We know that your popular but there’s a limit to how often your email subscribers want to see a message from you in their inbox.

Have you ever thought about sending a follow-up email just a day after the initial email? Think again. There are two words you should consider deeply when you’re thinking about how often to send emails.

Inbox Exhaustion

Inbox exhaustion may sound like a serious problem, but you can totally avoid it. Inbox exhaustion occurs when you send way too many emails to your subscribers, wearying them with emails and making them unsubscribe, or even complain that you’re sending spam.

Now there isn’t a convenient guide telling you just how often you can email your subscribers. It’s just common sense. Even so, a lot of marketers ignore their common sense, especially near the holidays. Really, who wants to get an email from your company, or any company, every day for days on end? It’s annoying. And it’s inbox exhaustion – when the subscriber is worn out and frustrated by frequency.

How can I tell when often becomes too often?

Keep an eye on your stats. When you send out more frequent emails do your opens and clicks stats remain steady? Or do you see them drop? If they’re dropping, change your habits accordingly. Or, here’s an even better idea: ask your subscribers how often they want to hear from you. If you can, give them the options of yearly, quarterly, monthly, or bi-weekly emails. We live in an on-demand society. People will appreciate your emails more if they feel like you’re giving them just what they want.

When you’re trying to avoid inbox exhaustion, here’s the golden rule: use common sense. If you don’t like to get multiple e-mails from the same company, day after day, then don’t send them. Avoid filling someone’s inbox with multiple marketing messages within a day. Be patient rather than overbearing. If you have a good offer and clear message, those who want to will take action.

While the conveniences of modern technology have certainly simplified the marketing process, these days some of our most useful tools can end up causing the greatest amount of frustration. Chances are you have experienced this yourself. You open up your inbox, only to find that you have 57 new emails, when just last night, there were two. After an hour of irritated sorting, deleting, and replying you have to ask yourself how email has taken over your life. There’s a name for this kind of frustration: inbox exhaustion.

Inbox exhaustion can occur when someone is bombarded by daily emails from well-meaning companies that can’t seem to find a balance between too much and not enough. You can be guilty of this, if you are not careful. The danger is that too much emailing will not only frustrate subscribers, but actually turn them off completely. For some people, the problem gets so severe that they declare email bankruptcy and permanently deactivate their email accounts!

So how do you know if you are exhausting your subscribers? Take a look at your stats. Are they dropping? Are people unsubscribing? Odds are good that if you are sending daily emails, your subscribers are feeling overwhelmed. Try cutting back to weekly or bi-weekly, and see what happens. Backing off on emails does not mean that you are less committed to email marketing. It’s a strategy for avoiding email exhaustion and keeping your subscribers happy.

Finding a balance is the key. Instead of focusing on quantity, focus on quality. When you send an email, make sure that it’s exactly what your subscribers need to know. Succinct, to the point, and well-spread-out emails will keep people on board without them feeling like they’re in the middle of a game of email dodge ball.

Certainly, you do not want to lose touch with subscribers. Halting your entire email marketing scheme is not the answer. Fail to send enough emails, and your readers may forget about you or mark you as spam after a month or two of no communication. Email exhaustion can be avoided if you carefully balance the amount of emails you send, the length and quality of the content, and the overall approach you take to email marketing.

Most people like email communication. Use it effectively, and the tool will prove invaluable for your business. Exhaust your readers, and you will almost certainly lose them.