How to figure out newsletter frequency

Newsletter conversations can start in many places — newsletter name, design, marketing strategy, content strategy, calls to action, and frequency.

What if I were to tell you that figuring out a frequency might be your most important newsletter decision, a connection between your team’s bandwidth and your business strategies? The right newsletter frequency is how habits get formed, where conversion happens, and eventually loyalty.

When I started Oklahoma Memo one year ago, I thought about doing it only weekly. The first bit of strong advice that I got was that it would be hard to cut through the noise in a world filled with Axios and local newsroom RSS newsletters if I weren’t more ambitious.

Daily it was. Eventually, I moved from M-F to M-Sat.

And I’ve done it every single day since Jan. 21, 2025, even during our choir trip to Europe last summer. Every day.

But I’m a team of one, and I’m curating much more than I’m creating. So, I’m not the best use case for this.

Newsletters are habits, not artifacts

The most important job of a newsletter isn’t to look good. It’s to show up when the reader expects it.

Humans are pattern-driven. We open things out of routine far more often than out of curiosity. That’s why the best-performing newsletters — across media, business, and local — feel predictable in the best way.

Not boring. Predictable.

Same time.
Same rhythm.
Same promise.

When readers know when something is coming, they stop deciding whether to open it. They just do.

It’s been weird for me to see this ring true for Oklahoma Memo. My open rate has stayed above 60% as I grew it (without paid acquisition) to 1,380+ email subscribers. I’m not naive, however. I know that I have to meet the audience’s expectations every day.

Design optimizes. Frequency builds.

A couple of points:

1. Design helps once someone is already there.
2. This is why so many newsletters stall after launch:
   • They over-invest in polish.
   • They under-invest in sustainability.
   • They treat each send like a campaign instead of a commitment.

I chose Beehiiv to host Oklahoma Memo because I liked the simplicity of it, and it made it easy for me to do this night in, night out. Frequency is important both for the consumer and the creator, er, curator. Why is it important to the creator? Again, once you land on a frequency that works for your audience, they will come to expect it just as they do good customer service or a quality product. Fail here, and the assumption will be made that your business can’t be trusted in other areas.

Frequency is an important commitment.

You might be thinking: So why risk it even? Newsletters (like podcasts) are terrific examples of content marketing and audience development that you can control at a low cost without paid or earned media. It’s as effective a public relations tactic as exists in 2026.

So how do you decide?

The first thing I’d think about would be your ideal scenario. If everything worked out perfectly, what could a regular newsletter do for your business?

Could it land you sales? Produce warm leads? Could it bring customers to your pizzeria, your steakhouse? Could it land you new clients for your law firm or dentist’s office?

No single edition of any newsletter will result in the conversion of your dreams. However, launching a newsletter is a quest to build relationships — full stop. As part of any sales, marketing or audience development process, it’s going to take you 7-10 touch points minimum to cement that relationship.

And that’s why frequency matters so much. Yes, take your business goals into account.

But also consider your bandwidth. Do you have the right people on the right team to ideate stories? To design, build, and amplify the newsletter? Here’s where I would seriously suggest hiring journalists to help you. This is what they do.

I’ll give you some quick ideas, though.

Restaurant? Share recipes, show videos on how to cook popular dishes, or write about your best employees. Tell their stories.

Law firm? Educate the audience about law, policy, and topics that will not only help draw people to your business, but also help you attract new clients — and better clients!

There’s an old saying in the digital space. We’re here to educate, entertain, or inspire. Pick at least one.

But I’d still argue that frequency is probably your most important newsletter decision — and I would lean toward the highest frequency you can maintain without disrupting other parts of your business. Because frequency is where the magic happens, for real.

Reach out to me anytime at ryan@doabledigitalmedia.com.

Photo by Roman Bozhko on Unsplash