When I was 9 years old, my parents bought me a packet of small Poppy seeds from Home Depot for under 3 bucks and I was thrilled to grow my own little garden. It was a good start. I had medium-sized pot filled with soil and a premiere spot on my balcony with good sun exposure. From what my parents told me, I should just water it very sparingly, maybe once a day or every other day depending on how dry the soil is. As days went on, a little sprout appeared and it got me so excited and I thought, “the more I water it, the faster it will grow!” I started going all out, watering once in the morning, once at night and from then on, almost 4 times a day. Eventually, my little sprout couldn’t handle it anymore and it sadly passed away.

The next round wasn’t so grand either. I was so traumatized by my first plant that I barely watered my next one. I watered it so infrequently that it became dehydrated and shriveled up. I finally learned that I wasn’t the garden expert I thought I was, and my parents were right: only water when needed.

My initial theory, “the more I put it, the faster the results” is what a lot of beginners in email marketing believe. You have an awesome template, a hearty list of subscribers and great content to dish out every week. Your business is experiencing a steady stream of increase each month. This will give anyone confidence in their email marketing skills and would of course want to up the ante. First and foremost, check the “soil” before adding any more water.

Since they chose to add their email address to your contact list, you already know that they seeking your service or products. So there isn’t any reason for you to try to promote your products for more sales in your email campaign. They have seen your website, they know what products you have. Through their eyes, receiving all those “buy this, buy that” emails is overly spammy and shows that you only care about making money and not about the customers’ needs. Studies have shown that after three sales pitch in a row, people will either remove themselves from the subscriptions list, or simply move you to the spam folder. You don’t want that to happen! Sure, if you plan to have a special sale or promotion once a month, go ahead and add that to your newsletters. Remember to not repeatedly shove it down their throats.

On that note, even if you are not trying to sell something, be careful of how often you send out your emails. Every day is a bit much. Very few websites are meant to send out emails everyday: daily inspirational quotes, Bible verses, DIY tips, etc. However for a business, once or twice a week would be enough to update your customers with what is going on without overwhelming them.

In the same way, if you don’t water enough, your subscribers will grow bored and maybe even forget they even signed up in the first place. Consistency is key, so if you start to slack or put less effort in your campaigns, it will definitely suffer. There are subtle ways to spice up your emails. The seed (company’s brand) itself should be uniform with the logo or personality, but maybe change up the background and colors for holidays. Add some cobwebs for Halloween or red hearts for Valentine’s Day. Or if that is too cliché for you, at least add something that is different than your others newsletters. A great way to show that your company is well rounded is incorporating current events into your emails too.