Frequency Capping

Frequency capping is an automated limit or cap on messages you set to ensure your customers don’t receive an absurd or annoying number of communications in a stipulated period. Automation platforms with multi-channel capabilities may include a way to cap the number of messages a user receives either in a single channel, across all channels, or both. You can cap messages based on periods of time, like hours, days, weeks, or months.

This can be particularly important since users are likely to uninstall the app or opt out of push notifications if they are confronted with an overwhelming number of messages. They might also be enrolled in multiple campaigns based on their interests, location, or current offers based on the segments you’ve built. Thus it’s important to ensure that there is a cap on the number of messages they receive to ensure that it doesn’t become annoying. 

Determining the sweet spot for a frequency cap requires analyzing your data trends, especially where opt-outs and uninstalls seem to peak for different segments. Understanding the number of messages that a customer can handle from your brand across channels is also important for you to decide your frequency cap.

Frequency caps aren’t completely binding—you can override them for a critical or urgent message you want to send out to your customers.