How Often Should You Send Your Newsletter?
Most publishers don’t email their audience enough—and it’s costing them traffic and subscribers. In this post, we break down four proven email cadences to help you grow your list, boost engagement, and drive more conversions. Watch the video below or listen to the pod to learn how.
If you’re a publisher, here’s a hard truth: you’re probably not emailing your audience often enough. We’ve seen it again and again—from local newsrooms to niche magazines. Most publishers are undersending, missing out on key engagement, traffic, and subscription opportunities.
Let’s change that.
This article breaks down practical email cadences tailored to your content and audience, and shares actionable strategies to help you send smarter and more frequently, without burning out.
Why Email Frequency Matters
Newsletters are fundamental to a publisher’s success. Email drives repeat traffic, builds trust, and converts readers to paid subscribers. And yet, a lot of publishers still aren’t sending enough.
Here’s why that’s a problem:
- Your brand fades from memory.
- Your traffic stagnates
- You miss out on opportunities to show upgrade messaging.
Email is the engine behind recurring revenue, but only if you keep it fueled often enough
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Sign up for expert advice straight to your inbox.Avoid This Common Mistake
Some publishers try to cram 20+ articles into a single newsletter. Bad idea. Here’s why:
Readers spend about 20 minutes max scanning their inbox. If your newsletter overwhelms, they’ll skim past-or worse, unsubscribe.
Break up your content into multiple shorter sends instead. One article per email? That’s totally fine. You’ll stay on their radar and keep traffic flowing back to your site.
The 4 Cadences That Actually Work
Depending on your content and capacity, you’ll fall into one of these four email frequency buckets. Start where you are—and build up from there.
1. The Weekly Minimum
If you’re sending less than once a week, that’s too little. Weekly is the bare minimum to stay in front of your audience.
This cadence is perfect for:
- Niche publishers
- Solo operations
- Low-volume content producers
Why it works: It keeps your brand alive in readers’ minds and builds early engagement.
How to pull it off:
- Use evergreen content from your archives.
- Highlight one strong story per email.
- Include a sponsor message if you have space.
Example: Small Boats Monthly sends curated articles from their archives weekly, sustaining engagement with minimal new content.
2. Two to Three Times Per Week
Ideal for:
- Culture, food, or lifestyle magazines
- Hobby and enthusiast sites
- Political or sports coverage
Why it works: Readers expect frequent updates without being overwhelmed. You stay visible, relevant, and persuasive.
How to pull it off:
- Find a rhythm that fits your audience. Let your readers’ preferences guide your schedule.
- Mix new content with archived hits.
- Focus each email on a narrow topic or theme.
Use newsletters to highlight upgrade messaging—more frequent touchpoints = more subscription opportunities.
3. Daily Email (Yes, Daily)
If you’re a news publisher—local or national—daily is essential. Your readers expect it.
Why it works:
- Keeps subscribers informed and engaged.
- Drives consistent traffic to your site.
- Builds retention: paying subscribers feel value.
How to pull it off:
- Send a digest or highlight one major story.
- Schedule publishing workflows to support daily cadence.
- Embed clear upgrade CTAs in each send.???
Even one story a day is enough. News moves fast—your newsletter should too.
4. Multiple Emails Per Day (Opt-In Only!)
Reserved for high-volume publishers:
- Breaking news
- Financial alerts
- Sports updates
Why it works: Highly engaged readers want frequent, specific updates—especially on fast-moving topics.
How to pull it off:
- Segment by topic, location, or interest.
- Let users opt into what they care about.
- Automate sends using categories or tags in WordPress.
Example: Mexico News Daily lets users choose regions to follow. When news breaks in those regions, subscribers get auto-triggered updates.
How to Automate It All
If you’re worried this sounds like too much work, relax. Automation has your back.
With tools like Flowletter, you can:
- Trigger emails by category
- Segment audiences by interests
- Format emails directly in WordPress
You publish, the system sends. That’s it. No copying, pasting, or recreating content manually.
Even Mailchimp’s RSS-to-email (a bit clunky, but effective) can handle this.
What About Sponsored Emails?
Be cautious. Over-sending strictly promotional emails will lead to unsubscribes—and possibly get you flagged by your email provider.
The key? Only send sponsored content when it:
- Matches your audience’s interests
- Feels authentic to your brand
- Offers genuine value
Take a cue from The Fisherman—a magazine whose sponsored sends succeed because they’re written by real enthusiasts.
Final Thoughts: Respect the Inbox, Earn the Trust
Your email list is your most valuable asset. Treat it that way.
Start with one weekly send, then step up as your content and confidence grow. Let readers opt into segmented updates. Automate where you can. And keep delivering value, not just volume.
If you’re just getting started, one email a week is a solid foundation. Then, let your readers—and your content—guide what comes next.
Prioritize your newsletter strategy like you would any core part of your publishing model. It’s not just a box to check. It’s the engine of your audience growth, traffic, and revenue.
Watch the video
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Want to learn more about growing your audience and converting subscribers with your paywall? Get in touch with Pete.
