If you’re engaging in some email marketing, one thing that can really make or break your campaign’s success is when you send your email. There are specific times of the day and week when your recipients will be more likely to open your email instead of just letting it sit unread in their inbox or trashing it. Keep reading for some valuable insight!
The best day of the week. The overall consensus among marketing professionals is that Tuesdays are the optimal day of the week to send an email. Why? Because it’s early enough in the week without being the first day of the week that people haven’t gotten overly bogged down by emails in their inbox yet. Research shows 10 a.m. to be the sweet spot time to send an email on Tuesday… but given that so many marketing professionals are adhering to this day and time, you may be better off opting for the second-best day/time to ensure your email doesn’t get lost in a cluttered inbox.
Consider sending your email on Thursday at 8 a.m. or 8 p.m. Your email will stand out by being sent later in the week and can either be in people’s inboxes bright and early so it’s waiting for them when they get to work or ready for them to read on their morning commute. Alternatively, by sending at night, you’ll catch your audience after work when many people tend to check their emails before bed, all but guaranteeing you stellar open rates.
Know your audience. What type of recipient list you’re sending to can also play a part in what time of day/week is the optimal send time. Do some research into the demographics, locations, and careers of your audience. While it may seem tedious, those factors can all affect when the best time is for you to send your email.
A/B Testing. To figure out what time works best, do some A/B testing to determine, unquestionably, what time of day/week sees your open and click rates at their highest. By sending the same email at different times to different lists, you can gain a good understanding of your audience’s preferences. Once you’ve got that figured out, you can continue sending your emails during that ultimate time period.
Of course, your subject line, send name, and overall content will also affect your open rates, even if you do send your email at the best time each week. The best way to find out when your specific audience will open your emails is for you to do some research on your own as your audience is unique and may exhibit out of the ordinary behavior when it comes to timing and opening emails. Good luck!