Frequency Capping

\ˈfrē-kwən(t)-sē\ \ˈka-piŋ\

An automated limit on messages to ensure users don’t receive an absurd or annoying number of communications in a short period of time.

“I’m glad we set up frequency capping for our push notifications—this group would have received 33 messages today!”

Frequency Capping

\ˈfrē-kwən(t)-sē\ \ˈka-piŋ\
TL;DR

An automated limit on messages to ensure users don’t receive an absurd or annoying number of communications in a short period of time.

Used in a sentence

“I’m glad we set up frequency capping for our push notifications—this group would have received 33 messages today!”

Definition

Frequency capping is the act of limiting the number of messages received or ads seen by a user in a given time period. Automation platforms that include multichannel capabilities may include a way to cap the number of messages received by a user either in a single channel, across all channels, or both. You can cap messages based on various periods of time, like day, week, or month.

This can be particularly important since users are likely to uninstall or opt out of push notifications when confronted with overwhelming numbers of messages, but at the same time, might be enrolled in multiple campaigns based on their interests, location, or current offers. Determining the sweet spot for a frequency cap requires a look at your data trends, especially where opt outs and uninstalls seem to peak for different segments. Frequency caps aren’t totally binding—you can override them for a critical or urgent message.

Usage

It's somewhat self-explanatory but something of a novel concept for some people. It’s also not available across all marketing automation platforms so many people might be surprised to learn about it.

Google trends for "Frequency Capping"
Join Thousands of Savvy Mobile Marketers

Sign up for our weekly mobile marketing newsletter