Last updated on
January 3, 2024
Email timing matters a lot because it affects your email campaigns' open and click-through rates big time.
When you send your email during rush hours, it is likely to get lost in a stack of other emails that went out at the same time as yours. It is every advertiser's worst fear. Emails, without a doubt, are the most effective way to engage with your audience, but the million-dollar question is when is the ideal time to send them?
Sending emails at a specific time may only work for some. Therefore, deciding when to send out an email campaign can be tricky.
But, worry not! This guide explains the best time to send emails that work for your business.
Did you send your email at a different time? Will it affect your email marketing campaign?
Yes, big time!
Email marketers focus on time zone differences to send emails because it can increase interaction when sent promptly. So, a prominent time zone difference between the sender and recipient will affect the open email rate and CTR.
Assume you sent an email announcing an online deal. According to several email tool statistics, it's a common misconception that online customers are night owls. Hence, businesses need to pay more attention to their email campaign, sending them late at night, losing 50% of their target audience.
Knowing the significance of email timing, you may increase open and click-through rates. So it's best to consider the time zone differences when delivering your emails.
Let’s say you run a successful eCommerce store. Your audience will vary in location, gender, job occupation, etc. Devise an email strategy that targets multiple groups when sending emails.
For instance, a person who goes to work is likely to respond between 8 a.m. and 9 a.m. because they read emails first thing in the morning.
When sending emails to college students, they may need to check their email early in the morning. Instead, they may open emails midday or even later in the afternoon.
According to GetResponse’s 2019 email analysis, open rates increase with an average rate of 21.35% in the morning between 9-10AM. Moreover, at noon, the open rate peaked at 22.09% between 1-2PM. However, in the afternoon, open rate decreased slightly to 20.74%.
So, if we go with this analysis, the best time to send email is 1-2PM, followed closely by 9-10AM. This can be explained by the fact that as these are the working hours, people tend to check their emails more often.
But Wordstream achieved somewhat different results. Their study showed that their email blasts performed better between 8-9AM, with an open rate of over 25%.
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By comparing these two studies, we can safely say that the best time to send an email is between 8-11Am and 1-2PM. You can expect high open and click-through rates if you send your emails at these times.
First, you need to understand various factors to understand better when to send emails.
Be aware of the demographics of your target audience before sending an email.
Email marketers must observe the relationship between emails and the target audience’s behavioral patterns based on their locations.
For instance, sending an email on Sundays is not recommended in the USA because the open rates will be low. It might be valid for western countries, but it may work best for your audience in the Gulf States (as Sunday is a working day for them).
Are you offering B2B or B2C solutions? The service or product you offer will affect the time to send emails.
For instance, consider sending emails on Tuesdays if providing B2B products or services. But if your products and services are entertainment industry-based, Friday or weekends are better for emailing.
Sending too many emails is annoying to your subscribers. Sending only a few emails does not have the desired impact on the audience.
So what to do?
When sending emails, consider the email frequency which works best for your audience, helping meet the business goals. For instance, the audience prefers to receive marketing emails weekly. So it's best to use trial and error methods to discover the right frequency of emails to send.
Did you know that seasons can have an impact on your emails too? The season’s onset is peak time for planning your new email campaigns. For instance, open email and click-through rates double during winter onset because your target audience expects sales like Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
So chances are, during the seasonal changes email open rate increases.
User experience is another factor that affects the best time and day to send an email. Your product or service also impacts shaping a good or bad experience.
But a user-friendly email has a higher chance of open and click-through rates. Suppose you send an email to entrepreneurs on your list. Entrepreneurs prefer to check their emails on their smartphones, so making sure that your emails are mobile-friendly will enhance their experience while on their way to work.
The midweek days are considered the prime days to send your emails, i.e., Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.
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Tuesday: According to various email tool statistics, emails sent on Tuesday have the highest open rate of over 18%, increasing site traffic.
Wednesday: The mid-week day consistently meets the open and click-through rate goals.
Thursday: Is considered the best day to send marketing emails. You can choose between Tuesday and Thursday to start your email campaign.
You’d be surprised to learn that Fridays and Mondays are not preferred for email sending, but they are still a better option than weekends. Friday’s open and click-through rates (CTR) are higher than Monday.
Why?
Because people are preparing for the working day, they skim emails instead. Sometimes they may even delete the emails without opening them! Therefore, you must avoid email marketing mistakes that decrease your conversion rates.
On Fridays, open rates are typically high between 10 and 11 a.m. In contrast, the second-highest open rate is around noon at 2 p.m. You can plan to send newsletter emails on Fridays, catching people before they leave for the weekend.
