It's all about timing, correct? Especially when it comes to people noticing and opening the emails you spent so much time working on.
So when is the best time to deliver emails to your list?
Generally speaking:
1. Mondays suck.Mondays are not a great idea for the same reason that people tend to send messages out at night instead of during the day. People are typically bummed out about the end of the weekend. They walk into the office and are flooded with emails they've collected over the past few days. What's the first thing they do? Scroll through to find the emails that are absolutely vital. No time for the casual fun email and certainly no time for the email that is soliciting business from them.
2. Weekends aren't much better. Historically, weekends are the days when people are out running errands and going on adventures. It is that time where your spouse says, "Put the computer down!" Weekends tend to have poor open rates, so most marketers stay away from sending at that time.
3. Midweek rules! Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday have traditionally been favorite days to send email campaigns, as email marketers seek to avoid Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday.
4. Day or Night? It is typically better to deliver your email campaigns during the day. You are probably thinking, "Well duh, you do not want to send it when people are asleep." The alternative logic you may come across is that people are not at work, and therefore are not inundated with emails, making it a better time to send your campaign out. Although that logic is sound, evidence shows that it is better to send out your message during the day.
5. Midweek, midday it is! The tried-and-true traditional approach of sending out email campaigns in the middle of the week and in the middle of the day tends to do pretty well. General know-how suggests sending emails between 1-3 pm or 9-11 am to avoid sending them out during lunch.
That all sounds great, but is it great for you?
There is a reason I titled the above information "Generally speaking". There are tons of circumstances that would make the above situations null and void. For one, the above works under the assumption that your audience is working normal 9-5 M-F hours. Depending on your market, that status is not always quo.
There are several reasons why these classic tips may not mean squat in the end.
1. Beating the rush. So everyone agrees that Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday are the best days to send out an email campaign. Unless your competitors live north of Winterfell, they probably have heard this sage advice as well. This means that you're facing a ton of competition by sending out emails on the "recommended" days and times. If you don't want your email newsletter to get lost in the hustle, swimming upstream may be your best bet. Although Mondays and Fridays are generally not recommended, who's to say they won't work for you?
2. It depends on the device. Traditional "best time to send an email" numbers are being thrown to the wind as user habits change across devices. The standard midweek, midday makes perfect sense for desktop users who are opening emails at work. Mobile users, on the other hand, tend to be pretty active even late in the evening. It's worth noting that although activity on mobile devices is plentiful on nights and weekends, a Brafton study shows that 55% of consumers open emails on desktops, while only 25% open emails on mobile devices. However, this study was done in 2013, and with users growing more reliant on mobile devices each day, these numbers are likely changing. I also suspect that as businesses learn to craft more mobile-friendly emails, we'll see greater email open rates on mobile devices.
Do you know who you're talking to?
You should know, or else how are you going to sell real estate to them? Understanding your demographics is the single most important thing you can do for email marketing success. They're your audience-you should know their habits and cater to them. Some examples of how demographics override the safe "best time to send" general advice:
- If you sell real estate in the Silicon Valley, you are probably dealing with a tech-obsessed crowd, and you would probably ignore the general tip about not sending emails at night.
- If you are selling to the Hollywood crowd, then the much-maligned Friday could be a great choice, with folks looking for fun things to do over the weekend.
- What if you're interested in reaching tech-savvy audiences in cold-weather climates during winter months? I bet they spend plenty of time checking emails on Saturday and Sunday.
So what do I do?
Sorry, but you have to figure this one out for yourself. It depends on your audience. I know, that sucks to hear! You can always defer to general rules; the midday, midweek rule is a great place to start and should perform decently enough. However, if you really want to rock email marketing and send out your email newsletters at the very best time for optimal opens and clicks, you need to TEST! A/B test your send times like crazy. This is really the best way to find the perfect send time for your particular audience. Your database and your list is everything, so why not take the time to use it properly?
It is not always about the when but rather the what.
Bad open rates aren't just about your send times. If your open rates aren't looking good, consider these factors as well:
1. Do you have a standout subject line? Subject lines are sooooo important when it comes to email marketing! You could argue that subject lines are even more important than the content of the email, since it's the subject lines' job to get people opening your message to begin with. Make sure you have a saucy, enticing subject line.
2. Are you sending too many emails? No one likes a blabbermouth. Could your low open rates be the result of sending out too many emails? Maybe you're bugging the heck out of your email subscribers.
