Consider this scenario: Your marketing team spends hours and hours crafting the perfect email to grab your audience’s attention. You hit the send button, the email instantaneously hits thousands of inboxes…and you sit to wait. Hours pass by, no response.
How frustrating is it?
Extremely. I know.
The problem isn’t the marketing effort or content but timing. Timing plays an important role in email open rates as it can greatly affect the chances of your email being seen and opened by your target audience. According to various studies and reports, there are some general trends and best practices to follow regarding email timing.
In fact, recent research by Hubspot confirmed that the best time to send emails for high open rates is typically during the middle of the week (Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday) and during the middle of the day (around 11 am - 2 pm). However, it’s important to note that these are general guidelines and may not apply to every audience or industry.
So, how can you ensure that your email always gets the best open rates? This article intends to fulfill that exact purpose. If you are looking to boost your open rates, continue reading:
What is a Marketing Email?
Any email sent with the intent to market your business and/or nurture leads through your funnel is basically a marketing email. It is typically sent to groups of contacts that are your prospective leads.
Before actually sending the emails, you have to carry out sales prospecting. At this stage, it is important to focus on targeting the right audience, personalizing your message, and providing a clear CTA.
Additionally, having a well-defined outbound prospecting strategy can help maximize your results. To write business emails that are effective, it is important to use proper email etiquette, including a clear and concise subject line, a professional greeting, and a polite closing. When writing transactional emails, it is important to ensure that the message is clear, concise, and contains all relevant information.
When looking to scrape emails from Facebook or to find email from website, there are various tools and techniques available that can help. For example, you can use tools such as CrawlBase to find email addresses based on a person’s name and company or social media platforms to reach out to individuals directly.
What is the Best Time to Send a Marketing Email?
While there is no one-fits-all answer, industry research actually offers some helpful insights. Days and timings, for instance, are very crucial when it comes to email open rates. Here are some of the popular timings:
- Weekday Mornings: Many people tend to check their email first thing in the morning, between 9 AM and 11 AM, especially on weekdays. This is a good time to send important emails you want to ensure people see.
- Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday: These tend to be the most popular days to send emails, as people are more likely to be in “work mode” and check their email during the middle of the week.
Knowing when to NOT send emails is also important, so avoid weekends and evenings. While people check their email outside of work hours, it’s generally not the best time to send important emails. People may be less responsive or may miss your message if it’s buried in a sea of weekend or evening emails.
It’s worth noting that these are just general trends, and the best time to send emails can vary depending on your specific audience and industry. It’s always a good idea to test different sending times and see what works best for your particular situation.
Factors to Consider When Choosing a Time to Send Emails
Several things must be considered when choosing the ideal time to send emails. Sending emails at the correct times can increase your open rate, aid with sales prospecting, and ensure that as many individuals as possible read your message.
When selecting the ideal time to send your emails, keep the following guidelines in mind:
Audience Demographics and Behavior
While thinking about sending the email, it is essential to understand your target and their demographics. The best time to email one group of readers might not be great for another group. As a result, marketers must carefully monitor and research the behavioral trends of their audiences across various geographic contexts.
For instance, sending emails on Sundays is generally not a good idea because they’ll have very low open rates. Nonetheless, as Sundays are working days in Arab countries, sending emails on that day will work to your advantage.
The Products and Services You Provide
Yet another essential aspect impacts the timing of your email distribution. Tuesday works best if you are a B2B solution provider. However, if you work in the entertainment sector, Friday or the weekend would be preferable.
Seasonal Variations
The fact that seasons significantly impact your open rates may surprise you. Marketing professionals typically avoid sending email blasts on weekends. Nonetheless, you might try your luck if you learn that a specific geographic area is subject to monsoon or snow. Given that many people’s weekend plans have been canceled, there is a good chance that your email will be opened and read.
User Encounter
After opening and reading it, the user’s experience with your transactional email will also impact whether or not he opens it again. The email should be created with excellent graphics and simple-to-read language in the user’s mind. More than 42% of emails are viewed and read on a mobile device. Thus, it should also be mobile-friendly.
A/B Test Email Sending Times
The ideal moment to send an email can shift. To find the best time to send emails to your target audience, it is crucial to periodically A/B test your email calendar. Send one email at a time, then pick a different time to send a separate email to A/B test email sending times. To determine which email fared the best, compare stats, including open rate and conversions.
Subject Lines
Marketers frequently disregard this as being unimportant, which causes them to fall behind their rivals in the marketing race. Subject lines play an important role in email open rate, as if your subject line is clear and concise people will more likely to open it. So, it is important to write email subject lines carefully to increase email open rate.
