How often should you send your newsletter?

"How often should I send my newsletter" is the most-asked question in this market and the one with the worst answers. The conventional advice ("once a week") is wrong for most niches. The contrarian advice ("send every day") is wrong for almost all of them. The right answer is a function of three variables - niche, list size, and content type - and it almost never matches the global average.

The niche medians

From the Newsletrix corpus, refreshed quarterly. These are median weekly send counts across thousands of brands per category:

Notice the asymmetry. Ecommerce and media live at higher frequencies because the content type tolerates it (offers, news). B2B SaaS, creator, and dev sit at one per week because the audience expects depth, not pace. Trying to ramp B2B SaaS to 3x per week typically lifts unsubscribe rate without lifting revenue.

The list-size adjustment

List size modulates the right cadence in non-obvious ways:

• Under 1,000. The personal-quality contract is strongest at this scale. Frequency slightly below the niche median.
• 1,000 - 10,000. The most flexible band. The niche median is usually right.
• 10,000 - 100,000. Audience composition is now mixed. Slightly above the median is sustainable because active-user volumes mask the dropouts.
• 100,000+. Often back to median or slightly below. Heterogeneous audience means each send risks alienating a sub-segment.

The content-type adjustment

Different content types have different burnout thresholds:

• Curated links / digest. +10% above niche median. Curation feels less effortful for the reader.
• Original editorial / long-form. -15% below median. Each send demands more reader attention.
• Product updates / changelog. -30% below median. Readers expect rare-but-relevant.
• Promotions / discounts. +40% above median. Tolerated only if the offers are real.
• Mixed. Median.

The burnout threshold

How do you know when you have crossed it? Three lagging indicators that all fire within 2-3 weeks of the cadence ramp:

1. Unsubscribe rate climbs more than 0.3 percentage points above baseline. A B2B newsletter that ran at 0.15% unsubscribe per send and now runs at 0.5% has a problem.
2. Open rate drops more than 5 percentage points. Engaged subscribers stop opening when fatigue sets in. The next-mail open rate is the cleanest signal.
3. Spam complaint rate climbs above 0.1%. Some recipients hit "report spam" instead of unsubscribing. This actively damages your sender reputation and is the most expensive form of fatigue.

The repair is reverse-burnout: drop frequency back to the niche median, watch the metrics for 3-4 weeks, then ramp again at half the previous slope.

Best time to send

Frequency tells you how often. Send time tells you when within the week. The peak slots vary as sharply as the frequencies do:

The worst slots in almost every niche: Friday afternoon (after 14:00 local) and Saturday. Open rates drop 2-3x compared to the peak slot in the same week. Unless your audience is uniquely weekend-active (some creator and lifestyle newsletters fit), avoid these windows.

The "should I copy my competitor" question

Usually no. Cadence is a contract with your list, built up over months. Your subscribers signed up expecting a specific frequency band; doubling that band overnight to match a competitor breaks the contract and they unsubscribe.

The right ramp: one extra send per month for three months. Watch unsubscribe rate. If it stays within +0.3% of baseline, the new cadence is sustainable. If it spikes, drop back.

The other question worth asking: do you actually want to be in the same crowded inbox slot as your competitor? Sometimes the right answer is to deliberately send when they don't - Sunday morning when they all send Tuesday, or Wednesday afternoon when they all send Tuesday morning. Less crowding means more attention.

Frequently asked questions

How often should I send?

B2B 1.0/wk, ecom 2.5, media 5.0, creator 1.0, fintech 1.2, dev 1.0. Adjust by list size and content type.

Will I burn out my list?

Burnout risk at ~2.5x niche median. Watch unsubscribe rate (>0.3% above baseline) and spam complaints (>0.1%).

Copy my competitor?

Usually no. Cadence is a long-term contract. Ramp slowly - one extra send per month - if you change.

Best day to send?

Niche-specific. B2B Tue 10:00, ecom Thu 19:00, creator Sun 08:00. Avoid Fri PM and Saturday.

List size effect?

Sub-1k slightly less than median, 1-10k median, 10-100k slightly above, 100k+ back to median.

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