Best Time to Send Emails for Maximum Impact
Have you ever sent out what seemed like the perfect email, only to see it met with silence and inaction? One possible reason is poor timing.
The "when" of sending emails is just as critical as the "what." Even the best-crafted emails can fall flat if they land in inboxes when recipients are less likely to engage.
So, when is the best time to send emails to ensure they stand out, get opened, and drive action?
In this article, we’ll explore the best days and hours, factors influencing send times, and how to analyze and refine your strategy for maximum impact.
Why Timing Matters in Email Marketing
Timing is crucial in email marketing because it directly affects how your audience interacts with your messages.
The average professional receives around 120 emails daily, yet checking and replying to emails occupies only a small part of their day. Emails sent at inopportune times risk being buried and ignored.
Conversely, sending emails when recipients are most attentive increases open rates, engagement, and conversions.
This leads to improved metrics such as click-through rates (CTR), bounce rates, and ultimately a higher return on investment (ROI).
Factors to Consider When Choosing the Best Send Time
1. Audience Demographics
Understanding your audience’s age, location, occupation, and lifestyle helps determine their email engagement habits. For instance:
- Younger audiences, like Gen Z, often check emails during their free time, such as late evenings or weekends.
- Professionals or older audiences are more likely to engage during business hours or early mornings.
2. Industry Type
Different industries have unique engagement patterns:
- B2B audiences often prefer early workday emails (e.g., 4-6 am) to address them before their inboxes fill up.
- B2C audiences might respond better to emails aligned with leisure times, such as evenings or weekends.
Pro tip: Make it effortless for prospects to reach you by ensuring your contact details are readily accessible. Use your Apple Wallet business card as a call-to-action (CTA) for a sleek, digital touch. Embedding your digital card in your email signature also makes it a breeze for recipients to save and access your information anytime. Bonus: You'll cut down on printing costs while staying tech-savvy and professional.
3. Time Zones
If your audience spans multiple time zones, sending emails at a fixed time risks delivering them at inconvenient hours. Imagine setting up a conference call when some of your team members are asleep.
Most email tools, like MailerLite, allow you to send emails based on recipients' local time zones, ensuring a better email deliverability. Alternatively, segment your audience by region and tailor send times accordingly.
Best Days of the Week to Send Emails
Whether your primary goal is lead nurturing, customer engagement, or customer retention, the days you send your emails will determine how successful your email campaigns will be.
While the ideal day will depend on your target audience and industry, general email engagement trends and research provide valuable insights that can guide your strategy. GetResponse’s 2024 Email Marketing Benchmarks (based on over 4.4 billion messages) provide valuable insights on the best days to send emails.
Let’s break it down further.
Monday:
- Engagement can be lower as recipients catch up on weekend tasks. However, early-morning emails may work for B2B campaigns.
Tuesday to Thursday (Midweek):
- These are the golden days for email marketing:
- Tuesday: After clearing Monday backlogs, recipients are ready to focus on tasks, making this the top day for engagement.
- Wednesday: Momentum continues, offering high engagement rates.
- Thursday: Ideal for promotional emails encouraging weekend activities or purchases.
Friday:
- Morning emails targeting weekend plans can perform well, but engagement typically drops by late afternoon as recipients wind down.
Weekends:
- Generally, weekends see the lowest engagement. However, Saturday mornings can be effective for leisure-related content, while Sunday evenings may catch recipients preparing for the upcoming week.
While these trends offer a solid starting point, experimenting and tracking performance is essential to find the optimal days for your audience.
Best Times of Day to Send Emails
Studies from providers like GetResponse, HubSpot, and Omnisend suggest that the best times to send emails are:
- 8-11 am: When recipients are starting their workday.
- 4-6 pm: As recipients wind down or commute home.
Emails sent during these windows face less competition in inboxes, increasing the likelihood of engagement.
According to the various email marketing platforms, the worst time to send emails is at night between 7 pm and 4 am. So, avoid this time frame unless your test results show they somehow work for you.
How to Track and Analyze Email Performance
Tracking performance metrics helps refine your email timing strategy. Key metrics include:
1. Click-Through Rate (CTR):
- Measures the percentage of recipients who clicked on links in your email.
- Formula: (Number of clicks / Number of delivered emails) × 100
- Example: If 1,000 emails are delivered and 50 recipients click, the CTR is 5%.
2. Open Rate:
- Indicates the percentage of recipients who opened your email.
- Formula: (Number of opened emails / Number of delivered emails) × 100
- Example: If 1,000 emails are delivered and 150 are opened, the open rate is 15%.
3. Click-to-Open Rate (CTOR):
- Compare unique clicks to unique opens, showing how effective your content is.
- Formula: (Number of unique clicks / Number of unique opens) × 100
- Example: If 100 emails are opened and 30 clicks occur, the CTOR is 30%.
High CTR and CTOR indicate effective content and timing. Conversely, low rates suggest adjustments are needed.
Conclusion
Effective email marketing isn’t just about what you say; it’s about when you say it. Sending emails at the right time ensures they get noticed, opened, and acted upon.
While general guidelines like "Tuesdays at 10 am" are a great starting point, every audience is unique. Conduct audience research, consider factors like demographics and industry type, and use tools to account for time zones. Most importantly, regularly track and analyze your campaigns to continually refine your strategy for maximum impact.
Finally, if you need help building your list of prospects, Skrapp can assist you in finding the right leads through their website, LinkedIn profiles, and even bulk searches using various filters. All emails provided by Skrapp are verified through our email verifier tool to ensure the best deliverability.
