When Is the Best Time to Send Emails?
You’re probably more focused on your content strategy than your email timing, but sending emails at the right time can significantly improve your results. Users tend to check their emails at certain times of the day, leading to a higher open rate and more conversions.
Statistics indicate a few optimal times to send marketing emails and connect with your audience. This article will cover everything you need to know about email timing to fully optimize future campaigns.
The Best Days of the Month
You might not think that the day you send an email matters, but different times of the month actually lead to different results. Knowing the best day to send emails will help you configure your next campaign and target the right days each month.
While most days lead to somewhat similar results, there are a few days that consistently achieve better metrics. The 5th, 7th, and 12th of each month are the best days for both open rates and click-through rates.
In general, emails sent earlier in the month are more effective than those that arrive later. In days 1-10, for example, users open 18.56% of all emails, a higher open rate than any other time of the month. Click-through rate, on the other hand, jumps from 5.59% to 5.92% from the first ten days to 11-20.
The end of the month is a significantly less effective time to send emails. Open rates are just 17.87%, compared to 18.56% and 18.55% the rest of the time. Click-through rates are also lowest during this time at 5.24%. This doesn’t mean you should completely avoid these days, but you should consider targeting the beginning of the month for the most important emails.
It’s impossible to determine exactly what leads to these results. One contributing factor might be the fact that most people are paid either at the beginning or middle of each month. Your audience is more likely to make a purchase when they have extra money rather than when they’re waiting for their next check.
The Best Days of the Week
If you run a weekly newsletter, you should consider sending emails on the most valuable days. This is especially important if you’re creating content every week, as consistently sending emails on the wrong days could impact your long-term results.
Data shows that Thursday is the best day of the week for orders, followed closely by Tuesday and Wednesday. These are the perfect times to send emails promoting products and sales.
Sunday, on the other hand, has the highest click-through rate of any day of the week. If you’re targeting engagement rather than sales, consider moving your weekly newsletter to Sunday rather than during the week.
The Best Times of the Day
While the days of the week and month are both important variables to consider during an email marketing campaign, the times of the day have an even larger impact on your success. Most people have a similar schedule, with time before and after work along with a midday break. Building your campaigns around your audience’s daily schedule will help you achieve better results on every metric.
People check their email before work more than any other time, so it’s no surprise that 8 AM is the best time of the day if you’re interested in improving your open rates. In fact, newsletters sent at 8 AM achieve an open rate of more than 20%, strong numbers in nearly every field.
On the other hand, both click-through rates and order rates are significantly higher for emails sent later in the day. The best time for order rates is around 4 PM, when campaigns lead to an average of over 10 orders. Emails sent at 10 AM, on the other hand, result in under 5 orders per campaign. This data shouldn’t surprise you—while we’re more likely to check our emails in the morning, we’re not usually planning to consider any purchases.
Similarly, 5 PM is the most effective time of day if you’re prioritizing clicks. With that in mind, it may be best to send engagement-focused content earlier in the day to get as many readers as possible. On the other hand, emails built to increase sales are usually more valuable after work.
Every audience is different, so try different times of the day, week, and month and use A/B testing to compare your results with various strategies. This will help you identify your audience’s habits and behavior and adjust your own approach accordingly.
Most email marketers aren’t thinking about sending messages at certain times, so even just considering this variable puts you ahead of the competition. With split-testing, you’ll be able to find problems with your strategies and make the necessary changes. Remember to consider different times of the day, week, and month when refining your approach to email timing.
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