Overview

Frequency Optimization is designed to intelligently manage how often each contact receives promotional email messages. By leveraging data science and adaptive controls, Frequency Optimization ensures every contact gets the right number of messages—maximizing engagement, minimizing fatigue, and reducing unsubscribes. 

With Frequency Optimization enabled, Cordial automatically applies per-contact weekly caps, powered by engagement and value data. You can always prioritize essential emails and monitor how frequency decisions are made, resulting in more effective outreach with full transparency.

How Frequency Optimization Works

Frequency Optimization blends personalization, automation, and marketer control through these core components:

Adaptive Frequency Attribute

• Cordial uses advanced modeling to set a weekly email limit (“frequency cap”) for each contact.
• Each cap reflects historical engagement (clicks, opens, bounces, LTV, RFM, and other data).
• Frequency attributes are recalculated weekly, adapting to changing customer behavior.

Weekly Suppression Cap

• Contacts receive a number of promotional emails based on their personal cap.
• A distribution algorithm schedules sends throughout the week, preventing delivery spikes.
• The suppression cap applies to batch, automated, and orchestrated campaigns.
• Transactional messages (e.g., order confirmations) are never suppressed.

Always Deliver Priority Messages

• Marketers retain control: You can explicitly mark specific messages as “always deliver,” ensuring they bypass any frequency limits.
• This means high-priority or legally required sends will always reach your contacts.

System Visibility

• Frequency Optimization activity is clearly tracked and displayed throughout Message Reports.
• Skipped message counts and contact-level skip events provide additional transparency.

Prerequisites

To take advantage of Frequency Optimization, the following requirements must be met:

• Feature Enablement: Frequency Optimization must be activated for your account (contact your Cordial Customer Success Manager for setup).
• Engagement Attributes: Your account must use LTV (Lifetime Value) and RFM (Recency, Frequency, Monetary) attributes.
• Historical Data: A minimum of 12 weeks of promotional message data—covering bounces, clicks, and other engagement events (browses, carts, orders)—is required for accurate cap modeling.

Where to Find Frequency Optimization in Cordial

Frequency Optimization can be managed and monitored from several locations within the Cordial platform. Look for the following touchpoints:

• Account Email Settings:

  • A global enable/disable setting lets you switch Frequency Optimization on or off for all messages.

    Use case: Turn off the cap during peak periods (e.g., holiday sales) when higher frequency is strategic.

  • Frequency caps may be further limited to a specific audience list for testing or optimization purposes

    Use case: Test frequency optimization against a specific audience or exclude an audience from all caps

• Message/Automation/Orchestration Toggles:

  • Frequency cap enable/disable switches appear on individual messages and automations:

• As well as Orchestration workflows:

• Contact Profiles:

  • Each contact’s AI-calculated frequency attribute is visible directly in their profile, making it easy to review cap status.

• Message Reports & List Views:

  • “Skipped” count is displayed in Message Reports, Sent Email, Scheduled, and Draft Lists, as well as in the Email Send Status Modal, clearly showing how many messages were withheld by the cap.
  • Per-message frequency cap status appears in Sent Email, Scheduled, and Draft lists for easy monitoring.

Sending Priority

To further optimize frequency capping, messages may be assigned categories with associated priorities.

These message categories may be modified by dragging them into the appropriate section.

Delivery will  automatically weight High and Medium messages ahead of Low. During a week of sending, High messages are most likely to send even if contact caps are reached while Low messages are most likely to be skipped. An individual message can always have frequency optimization Disabled to always send it regardless of caps.

These categories may then be assigned under the Delivery section of messages. If no category is assigned, the default will be used.

Note: Categories are defined based on common message types. Reach out to your CSM for modifications.

Strategy Tips

• Regularly review Contact Profiles for changes to the AI-calculated frequency attribute and adjust your message priorities accordingly.
• Use global and per-message toggles strategically—for example, turning off caps during big sales, but keeping them on for regular promotions.
• Check Message Reports after each campaign to quickly spot suppressed sends and consider adjusting content or scheduling if necessary.
• Consider marking critical communications (such as legal notices or order updates) as “always deliver” to ensure compliance.