It's important that your message-send frequency serves your organization's unique needs while simultaneously keeping your recipients engaged but not overwhelming them. The message-send frequency can be different across various organizations.
- So, how do you know what your unique message-send frequency "sweet spot" is?
You can use the Message Summary Reports (MSR) to determine whether, for example, you are sending too many messages, and this article describes how to configure the MSR to give you exactly those results.
Before you begin
In order to get the best possible analysis of the effectiveness of your message-send frequency, consider the following points.
- Identify a "sample" group of recipients for your analysis.
- Typically, a large group of recipients provides more data and, subsequently, a better analysis.
- Typically, one month of message-send data is sufficient for a good sample. (If your accounts sends only a few messages each month, consider using two months of send data.)
- Different groups of recipients often receive different messages, so be sure to select a sample based on the messages that subscribers receive and the cadence at which these messages are sent.
Set filters for the report
The Email Volume report is ideal for analyzing the effectiveness of your message-send frequency.
- Access the Admin interface.
- Navigate to Messages > Reports > Message Summary Reports.
- In the Filter Messages section, expand:
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- Date Range and click the calendar icons to set a date range, such as one or two months.
- Number of Contacts and use the slider to set a numeric range of message recipients. Be sure to set a large enough sample size to yield a good set of results.
- Click Update Results at the bottom of the panel.
- Click the View Reports tab.
- Click the Analyze Subscribers folder and select Email Volume to view the report.
Email Volume report
The Email Volume report has two graphs: Subscribers and Percent, which directly correspond to one another. A column on the Subscribers graph directly aligns to the same column in the Percent graph, as can be seen in the images in the next section.
- The Subscribers bar graph charts the number of subscribers who received various numbers of sent messages.
- The Percent line graph charts the Delivery Rate, Open Rate, and Click Rate percentages for those same sent messages.
TIP: Hover on a bar or line to display a popup with details.
Open Rate results
The percentage of messages that your recipients open (the Open Rate) is a good gauge in determining whether you're sending too many messages.
Open Rate increases with additional messages
If the Open Rate increases among the groups that were sent more messages (e.g., 11–15 and 16–20 in the image below), your message-send frequency is fine; you're not sending too frequently.
Open Rate decreases with additional messages
If the Open Rate decreases among the groups that were sent more messages (e.g., 11-15 and 16-20 in the image below), you might be sending too many messages.
Open Rate does not change with additional messages
If the Open Rate neither increases nor decreases among the groups that were sent more messages (e.g., 11–15 and 16–20 in the image below), your message-send frequency is fine; you're not sending too frequently.