Best Time to Send Email Campaign

Email timing is a game-changer. It can convert your subscribers into loyal customers or drive them to unsubscribe and lose contact with your business.
The best time to send email campaign is when your target audience can read it immediately. If your customers were rushing to work when you sent the email, it wouldn't be noticed underneath the piles of received emails.
Most people will only attend to 65% of the emails they get bombarded with. After only four hours of receiving the email, the open rate declines to 8%. And after 24 hours, it reaches as low as 1%.

The Best Days to Send Emails: Weekends vs. Weekdays

If your customers are committed to the regular workweek, they'll most likely check their emails during their working hours. The weekend will be the worst time to send emails because the recipients will be busy with their home activities or trying to relax.
GetResponse carried out a study on email marketing trends in 2019. Over five months, the analysis of 4 billion emails (which their marketing customers sent) revealed exciting results.
Most marketers (17%) sent the emails on Tuesdays. Only (18%) of the emails were sent on Saturdays and Sundays combined.
The marketers who chose Tuesday were accurate because the open rates and clicks were higher on Mondays and Tuesdays. However, those who chose to send during the weekend benefited from less competition. The study found that Saturdays and Sundays had the best click-to-open ratio.
Overall, the highest open rate (20.58%) was on Friday, and Tuesday had the highest click-through rate.A study by CampaignMonitor has also found that Tuesdays had the highest open rates. However, the unsubscribe rates were also highest on that day. Customers may get overwhelmed by the number of promotional emails because most businesses choose to send on that day based on the insights.

Best Days for Highest Revenue

A study by Klaviyo found that their clients made the highest revenues on Thursdays. Interestingly, open rates were the lowest on that day, matching other studies.
We can interpret that many customers tend to open emails at the beginning of the workweek. However, they delay their purchasing decision until the end of the week.

Determine the Best Time For Your Audience

There's no single best timing for all businesses. The best starting point is to understand your audience and form a good idea about their behaviors.
The customers of a clothing company and those of financial services will not check their emails at the same time of the day. Meanwhile, stay-at-home moms and "digital nomads" can be more flexible and less predictable than typical employees.
To gather data about your customers, you can use Facebook Insights or Google Analytics. These tools will reveal their interests, locations, and demographics. You can make informed assumptions about their time preferences based on their lifestyle from this point.

Buyer Persona

Buyer Personas are data-based representations of your customers. By creating them, you'll gain a more personal and authentic appeal to your customers, who can turn into advocates for your cause and products by addressing your customer needs.
A business will usually have several buyer personas with unique specifications. Segment your customers based on their activities or how they use your product.
Try to be as inclusive as possible and specify:
  • Your target audience
  • Their major problems
  • Their source of income
  • Their typical day
  • The way they use your product to solve their problems
The more detailed your buyer personas, the better. Buyer personas should include:
  • Behavioral patterns
  • Demographics
  • Motivations
  • Goals

Best Time Based on Industry Type

The researchers from CampaignMonitor divided the data based on the industry type. The analysis revealed that the recommended days can differ based on the industry.
  • Tuesdays: Leisure, travel, hospitality, advertising and marketing agencies.
  • Wednesdays: Healthcare services, food and beverage
  • Sundays: Educational fields

The Best Time of The Day to Send Email Campaigns

Since most employees check their emails when they first arrive at work, several studies have recommended sending the emails between 9:00 and 11:00 AM.
The researchers from Omnisend have found that the start of the workday had the highest open rates. However, they also found that the purchasing rate was highest at 4:00 PM, while click-through rates were highest at 5:00 PM.
The results show that people usually open their emails early in the morning while checking for tasks. However, they tend to make buying decisions at the end of the day.
This beginning of the workday (8:00-11:00) is the best time to send emails that share valuable tips or details of your company culture. It's better to send actionable emails at the end of the working hours. Avoid lunch breaks.
Other peak times to keep an eye on:
  • 6:00 AM: People check their emails once they wake-up
  • 6:00-7:00 PM: People are commuting back home
  • After 8:00 PM: People check their emails before going to sleep

How to Measure the Success of Your Timing?

After choosing a starting point, you need to keep testing various timings until you reach your goals. You shouldn't solely rely on the open rate as a success indicator.
You'll have to additionally track the click-through rate, bounce rate, and conversion rate. Make sure more customers are actually buying your product/service and not just viewing your emails.

Do Your Own Research

Do Your Own Research

You can support the recommendations of marketing companies by doing your own research.

Your Past Experience

If you’ve used email marketing before, check your previous open rates. The average open rate is 19.66%, but it depends on your industry.
If your previous open rates were comparatively satisfying, just send your upcoming emails at the same time. However, if the open rate needs to go higher, avoid the times you sent your previous emails.

Insights From Competitors

Your competitors should have done their research, too, so you can benefit from their experience. You can gain valuable insights by subscribing to their emails. Notice if several competitors tend to send their emails within the same time frame. This would be an ideal starting point.

Conclusion

The best time to send an email campaign is not set in stone. You can use the research-based recommendations as a starting point, but the rest depends on a process of trial and error.
Your business has its unique customers. Learn about their preferences, and adjust accordingly.