send an email!

Ok, don't tell anyone but after years of running email campaigns for a wide range of clients, we can say with confidence that we know when the best day to send an email is... but given how valuable this information is, we need to ensure you work for it and commit to not telling anyone else...so, here we go...

The best day...

...to send an email....

...is...

...wait for it...

the day you want to make money.

You're welcome.