3. Is your message mobile-friendly? Your emails absolutely need to be mobile-friendly, end of story.
So when is the best time to deliver emails to your list?
Generally speaking:
1. Mondays suck.Mondays are not a great idea for the same reason that people tend to send messages out at night instead of during the day. People are typically bummed out about the end of the weekend. They walk into the office and are flooded with emails they've collected over the past few days. What's the first thing they do? Scroll through to find the emails that are absolutely vital. No time for the casual fun email and certainly no time for the email that is soliciting business from them.
2. Weekends aren't much better. Historically, weekends are the days when people are out running errands and going on adventures. It is that time where your spouse says, "Put the computer down!" Weekends tend to have poor open rates, so most marketers stay away from sending at that time.
3. Midweek rules! Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday have traditionally been favorite days to send email campaigns, as email marketers seek to avoid Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday.
4. Day or Night? It is typically better to deliver your email campaigns during the day. You are probably thinking, "Well duh, you do not want to send it when people are asleep." The alternative logic you may come across is that people are not at work, and therefore are not inundated with emails, making it a better time to send your campaign out. Although that logic is sound, evidence shows that it is better to send out your message during the day.
5. Midweek, midday it is! The tried-and-true traditional approach of sending out email campaigns in the middle of the week and in the middle of the day tends to do pretty well. General know-how suggests sending emails between 1-3 pm or 9-11 am to avoid sending them out during lunch.
That all sounds great, but is it great for you?
There is a reason I titled the above information "Generally speaking". There are tons of circumstances that would make the above situations null and void. For one, the above works under the assumption that your audience is working normal 9-5 M-F hours. Depending on your market, that status is not always quo.
There are several reasons why these classic tips may not mean squat in the end.
1. Beating the rush. So everyone agrees that Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday are the best days to send out an email campaign. Unless your competitors live north of Winterfell, they probably have heard this sage advice as well. This means that you're facing a ton of competition by sending out emails on the "recommended" days and times. If you don't want your email newsletter to get lost in the hustle, swimming upstream may be your best bet. Although Mondays and Fridays are generally not recommended, who's to say they won't work for you?
2. It depends on the device. Traditional "best time to send an email" numbers are being thrown to the wind as user habits change across devices. The standard midweek, midday makes perfect sense for desktop users who are opening emails at work. Mobile users, on the other hand, tend to be pretty active even late in the evening. It's worth noting that although activity on mobile devices is plentiful on nights and weekends, a Brafton study shows that 55% of consumers open emails on desktops, while only 25% open emails on mobile devices. However, this study was done in 2013, and with users growing more reliant on mobile devices each day, these numbers are likely changing. I also suspect that as businesses learn to craft more mobile-friendly emails, we'll see greater email open rates on mobile devices.
Do you know who you're talking to?
You should know, or else how are you going to sell real estate to them? Understanding your demographics is the single most important thing you can do for email marketing success. They're your audience-you should know their habits and cater to them. Some examples of how demographics override the safe "best time to send" general advice:
- If you sell real estate in the Silicon Valley, you are probably dealing with a tech-obsessed crowd, and you would probably ignore the general tip about not sending emails at night.
- If you are selling to the Hollywood crowd, then the much-maligned Friday could be a great choice, with folks looking for fun things to do over the weekend.
- What if you're interested in reaching tech-savvy audiences in cold-weather climates during winter months? I bet they spend plenty of time checking emails on Saturday and Sunday.
So what do I do?
Sorry, but you have to figure this one out for yourself. It depends on your audience. I know, that sucks to hear! You can always defer to general rules; the midday, midweek rule is a great place to start and should perform decently enough. However, if you really want to rock email marketing and send out your email newsletters at the very best time for optimal opens and clicks, you need to TEST! A/B test your send times like crazy. This is really the best way to find the perfect send time for your particular audience. Your database and your list is everything, so why not take the time to use it properly?
It is not always about the when but rather the what.
Bad open rates aren't just about your send times. If your open rates aren't looking good, consider these factors as well:
1. Do you have a standout subject line? Subject lines are sooooo important when it comes to email marketing! You could argue that subject lines are even more important than the content of the email, since it's the subject lines' job to get people opening your message to begin with. Make sure you have a saucy, enticing subject line.
2. Are you sending too many emails? No one likes a blabbermouth. Could your low open rates be the result of sending out too many emails? Maybe you're bugging the heck out of your email subscribers.
3. Is your message mobile-friendly? Your emails absolutely need to be mobile-friendly, end of story.
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