Stop Guessing and Start Selling
Most Brisbane business owners I talk to fall into one of two camps: they either spam their customers every single day until people get sick of them, or they’re so afraid of being a nuisance that they don't send anything at all.
Both of these approaches are leaving money on the table.
If you own a landscaping business in Chermside or a boutique law firm in the CBD, your email list is likely your most valuable asset. These are people who have already put their hand up and said, "I'm interested in what you do." But if you don't stay in front of them, they'll forget you exist the moment a competitor pops up with a flashy ad.
I’ve looked at the data across dozens of local industries. The sweet spot for email frequency isn't a mystery—it’s a formula. Here is the practical, no-nonsense guide to how often you should be hitting 'send' to get more bookings and sales.
The Cost of Getting it Wrong
Before we look at the numbers, let’s be blunt about what happens when you mess this up.
If you send too many emails, people will mark you as spam. Once that happens, Google and Outlook start sending all your mail to the junk folder—not just the marketing stuff, but your quotes and invoices too. We’ve seen businesses basically go invisible because they overdid it.
On the flip side, if you only email once every six months, your customers will forget who you are. When they finally see your name in their inbox, they’ll think, "Who is this?" and hit delete. You’re essentially sending emails nobody sees because you haven't built a relationship.
The Data: How Often is "Just Right"?
Based on our results with Brisbane small businesses, here is the breakdown of what actually works to drive revenue.
1. The "Goldilocks" Zone: 2 to 4 Times per Month
For 80% of small businesses—tradies, professional services, and local shops—sending one email every week or every fortnight is the winning strategy.Why it works: It’s frequent enough to keep you top-of-mind when a pipe bursts or someone needs a tax return done, but not so frequent that it feels like harassment. The Result: Consistent phone calls and a steady stream of enquiries without a high number of people unsubscribing.
2. The High-Volume Approach: 2 to 3 Times per Week
This is only for retail businesses with lots of changing stock or time-sensitive offers (like a local cafe with daily specials or a clothing boutique in Paddington with new arrivals).The Risk: You need a lot of high-quality content. If you send three emails a week that all say the same thing, your sales will tank. The Reward: High immediate turnover for businesses that rely on impulse buys.
3. The "Maintenance" Approach: Once per Month
This is the absolute minimum. If you go longer than 30 days without contacting your list, you are wasting your marketing budget. This works for high-ticket services like roof replacements or kitchen renovations where the customer only buys once every few years.Step-by-Step: How to Set Your Schedule
Don't just pick a number out of thin air. Follow these steps to find the frequency that makes you the most money.
Step 1: Audit Your Content Capacity
Be honest: how much time do you actually have? It is better to send one great email a month than four rushed, ugly ones. If you're out on the tools all day, you probably can't manage a weekly newsletter. Start with once a fortnight. You can always scale up, but it’s hard to win back a customer who left because you bored them with low-quality junk.Step 2: Check Your Costs
Marketing isn't free, even if you do it yourself. You need to consider email platform costs and the time it takes you or your staff to put the message together. If an email takes you three hours to write and only generates $100 in profit, you're losing money. Your frequency should be dictated by your return on investment.Step 3: Segment Your List
You shouldn't send every email to every person. This is a massive mistake. A customer who bought from you yesterday shouldn't get the same "New Customer Discount" email as someone who hasn't seen you in a year. By using smart segmentation strategies, you can actually send more emails overall because each one is highly relevant to the person receiving it.Three Rules for Every Email You Send
Regardless of how often you send, every single email must pass these three tests, or it’s a waste of your time:
1. Does it offer value? (A tip, a discount, a helpful reminder, or a piece of news they actually care about). 2. Is it clear what they should do next? (Click here to book, call this number, reply to this email). 3. Does it look good on a phone? Most of your customers in Brisbane are checking their mail while waiting for a coffee or sitting on the train. If it doesn't work on a phone, it doesn't work at all.
What’s a Waste of Money?
I see a lot of "experts" telling small business owners they need to send daily "value" emails. For a local plumber or accountant, this is rubbish. Your customers have lives. They don't want to hear from their sparky every morning at 8:00 AM.
Also, paying for expensive "automated sequences" that send 10 emails in 10 days is usually a quick way to get blocked. Unless you are running a very specific short-term promotion, stay away from high-pressure frequency tactics. They might work for big American software companies, but they feel fake and annoying to people in Queensland.
How Long Until You See Results?
If you start sending a high-quality email every fortnight, you will usually see a spike in enquiries within 24 to 48 hours of the first send.
However, the real money is made in the long term. The goal is that in six months' time, when a prospect finally decides they are ready to spend money, your name is the only one they think of because you’ve been consistently appearing in their inbox with helpful information.
Summary Checklist for Success
Tradies/Services: Aim for every 2 weeks. Retail/Food: Aim for 1-2 times per week. Professional Services: Aim for once a month with high-quality insights. Action: Look at your last 3 months of emails. If you’ve sent zero, write one today and send it. If you’ve sent 20, look at how many people are actually clicking.
Setting the right frequency is about balance. You want to be a welcome guest in the inbox, not a pest. When you get this right, email becomes the cheapest and most effective way to grow your business.
Need help getting your emails opened and generating real leads? At Local Marketing Group, we help Brisbane businesses stop guessing and start growing. Contact us today to see how we can take the marketing off your plate so you can focus on running your business.