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Automatic Adjustments to E-Alert Sending Frequencies

Learn why Sierra Interactive automatically adjusts E-Alert sending frequencies, what the confirmation email means, and how you can control how often saved search alerts are sent to your leads.

Why This Feature Matters

E-Alerts are one of the most effective ways to bring leads back to your website, but only if those emails actually reach inboxes.

Sierra uses automated safeguards to balance two important goals:

  1. Continuing to send listing alerts long enough for leads to re-engage
  2. Protecting email deliverability so alerts don’t land in Promotions or Spam folders

Automatic frequency adjustments help ensure your E-Alerts remain visible, trusted, and effective over time.

For more information on E-Alerts & Market Updates visit: Setting Up E-Alerts and Market Updates in Sierra

Table of Contents

  1. How to Interpret This Email (What It Is and Isn’t)
  2. How Automatic E-Alert Frequency Adjustments Work
  3. How E-Alert Expiration Dates Work
  4. Set the Sending Frequency for Saved Search E-Alerts
  5. Sending Frequency Options You Can Choose
  6. Best Practices
  7. FAQs

Why You’re Receiving This Confirmation Email

You or your lead may receive an email similar to the following:

Subject: Do you still want to receive new listing email alerts?

We’re checking to make sure you still want to receive new listing email alerts for your saved search. We noticed it’s been a while since you opened one of these alerts.
To continue receiving alerts, click below. Otherwise, we’ll pause them after two more emails.
Yes, I Want To Continue Receiving Email Alerts
This email is automatically sent when a lead has not opened E-Alerts for an extended period of time.
It is expected behavior and cannot be turned off.

How to Interpret This Email (What It Is and Isn’t)

What It Is

  • A deliverability safeguard
  • A confirmation that the lead still wants alerts
  • Protection for your sender reputation

What It Is Not

  • An error
  • A manual action by Support
  • A permanent unsubscribe (yet)
  • A system malfunction

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How Automatic E-Alert Frequency Adjustments Work 

Key Principles

  • We track email sends, not days
  • We track opens, not clicks
  • One open resets the engagement counter
  • Adjustments apply per E-Alert, not per lead

Instant E-Alerts

  • Sent as soon as matching listings hit your site
  • If 15 Instant alerts are sent in a row with no opens, the alert is adjusted to Daily
  • Any open resets the counter back to zero

Daily E-Alerts

  • Sent at most once per day
  • If 30 Daily alerts are sent in a row with no opens, the alert is adjusted to Weekly
  • Any open resets the counter back to zero

Weekly E-Alerts

  • Weekly alerts are never adjusted
  • They continue sending regardless of engagement

Important: Adjustments are based on number of sends, not time. Alerts with very specific criteria may take months to reach these thresholds.

How E-Alert Expiration Dates Works

Each E-Alert has an expiration date:

  • Auto-generated alerts: initially 6 months
  • Manually created alerts: initially 1 year

Any time a lead opens an E-Alert:

  • Auto-generated alerts extend by 30 days
  • Manually created alerts extend by 6 months

As long as a lead opens alerts occasionally, the E-Alert will not expire.

When the Confirmation Email Is Sent

We send this confirmation email only when both of the following are true:

  • The E-Alert has not been opened

  • The E-Alert’s expiration date has been reached

At that point, the system sends a confirmation email asking the lead if they still want to receive alerts.

If the lead does not respond:

  • A second reminder email is sent one week later

  • Only if there is no response to either email is that E-Alert unsubscribed

This unsubscribe applies only to that specific E-Alert, not to the lead’s entire record or other alerts.

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Set the Sending Frequency for Saved Search E-Alerts

You have full control over how frequently saved search E-Alerts are sent to your leads.

Where to Create or Edit an E-Alert

You can create or modify a saved search E-Alert from an individual Lead Detail Page.

  1. Open the lead’s record
  2. Go to the Searches tab
  3. Click Create E-Alert to add a new saved search — or — Click the pencil icon to edit an existing E-Alert

From here:

  • Set “Send New Listing Email Alerts with This Search?” to Yes
  • Choose your preferred option under “How Frequently Should Alerts Be Sent?”

Sending Frequency Options You Can Choose

As Soon as New Listings Hit the Site

An alert is sent immediately when a listing matches the saved search criteria.

Daily

An alert is sent once per day when new matching listings are available.

Twice per Week

Alerts are sent on Monday and Thursday when new listings match the search.

Weekly

Alerts are sent on the same weekday each week when new listings are available.

Twice per Month

Alerts are sent on the 1st and 15th of each month.

Monthly

Alerts are sent on the 1st day of each month.

Quarterly (Market Updates Only)

This option applies only to Market Updates, not listing E-Alerts.

Market Updates are sent on:

  • January 1

  • April 1

  • July 1

  • October 1

Automatic frequency adjustments cannot be disabled. They are required to protect overall email deliverability and sender reputation, and turning them off would make E-Alerts much more likely to land in Spam or Promotions folders.

How Automatic Adjustments Affect (and Don’t Affect) Market Updates 

Market Updates:

  • Are never adjusted automatically
  • Are never paused due to engagement
  • Send at most once per week (or quarterly)

Because of this, they do not pose the same deliverability risks as high-frequency E-Alerts.

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Best Practices

  • Match alert frequency to lead engagement

  • Use Weekly alerts for lower-intent leads

  • Encourage leads to open alerts they care about

  • Remember: opens matter more than clicks

  • View confirmation emails as inbox protection

FAQs

  • Why do you track opens instead of clicks?
    Email providers rely primarily on opens to determine inbox placement.

  • Does this remove leads from my CRM?
    No. Only the specific E-Alert may be paused or unsubscribed.

  • Can alerts be reactivated later?
    Yes. E-Alerts can be reactivated at any time.

  • Does this help my sender reputation?
    Yes, that’s the primary purpose.

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