Most studies suggest 10 a.m. is the best time to send marketing emails on Tuesday. The open rate remains steady throughout the afternoon but declines after 6 p.m.
It may happen because subscribers have a weekly habit of skimming their email and not reading in detail. Set up an A/B test to get a better hang of the time - send the first email at 10 a.m. and the second when you feel customers are active. It’s easier to track results that way.
According to a study by Mailchimp, 10 a.m. is the peak time for the highest open rates on Thursday. WordStream says 8-9 a.m. is the best time to send emails.
The best time to send emails may vary between 9 and 11 a.m. But after 1 p.m., a decrease in the open rate is observed because it’s lunch hour in most workplaces.
According to the statistics, 10 a.m. is the best time to send emails on Monday. If you want a little extra boost in open or click-through rates, you can also send emails between 5 and 7 p.m. But, avoid sending emails in mid-afternoon.
Wednesday’s email open rates are relatively high at 10 a.m. However, the open rate drops sharply after 6 p.m. because people prefer to switch off their devices when commuting home.
Saturday open rates are similar to the weekdays, with the highest open rates observed at 10 a.m. and a gradual fall in the afternoon and evening as individuals unplug to enjoy their weekends.
Click-through rates are consistent even on Sundays at 10 a.m., with a decrease in the afternoon and early evening.
Again, we turn our head to towards data to answer this question. According to Moosend, Thursday is the best time to send an email campaign, with Tuesday being the second best day.
Also, Wordstream’s analysis had similar results:
According to the graph above, email performed the best at Thursday, with Wednesday and Tuesday being the second and third best performing days.
Now we look at what Hubspot has to say on what is the best day to send an email campaign. According to them, Tuesday was the best day send promotional emails, and Wednesday was the second best day for sending emails.
Klayvio also had similar results. According to them, Tuesday, with an open rate of 19.82%, was the best day to send emails, followed by Wednesday, at 19.49% open rate.
The results of all these studies by these different companies suggest Tuesady and Wednesday to be the best days for sending email campaigns. And all of these studies suggest that the middle of the week is the best time to send your emails.
So, what does it mean for Thursday?
Well, Thursday is still the best day to send emails not only because of high open rates, but Thursday has shown to have the highest revenue per recipient at 33.5% higher than Tuesday or Wednesday.
Sending email campaigns can be tricky, so you must take notice of the following details to avoid any severe email campaign mistakes.
Obviously, the worst days to send emails are on Saturday and Sunday. People are in a relaxing mood or spending time with friends and families. So their routines and activities divert their attention from checking inbox, decreasing the open rate.
Most studies have found that the worst time to send email is at night, between 6 p.m. - 5 a.m.
It happens because people coming home from work may need to be more interested in reading emails or making purchases after a long day.
So, if you want your email subscribers to interact with your emails, avoid sending them after work hours, particularly late at night.
You can checkout our guides on how to increase your email open rate and click-through rate, and follow those best practices in conjunction with the best time to send your emails. This way, you can maximize the effectiveness of your email marketing campaigns.
When scheduling emails with Mailmunch, you can enjoy two significant additions within the email schedule feature:
It’s great if you are already using Mailmunch. But if you are new and exploring, here’s the good news - all Mailmunch users can plan their broadcast emails to send automatically at their convenience.
Mailmunch allows you to organize your emails based on categories like delivery status, subject lines, etc. If you want to revisit your earlier broadcasts, you can quickly sort.
The email list now has pagination. When you access your Broadcasts page, the first 15 emails load by default. It will speed up your email browsing experience so that the users do not have to wait for a complete list of old emails to load.
Now that we have discussed the best times and days to send email campaigns, it's clear that sending your emails depends on the target audience and the type of products/services you want to promote.
Therefore, you should start your new email marketing campaign with Mailmunch. Here’s why:
Create engaging emails faster using our pre-built email templates and the intuitive drag-and-drop builder while saving your time to start a new campaign.
Segmentation allows a smooth interaction with the audience. You boost your conversions or sales by targeting a smaller percentage of your contacts and tailoring material to their specific needs.
Our AI-powered system will optimize your interaction by delivering emails at the optimal moment.
Keep a solid track of your email campaigns and conversion rate. Take a look at insights further to make informed decisions for future campaigns.
Automate repetitive procedures to ensure messages reach the appropriate person at the right time. Create personalized automated workflows for emails and customer interactions.
Every time, send the most refined version of your email campaign. A/B testing increases your email's open rate and conversion rate.
A bookworm and a pet nerd at heart, Summra works as Content Writer at Mailmunch. She loves to play with keywords, titles, and multiple niches for B2B and B2C markets. With her 3 years of experience in creative writing and content strategy, she fancies creating compelling stories that your customers will love, igniting results for your business.
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