Logo
< BACK TO HOME

Best Practices: When to Send Emails | Predictive Response

Best Practices: When to Send Emails

“Which day of the week is best for sending emails?” has been a common question since marketers started email marketing. As with a lot of questions about good practice, the right answer is : “it depends“, but it’s fun to speculate. The answer especially depends on whether you are marketing to a consumer or business audience. Regardless, it’s definitely something you should trial and test.

Some 2013 statistics that may be of interest:

  • Average Open Rate = 18.58%
  • Average Click Through Rate = 4.51%

The percentage of emails sent by day of week

  • Monday: 16.59%
  • Tuesday: 17.93%
  • Wednesday: 16.08%
  • Thursday: 17.25%
  • Friday: 14.90%
  • Saturday: 8.58%
  • Sunday: 8.60%

Email Lifespan

  • 23.8% of all email opens occur during the 1st hour after delivery
  • 2-4 hours after delivery: Open rate < 8%
  • 5-15 hours after deliver: Open rate < 3%
  • 16-24 hours after delivery: Open Rate < 1%
  • After 24 hours, an email’s chance of being opened drops below 1%

Summary

  • Tuesday may get the best response – this is what I’ve often seen in B2B marketing, it perhaps reflects Monday/Friday being meeting days. Tuesday is usually peak day for web traffic too.
  • Fewer emails are sent on Friday and the weekend, so there is less competition  in the inbox then potentially, so more chance for the email to be seen. But this is offset by lower open rates suggesting that people are perhaps less engaged at the weekend.
  • Sending emails on Friday could be good since there is relatively little competition and you can pick up at home use. This is when we send our weekly roundup emails – it fits what we want to offer too.

Food for thought

Here are some reasons way it may be good to select or test each day based on this data:

  • Saturday – @ 8.58% send rate, this is the lowest volume day of the week, so you have the least competition!
  • Sunday – @ 8.60% send rate, this is higher compared to Saturday – it also tends to be higher in web analytics than Saturday.
  • Monday – @16.59% send rate, this is relatively high, but often everyone is busy and the web analytics show volume is low. It can make sense in some markets like financial services where a decision is maybe made at the weekend and acted on on Monday.
  • Tuesday – @17.93% send rate, traditionally the most popular day of the week for visits to a B2B site.
  • Wednesday – @16.08% send rate, looks like an OK option since relatively low volume
  • Thursday – @17.25% send rate, volume creeping up again as consumer mailers look to reach people before payday and the weekend
  • Friday – @14.90% send rate, again a high volume since email may be read in work on Friday and at home over the weekend also – high competition though! You could send your  enewsletter on Friday since business folk may be winding down at the end of the week, although just as likely they’re chasing deadlines. Readers may browse it on the weekend.

bestpractices Best Practice: Your email type may not fit into the information provided above. Reviewing the Email History section on your campaign page or running an Email History report can provide information that is more specific to your campaign emails.

Excerpted from http://www.smartinsights.com/email-marketing/email-communications-strategy/which-day-of-the-week-is-best-for-sending-email/

 

(0)(0)