When to send emails to get a positive response? The best-case scenario would be to get people to open and read, right?
What you hope will happen is the email not just be read, but absorbed, interacted with.
Then you hope the person you sent the email to will gladly click all of the links, checks out your blog, and maybe even contact you. Isn’t that what you asked them to do?
This isn’t some daydream you had that will never come true. To help your expectations become reality you have to be savvy about when you send your emails.
Yes, the time of day your emails go out can influence if they are open.
OK then, when is the best time to send an email?
Well, there’s no one magic answer, that’s for certain. There are several days and times when audiences are most receptive to emails, and this data is backed up by many marketers.
In this article, we’ll discuss those days and times. You can then compare this data against your own email-sending schedule and make amends if need be.
When Are the Best Days to Send Email?
Before you go sending out that really great email you’ve been sitting on, make sure you check what day it is.
It’s generally agreed upon by all the marketers I know that there are two really great days to send emails: Tuesday and Thursday. These days have the best level of engagement and may lead to higher open rates.
Beginning on Sunday, email receptivity is at its lowest.
Sunday
Sunday’s open rate is only a little over five percent. This is because most people are trying to milk the most out of their weekends at this point.
Most business people are probably already dealing with the phenomenon known as the “Sunday scaries,” where the dread of Monday looms overhead.
Of course, they’re not going to want to look at their inboxes and be reminded that Monday is coming ever closer.
Monday
Monday isn’t a great day to send that all-important sales email, either.
On Monday morning, most people are slogging into the office, exhausted and wishing it was the weekend again.
They’ll go through their emails mechanically but may not be as receptive to new offers.
Just think about how you feel on a Monday. Not so good, right?
Tuesday
Then we get to Tuesday. By this point, most business people’s productivity might be higher, which means they’re checking their inboxes more.
They’re not quite at that mid-week hump yet, so maybe they’re not exhausted by several days of working in a row.
They’re going to be much more receptive to your emails on a Tuesday compared to a Monday. Per our sources at WordStream, you could see an open rate of well over 15 percent.
Wednesday
Open rates better on Wednesday, about 17 percent.
By now, the week is half over. That’s enough to energize some people and keep them on the ball checking their inboxes.
Thursday
The last good day of the week you have for better open rates is Thursday.
Some of the marketers I know say Thursday is a better day to send emails than Tuesday. You could even have an open rate of almost 20 percent.
Friday
By Friday, everyone’s focus is on the weekend. The open rate doesn’t drop drastically, but it is at its lowest since Tuesday. You’re at a little over 15 percent at this point.
Saturday
Once the weekend does arrive, very few people want to look at their inbox, since it reminds them of work.
While your audience might be more receptive to these emails on Saturday than Sunday, the email open rate is maybe seven percent. Not great.
What Are the Best Times to Send Email?
Okay, so now you know the best days to send emails are Tuesday through Thursday. What is the best time to send marketing emails on those days? Good question!
There are four times my marketer sources agree on:
- 6 a.m.,
- 10 a.m.,
- 2 p.m.,
- and 8 p.m.
6AM
Why 6 a.m.? Doesn’t that seem a bit early?
It is very early, but it’s when most business people are awake.
About half of people will begin their workday by grabbing their phones and checking their emails.
They’ll still be in bed when they do it.
That makes 6 a.m. on Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday a good time to send cold emails.
That is, if you want your message to sit at the top of the pile. Early morning emails are one of the first emails your audience sees when they open their sleepy eyes and refresh their inboxes.
1oAM
If 6 a.m. is a little too early for you or if you’re based in a different time zone, use an automated email scheduler like the one offered by EngageBay.
The next good time to send emails is a little later in the morning, at 10 a.m.
By this point, everyone who commutes will have arrived at their office and started their workdays.
Many business people are productive at this hour but maybe thinking of a distraction like a coffee, a cup of water, or a short break. Your email could arrive at just the right time.
2PM
Try to limit sending emails between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.
The hour before lunch is a lost cause. Many people are hungry at this point and waiting until they can take their lunch break.
For some employees, that’s from noon to 1 p.m and for others, it’s 1 p.m. to 2 p.m.
That’s why the next recommended time to send your emails is on Tuesdays through Thursdays at 2 p.m.
Lunch break is over and it’s now time to focus for the next few hours of the afternoon. Most people’s tummies are full, so they’re not thinking of that mid-afternoon snack yet.
After 8PM
If you missed the 2 p.m. slot to send an email, you should wait a few hours before you send an email.
Many people succumb to the mid-afternoon slump at about 3 p.m., as mentioned.
By 4 p.m., they could be mentally tuned off, especially as the week progresses. Most workers are out the door by 5 p.m. and on their way home.
Commutes can take several hours for some, and then there’s dinnertime.
That’s why 8 p.m. is your next recommended time slot for sending your emails. People are home, they’re fed, and they’re relaxing.
An email from you, especially if it’s a tailored one, has a higher chance of being opened at this hour.
Don’t go any later than 8 p.m. Sending emails at 10 o’ clock at night or later is invasive.
Plus, most people are sleeping by then so they can wake up the next morning and do the same thing all over again.
Monthly Emails
There are several days for monthly emails: the first of the month, the sixth of the month, and the 24th of the month.
In a study done by Omnisend, they sent out an email newsletter on the first of the month, they had a 16.4 percent open rate. The rate dropped slightly to 16.1 percent on those emails sent on the sixth of the month.
Another Omnisend study uncovered that click-through rates were still good for the first of the month, hovering at 3.4 percent.
Surprisingly, the 24th of the month is another popular day, as the open rate is 3.4 percent as well.
This is just one marketing company’s professional example.
What you can expect is that the first of the month is bound to get you a decently high open and click-through rate. If you have but a single day to send an email, make sure you do it at the beginning of the month.
Emails Linked to Videos
Videos have been around since the 90’s and since then marketers have linked to videos in their emails. Now technology that makes video marketing using emails is more effective than ever. SyncLab Media has seen marketing strategies that include emails with video links experience a much high Open Rate than the strategy that does not use video.
I would highly recommend investing in Video Marketing if you want emails opened.
Conclusion
If you’re already writing great email content, it could be you need to produce videos to get the emails opened.
The most popular times for email open rates are Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays at 6 a.m., 10 a.m., 2 p.m., and 8 p.m. Now that you know the best time to send out an email blast, add videos to the strategy and your success rate should improve.
Let me know how I can help.