Email Activity
Few emails can fail to have the desired effect, while too many emails can annoy your readers. Plan your emails at the most effective frequency to write business emails. Research shows subscribers like to get marketing emails at least once a week. We advise using trial and error to determine the most effective frequency for your company.
When Is The Best Time To Send an Email In 2024?
Email marketing remains one of the most effective ways to reach customers and promote products or services. However, the success of email campaigns often depends on several factors, including the content of the email, the target audience, and the timing of the email.
According to some studies and experts, the top 5 best times to send emails are:
- 10 am: This is a popular time to send emails, as many people have already checked their inbox, responded to urgent messages, and are now settling into their workday routine.
- 9 am: Another good time to send emails is early in the morning, around 9 am. This is when people are just starting their workday and are likely to check their inbox.
- 8 am: Similar to 9 am, 8 am is another good time to send emails. It’s early enough that your email might be one of the first things people see in their inbox, but not so early that it might be overlooked or forgotten.
- 1 pm: After lunch is a good time to send emails, around 1 pm. People tend to be more relaxed and receptive to non-urgent messages after they’ve eaten and taken a break from work.
- 3 pm: Late afternoon, around 3 pm, can also be a good time to send emails. By this time, people have usually finished their most pressing tasks and might be more willing to engage with other messages in their inbox.
In 2024, the best time to send an email may vary depending on the industry, the audience, and the type of email being sent. However, there are some general guidelines businesses can follow to maximize the effectiveness of their email campaigns.
- Consider the time zone of your audience
- Analyze past email campaign data
- Avoid sending emails during major holidays
- Consider the purpose of the email
- Test different sending times
As digital technology becomes more widespread across geographic contexts and ages, new opportunities exist for outbound prospecting. For example, find emails from LinkedIn, Facebook or from websites to build an even larger pool of potential leads who may be interested in your product or service.
Ultimately, testing out different times is the best way to determine which day and time work best for your particular needs experimenting and tracking results should give you valuable insights into the ideal time for sending emails in 2024.
When Should You Not Send Marketing Emails?
Knowing how to end email is of the essence. But what’s more, you should know when to not send a marketing email.
Apart from Mondays, when people come into work already in gloomy moods, and usually delete marketing emails right away, there are actually some times when you should avoid sending marketing emails. Some of such times include the following:
- Without Recipient’s Permission: Obtaining explicit consent from the email recipient before adding them to your email list is important and if you send an email without this permission, you are basically spamming them.
- Outdated or Inaccurate List: Sending marketing emails to an outdated or inaccurate email list can lead to high bounce rates, low open rates, and damage to your email reputation. Therefore, you need to check and update your email list prior to sending out letters.
- Spammy or Irrelevant Content: The aim is to not get blacklisted or marked as spam so if your email includes any irrelevant or spammy content, either edit it out or don’t send the email at all.
- Not The Right Time: If the recipient is not in the right sales funnel stage sending marketing emails will be a waste of time and resources.
- Holiday Season: Sending marketing emails at the wrong time, such as during holidays or weekends, can lead to low open rates and poor engagement.
Final Words
At the end of the day, the best time to send marketing emails may vary depending on your audience, industry, content, and goals. Experimenting with different timings and tracking your email open rates is important to determine what works best for your specific situation.
FAQs - Frequently Asked Questions
What Is The Worst Day To Send an Email?
While no specific day is universally considered the worst day to send an email, studies suggest that sending emails on weekends or major holidays can result in lower open rates and engagement.
Which 2 days are best for sending our marketing emails?
There is no definitive answer to the question of which days are the best for sending marketing emails, as it can vary depending on factors such as your audience, industry, and geographic location. However, some studies have shown that Tuesday and Thursday are popular days for sending marketing emails, as they are typically less busy than Mondays and Fridays, and people are more likely to be at their desks.
Is Friday a good day to send marketing email?
When it comes to timing, there is no one-size-fits-all answer, as it largely depends on your audience’s behavior and preferences. However, according to some studies, Fridays are generally considered a lower engagement day for email marketing than other weekdays, such as Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays.
Is it better to send an email in the evening or morning?
Emails sent in the morning tend to have a higher open rate and response rate than those sent in the evening.
When are the best times to send emails during the week?
According to data available on the internet, the best times to send marketing emails are generally Tuesday and Thursday. Besides these two days, Wednesday and Friday are good days to send emails, with open rates slightly higher than Monday.
Regarding timing, the best times to send emails are typically mid-morning, between 10 am and 11 am, and afternoon between 2 pm and 3 pm. Emails sent between 8 pm and midnight have been found to have higher click-through rates but lower open rates.
