I’m writing this on Sunday morning – and the break in the heat in Seattle has finally given me a chance to work with a clear head.

So, I’m taking a moment to sit back, look at the upcoming emails I have going out and decide if I’ve got enough, at the right time, and to the right people.

Even after managing many launches, I always take time before every single launch to think about this issue.

Are people going to be annoyed?

Are they getting too much?

Is the message on target?

Is it being broadcast to the right people?

Do I need another email somewhere?

And two biggies: Are they opening?? and Are they clicking??

So – it goes without saying that your email marketing service can be an ally or enemy during launch – depending on how you use it. Meaning – you should definitely be using them more than just loading emails that go out.

Why is communication during your launch so important?

Because everyone likes to be communicated to in a very specific way – whether you realize that or not.

Being aware of any absolute no-nos will decrease the number of unsubscribes and complaints you get during your launch.

So..How do you know how often and when to send emails during a launch?

Believe it or not – this is a really important question to ask yourself (and a hard one to answer without digging in a little).

Send too many emails – too often – to the “wrong” people, and you’ll see your list dwindle to nothing in no time.

Send too few emails, spaced too far apart and you won’t see the sales you want on your upcoming launch.

So – what’s the right amount and frequency?

It all depends…

This is not a trick question or answer.  The time, space, frequency, and quantity of emails you send ALWAYS depends on your audience.

The 3 Most Obvious + Easy Ways To Know How To Email Your List During A Launch

Play Detective

You know your readers better than anyone, right?

If your answer is no – here’s what you can do right now to start planning out your emails:

• Look over the reports of all emails you’ve ever sent to your list.
• Were there any times you sent more than 1 email a week? if so – look at open rates of both.
• Which content/subject lines of emails that got opened the most – take note of those.

Test and Reset

After doing a little review – if you still don’t have no clue how often you should send to people, here’s what I suggest… TEST IT OUT!

1. Send a warning email – like – hey – we’re doing this soon or hey, are you interested in this thing I’m doing?
2. Allow people to raise their hand – and here’s why
3. Send 1 weekday and 1 weekend email – which got better open rates? Did you get any complaints? Which one got complaints? Which got the most opens? Which got the most clicks? Test a new weekday or weekend day or time. Test!!
4. If you notice lots of people unsubscribing, go back to the emails you’ve already sent, make sure you are sending them to the correct list.  Again – this is why I suggest having an interest list or specific events lists for webinars and calls.
5. Learn how to segment your list.

Segment my what?

Segmenting your list means separating out specific groups of people based on their actions, clicks, and activity. Most email marketing services allow you to save out segments of your list based on this information.

Here are a few segments you should make today:

1. People who open emails
2. People who click on emails
3. People who fill out specific webforms – say 1 webform is specifically for a toolkit or resource page you’ve created. Create a saved segment based on people who raised their hands for those resources!

If you use Aweber, go here to learn how to segment your email list.

If you use MailChimp, here’s where to learn all about email list segmentation.

-> Go now to whichever system you use and learn how to create the 3 segments listed above.

Some universal truths about communication quantity + frequency

1. If you plan on sending more than 1 email per week during your launch, make sure you work up to it about 1 month in advance.  People already have enough email overwhelm, so prepare them slowly for it!
2. If you’re using aweber, make sure you exclude any lists that have nothing to do with what you’re launching and maybe even current customers for that product!
3. Emails too spaced apart and people forget what you’re doing… emails too packed tight and people delete without opening them.
4. Bottom line: if people like what you are doing, they will read your emails, no matter when you send them. You won’t get it all perfect, but a little thought and you’ll get it mostly right.

So – go – now – run to your email marketing service dashboard, dig in and then make a plan to warn, test, write, and repeat!

Leave a comment below and let me know what you learned about your own list or leave me a question if you are stumped on how often to email your list!

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