When Should You be Sending Your Marketing Emails? – Timing is Key

As you know, (because you wouldn’t be here if you didn’t), email marketing is one of the most important forms of marketing in the digital world. There are many different factors that need to be considered when optimising your email marketing campaign. Although it isn’t everything (contrary to what you may have heard…), timing is definitely a factor you should be thinking about. There is so much out there about when you should be sending your marketing emails, it can be difficult to know which advice to listen to. But fear no more, throughout this post you will find out;

• When you should be sending your emails and why
• What various research studies have found
• Why you may consider going against the grain!

Our tips for your send days, times and why?

The following tips address good practices that are widely accepted in the email marketing community. You’ve got your killer subject line, great content to offer and a gripping email design. Now you need to know when or when not to send it…

‘Tell me why, I don’t like Mondays’

Because your amazing, free weekend is over and your back to work, that’s why. It’s advised that you should avoid sending emails on a Monday. People are feeling down about being back at work and usually have a flood of emails they need to address from over the weekend. Most likely, your marketing email is the last of their priorities.

Avoid the weekends

Most studies show that working days have considerably higher open rates than the weekends. This is due to the fact that people see their weekend as family and leisure time. Let’s be honest who is going to be sat opening emails all weekend, no-one. Avoid sending your email campaigns over the weekend and avoid being smacked in the face with a low open rate. However, as you know, your emails need be specific to your business. You need to know your demographic and what works for others, might not work for you. For example, a study conducted by knowledgebase suggests that the highest open rate for transportation businesses is 10am on Sunday!

Give your target audience time to get organised

This is especially important if you are promoting an event. You should bear in mind that your subscribers will need time to plan for your event. Imagine that you were promoting a food fair in your email. If you send the email the morning of the fair, chances are your open and conversion rate would be low. It is recommended that you give 3-5 working days’ notice for event specific emails.

Which is the best day to send your marketing emails?

If you’ve researched about when to send your emails, then no doubt you’ve been told Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday are the best days to send your emails. As these have the have the highest open rates. MailChimp’s findings support this;

Knowledgebase also supports this for certain industries. Health and Social, Financial Advisers, Education and Training all had the highest open rates on either Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday. As we keep mentioning, if it is the best day for another business then it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the best for you.

Can you remember earlier in the post that cheesy Boomtown Rats reference about Monday’s? And to avoid them at all costs? HubSpot’s findings suggest otherwise, with Mondays open rates tying with Wednesday for second place! Maybe going against the grain could work for your business too!

As you can see, the open rates for Monday were the second highest with Wednesday. Completely going against the consensus that you should avoid Mondays like the plague. Again, this shows how the best day to send your email can differ from business to business. Knowledgebase suggests that industries such as; Accommodation, Automotive services, and Advertising had their highest email open rate on Mondays. Think about how often research suggests to send your emails Tuesday through Thursday. Sending your marketing emails on a different day to those, may prevent your email from getting lost in that flood of emails.

What about a specific time?

Much like results found on which is the best day, the best time to send your email varies too…

I know, it’s annoying! All you want to know is when to send your emails! However, the only way you will know for sure when will work best for your business is by testing… testing. No, not making sure your microphone is working, but by testing your own email send times and days. This allows you to know exactly what works best for your target audience.

While the results differ, there are trends. Sending your marketing emails in the morning generally get good open rates. MailChimp’s findings suggest that sending your emails in the morning is the best for your open rates, with the optimum time being 10am.

Just to confuse things even more, research conducted by Dan Zarella shows that it might be an idea to send your emails in the early hours of the morning, or late in the evening. Open rates of emails sent at 6am were over 50%! And between 8pm and midnight they were on the up.

These findings may be a little shocking, but you have to remember your mobile users! If you use yourself as an example, most likely you check your emails first thing in the morning, and last thing at night. Deloitte found that 89% of mobile users checked their phones with 1 hour of waking up and 81% checked their phones 1 hour before going to bed. In light of these findings, put yourself into your target audience’s shoes. Are they mobile users? If so, try sending your marketing emails out early morning or late evening, as this may be the optimum time for your target audience.

What will work for your business?

In this post, we have outlined various findings that suggest when you should be sending your marketing emails for higher open rates. The important part of that sentence is ‘suggest’. The truth is, you need to find out for yourself what works best for your own business. If you’re looking for a set answer, a good place to start would be the mid-week, mid-day approach. It’s tried and tested and gives you a starting point from which you can begin to monitor your email marketing campaign to see what works best for you!