What Is Email Cadence?
Email cadence describes the overall pattern of how often and when you send emails to your subscribers. It encompasses your campaign frequency (how many emails per week or month), the days and times you choose to send, and the spacing between messages within an automated sequence. A well-designed cadence keeps your brand in subscribers' minds, maintains list engagement, and delivers the right message at a moment when the subscriber is most likely to act.
There is no universally correct cadence. The right frequency depends on several factors: the nature of your business and its content, what subscribers expect based on how they signed up, how engaged your list currently is, and what your performance data tells you. A South African e-commerce retailer running weekly promotions can sustain a higher sending frequency than a B2B consultancy sharing monthly thought leadership articles. Sending too infrequently risks subscribers forgetting who you are. Sending too frequently risks fatigue, increased unsubscribe rates, and damage to your sender reputation, which in turn affects deliverability.
Email cadence is directly related to deliverability and sender reputation. Internet service providers and spam filters monitor whether recipients open, click, or delete messages from a given sender address. A list that consistently receives too many emails begins to disengage: lower open rates signal to providers that your emails are not valued, which can push future sends into spam folders. This is why monitoring engagement metrics after every campaign and adjusting frequency based on real data is essential to maintaining a healthy email programme. Under POPIA, subscribers also have the right to opt out at any point, making it important not to drive unsubscribes through excessive frequency.
Cadence also applies to automated sequences. When building a triggered email onboarding or nurture flow, the spacing between emails in the sequence matters as much as the content. A five-email welcome sequence might space messages 24 hours, three days, five days, seven days, and then 14 days apart, gradually reducing frequency as the new subscriber settles into a long-term relationship.
Email Cadence In Practice
The scenario below is an illustrative example, not a Juicy Designs client result. It shows the kind of adjustment that email cadence planning typically involves, so treat it as indicative rather than a measured outcome.
Picture a Pretoria-based gym chain sending a monthly membership newsletter. It might start with a weekly frequency during January when sign-ups and motivation are high, then reduce to fortnightly in February and monthly by March, mirroring the typical decline in gym engagement and adjusting content and cadence to match where subscribers are in their journey. This kind of adaptive cadence, informed by monthly engagement data, would typically be far more effective than sending on a rigid fixed schedule regardless of results.
South African businesses managing promotional email lists should also pay attention to local context when planning cadence. Sending a high-volume campaign the week before a public holiday like Heritage Day or the December school break may produce poor results as decision-makers are distracted or out of office. Conversely, a well-timed single email arriving in a quieter inbox during a long weekend can achieve an unusually high open rate. Combine strong subject lines and preheaders with thoughtful timing to get the most from every send in your email marketing strategy.
How to find the right email cadence
The right cadence is the most you can send while keeping engagement healthy and unsubscribes low, which varies by audience and content. Sending too rarely lets subscribers forget you and weakens the relationship; sending too often causes fatigue, falling open rates and opt-outs. Rather than guess, start at a sustainable frequency you can maintain with quality content, then watch the signals: rising unsubscribes and falling opens mean you are sending too much or too generically, while very low engagement can also mean too little contact. Let the data set the pace, and remember that relevance buys frequency, people tolerate more email from a sender whose messages are consistently useful.
Cadence, segmentation and engagement
Cadence need not be one setting for everyone. Engaged subscribers who open and click can handle, and often want, more frequent contact, while quieter subscribers may need less to avoid tipping into unsubscribes or spam complaints. Segmenting by engagement lets you send more to those who welcome it and ease off those who do not, protecting both the relationship and your sender reputation. Behaviour-triggered emails, a welcome series, a purchase follow-up, also shape effective cadence, since they arrive in response to what someone did rather than on a fixed schedule. Managed this way, cadence becomes responsive rather than fixed, matching each subscriber's appetite instead of blasting the whole list identically.
FAQ
How often should you send marketing emails in South Africa?
There is no single correct answer, as optimal frequency depends on your industry, list quality, and subscriber expectations. A sensible starting point for most South African businesses is one to two emails per week for an active promotional list, or once per month for an informational newsletter. Monitor your open rates and unsubscribe rates after every campaign and adjust accordingly.
What is the best day and time to send marketing emails in South Africa?
Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday mornings between 08:00 and 10:00 SAST consistently perform well for B2B audiences in South Africa. For B2C retail, Thursday and Sunday evenings can see strong engagement as people browse before the week ends or plan ahead. These are starting points only: A/B test your specific list to discover the send time that works for your audience.
What happens if you email too often?
Over-mailing causes subscriber fatigue: open and click rates fall, unsubscribes and spam complaints rise, and your sender reputation suffers, which can push even wanted emails into spam folders. The damage extends beyond the over-mailed contacts to deliverability for the whole list.
Should email cadence differ by subscriber?
Yes. Engaged subscribers often welcome more frequent contact, while quieter ones need less to avoid unsubscribes. Segmenting cadence by engagement, and letting behaviour-triggered emails supplement scheduled ones, matches each subscriber's appetite and protects both engagement and deliverability.