Ben Austin 
When to send an email. Email marketing is all about timing. The best time to send an email can ascertain whether it matters at all. The most flawless email in the world will go unseen if it’s sent at a time when people won’t be checking their email. For example, a company knows when its audience has opened its email and engaged with such correspondence; however, it can boost open rates, which means it can subsequently boost CTR and conversion.
However, there is not one clear answer to the best time to send an email, albeit certain demographics are more prone to check their email during certain times. The best time to send an email comes from testing on your end and knowing your demographic. For example, it depends upon your industry, your audience, where you’re located, and so much more. This article will detail how companies can determine the best times to send emails and what best practices can guarantee success, as well as how you can make sure that your email lands in inboxes instead of spam folders with the use of services from warmy.io.
The Impact of Email Timing on Engagement Rates
Not only does what information is contained in an email matter, but also when emails are sent; there are certain times when an email may not even get opened or, unfortunately, it remains unopened and lost amongst hundreds of other unseen messages. According to the findings, emails sent during these prime times stand a better chance of being opened because people, amidst their busy days, check their email at certain designated times.
An email sent at 9 am, for example, would be more appropriate for the 9-5 person who sees it first thing in their inbox before starting a busy day. An email sent at 10 pm is more for freelancers and those who have busy daytime lives outside of the general 9-5. People are more likely to notice something when they are not stuck in the 9-5. The analytics option allows a business to test and learn stats to determine when its audiences are most active.
General Finest Practices for Email Send Times
While the ideal time to send an email varies according to niche audiences and industries, there is enough research compiled about when to send emails to have the best opportunities for openings. For example, much research indicates that the best times to send emails are between 9-11 AM on weekdays, as people have settled into their day and now check their mail. Regarding the best days to send an email, much research indicates that the ideal days are Tuesday and Thursday, while Monday should be avoided due to too much going on in the inbox, and Friday, as it’s too close to the weekend.
For instance, an e-commerce firm might discover that sales averages are highest over the weekend because customers are shopping on their days off. The ideal time to send a newsletter or flash sale might be at night when customers are not on company time to check their personal email. Yet, while this provides a wonderful baseline, assessing what was successful in the past and being in tune with your own customer base will determine the ideal time to send it.
Understanding Audience Behavior to Determine Optimally Send Times
Emails aren’t blasted to every audience every time, and every person opens and responds to them at the same time or in succession. For example, a younger, more technologically advanced population may be more inclined to respond at night, while corporate audiences may appreciate first thing in the morning or during their lunch. Therefore, an awareness of the audience’s habits is critical to perfecting an email timing strategy. For example, an engagement assessment in the past could determine when people opened emails, read them in their entirety, and responded.
Therefore, if a specific group is more inclined to respond at one time, and it’s found out through the engagement assessment, then that company can change its email scheduling to when this group is most often online. In addition, it relies upon geography, as a company with an international audience has various time zones that the email scheduling must accommodate. This kind of segmented targeting means that people get these emails at the best time for them, for their particular category, and so they’re more likely to engage.
A/B Testing to Find the Finest Email Timing
Maybe the best way to learn when to email is to take an A/B test. Because you can A/B test send times and see which performs better via open rates, CTRs, and conversions, you’ll undoubtedly find some semblance of success. For example, a company can A/B test the same email blast sent at 10 AM to one segment of their audience and the identical blast sent at 7 PM to another. Should the 7 PM group show greater engagement, that will be changed in the future. The more A/B testing done over time, the more success. Data-driven testing enhances engagement with audiences and boosts revenue from email marketing.
How Time Zones Affect Global Email Campaigns
Email marketing is critical. Companies with global customers need to consider time zones. If an email is sent at an inappropriate time, it fails to capitalize. Some get it at 2 am when they’re not checking their email, and some get it at 5 pm when they’re on their way out for the day. Time zone considerations for email campaigns mean emails go out at appropriate hours. Time zone automation is a function of certain email marketing platforms that helps ensure the email arrives in all subscribers’ inboxes at appropriate local times. For example, if a global hotel chain has a newsletter about a new location, it might be able to send it to all subscribers, but instead, it gets sent at 9 a.m. for every subscriber’s time zone. When companies recognize time zones and talk to subscribers when they should (instead of when they shouldn’t), they improve their engagement and conversion rates.
The Relationship Between Email Frequency and Timing
However, in addition to specific times, the volume of emails sent also aids in engagement. If a brand sends too many emails, it will annoy customers by decreasing its open rates or increasing its unsubscribe rates, and if it sends too few, it loses the chance to engage its consumers. Striking the balance for volume as well as the balance for when to send—keeps audiences engaged and not overwhelmed in their inboxes. For instance, a daily newsletter will be better received if sent in the morning; a clothing store is more likely to have people acknowledge its clearance sale if sent in the evening. The timeline of audience perception and engagement reveals optimal times and frequencies of email correspondence, allowing for sustained engagement without inundation.
Industry-Specific Considerations for Email Timing
When is the best time to send? It depends on your industry, your audiences, and what they’re up to at different times of the day. For example, the retail industry might flourish by spending more in the evening when people are at home shopping online more often. A B2B company might flourish by sending on weekday mornings because people check their email before they get their workday started. Those in the media and publishing industry might find effective sends during lunchtime or late afternoon when people are browsing on their breaks.
Likewise, virtual subscription companies like e-learning might find successful open rates in the evening, too, when people scroll for resources related to more academic endeavors. Companies can launch their emailing at a more strategic time when they understand what is going on in the sector. When they know what the audience wants, they can penetrate and accomplish their goals.
The Role of AI and Automation in Email Timing Optimization
No more estimating when the best time to send that email is. AI marketing programs analyze historical engagement data and predict when one individual is most likely to open and respond to an email (and subsequently, do the same for literally everyone else on a mailing list). For example, if one person checks their email at 8 AM and another checks it at 7 PM, an email automation scheduling program can send the first email at 8 AM and the second email at 7 PM. This type of automated sending for the marketer creates higher open and engagement rates and simultaneously increases the success of the campaign as a whole.
Maximizing Email Engagement with Strategic Timing
Then there’s email timing. The specific day and time an email goes out dictates whether or not an email gets opened, whether they’re going to click through, and whether conversions are likely to take place. Yet while projections are made and certain best practices touted, the average business would have to rely upon its own sales data, intimate knowledge of the audience, A/B testing, etc., to know what email timing works for its particular needs.
Then there’s email timing by industry. Certain audiences like emails first thing in the morning; others like them at night when they’re home and online. However, with AI and automation, the personalization of getting emails at the right time can be adjusted for whoever is getting the email. Ultimately, continued testing of when to send the email will increase engagement and conversions and improve customer relations over time.
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