Ah, the magical world of email marketing in 2024. 

It can be a confusing space to navigate, especially when the rules seem to be constantly changing. 

Naturally, I get asked a lot of questions about how to approach it and the best practices for increasing engagement with our email list. 

Today, I’m doing a quick Q&A with the most common questions I get, so you can start to apply some super effective strategies to your email marketing campaigns. 

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Q: How often should I email my email list?

There are two prevalent schools of thought: some say once a month to avoid bothering people, while others advocate for daily emails. Personally, I’m somewhere in between.

Today, people crave more frequent content from their favourite creators. If you’re only emailing once a week, you’re likely to be forgotten. 

In saying that, remember that it’s all about what is actually doable for you. If you can only manage one email per week, that’s fine – but just make it count. It’s important to create an email marketing place you can stick to. But as soon as you’re able to, I would recommend looking at twice, if not three times, per week.

Q: How often should I promote to my list?

There are two primary types of promotions: intense, full-on open cart sequences and lighter, less frequent promotions.

For major launches, like a full open cart sequence, I recommend aiming for a big push every 60 to 90 days. These sequences can last up to ten days with multiple emails. Lighter promotions, such as webinar invites or special video series, should occur about once a month.

A good rule of thumb is to balance your emails with three-quarters value and one-quarter promotion. For instance, out of four emails in a month, three should provide pure value, while one can be promotional. This ensures you’re not overwhelming your audience but still offering them opportunities to connect and engage with your offers.

Q: What are good open rates? 

Standard metrics vary by industry, but generally aiming for 20-30% is solid. Anything below 15% could be a red flag indicating outdated lists or delivery issues. On the flip side, rates above 30% suggest you’re doing something right.

To troubleshoot open rates, look at your welcome sequence. The first few emails should exceed 40% open rates, reflecting the excitement of your new subscribers. Poor numbers here might indicate deliverability issues requiring attention from your email service provider.

Q: What size list do I need to start selling products?

My bare minimum suggestion is 500 engaged subscribers if it’s a new, warm list. However, 1,000 is better. That’s because you’re going to be putting a lot of time, effort and resources into creating your offer, and you want to make sure you get as much return as possible. Now, that’s not to say that I recommend waiting years and years to build your list up to 1,000.

There needs to be a happy medium there so that you can start taking action quickly.  So, 500 for a warm and engaged list, but preferably 1,000. 

Q: What percentage of my email list should I expect will buy?

This can vary a lot, but a traditional rule of thumb is 1% of your email list will convert to buyers. While this can serve as a general guide, several factors influence conversions, including niche specificity and list engagement. 

I prefer to break it down by looking at what type of promotion I’m doing, how many people I need to engage and how I’m delivering it. For example, I know a webinar needs to convert at 10% of people who watch it, and I’m going to have X percentage of people actually watch it who registered. Therefore, I need to have X number of people register. And if my list is X number, then I need X percentage of people from my list to register. 

It’s not always a straightforward calculation, but doing some reverse engineering can help you get to an expected number.

Q: What size list do I need to create a funnel? 

This answer may surprise you: it can be zero. Unlike one-off launches, funnels cater to new subscribers and guide them through a tailored sequence to maximise engagement. You can start with funnels from zero subscribers, ensuring every new joiner gets the best introduction to your content and offers. The goal is to warm up cold leads, making them familiar fans who are primed for conversion.

These questions are definitely ones we should all be asking, because when we don’t know what we don’t know, we can end up making some really big mistakes.

I hope these answers have given you some clarity and guidance around optimising your email marketing in 2024, and if you have any other burning questions on the topic, feel free to send us a DM over on Instagram at @hellofunnels! 

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