Back to all articlesYou should NEVER treat email marketing as a ‘one-size fits all’ effort because it just doesn’t work!
The key question everyone always wants to know when dealing with marketing emails is: “Which day of the week is best for sending an email?”
Well the answer is, “it depends.” However, in this months digital stats we take a deeper look at the best times based on the target audience you are targeting, and the response or call to action you would like
Ideally, you would want to ensure your emails are received by your audience when they are at their desk or picking up their emails on their smartphones. You would also want your emails to be sent when there is less competition in the inbox from other marketers.
So, what does the answer “depend” on?
The answer will vary depending on whether you are marketing towards consumers or other businesses. It’s always a good idea to test and trial different times and days to find the best response for your email marketing. Really there is no short answer.
We researched* some of the latest information about when to send an email:
- The response from emails at weekends shouldn’t be underestimated for both B2B and B2C businesses. Just because marketers work through Monday – Friday doesn’t mean that the emails won’t be effective!
- Tuesday – Thursday have been seen as the best days to send an email to a B2B Business (Tuesday has proven to be a peak day for web traffic in Google Analytics)
- Less emails are sent out on a Friday or over the weekend, this means that there is less competition when sending out an email. Therefore, this could mean that the email is more likely to be seen
The optimal time and day to send
Generally speaking the best day and time to send emails is a Tuesday at 10:00 A.M.
However, in reality it’s more complicated than that. Research on the best day to send emails is centred around three primary audiences.
Below we show the approximate, best time and day to send an email based on the audience and the intended action. These are a guide only and won’t be correct for all emails and target audiences, however there are some interesting and helpful findings:
Entrepreneurs and Workaholics:
- Opens – Saturday at 10:00 AM
- Clicks – Saturday at 10:00 AM
- Responses – Saturday at 10:00 AM
B2B (Normal):
- Opens – Saturday at 10:00 AM
- Clicks – Tuesday at 10:00 AM
- Responses – Tuesday at 08:00 AM
B2C (Consumers):
- Opens – Saturday at 12:00 AM
- Clicks – Saturday at 12:00 AM
- Responses – Saturday at 06:00 AM
Food for Thought
Here are some reasons why you may want to consider testing or sending emails on each day of the week.
Sunday
Has a higher volume compared to Saturday so it tends to be higher in web analytics than Saturday
Monday
Has a relatively high volume, but people are usually busy on this day of the week and web analytics show a low volume
Tuesday
Tends to be the most popular day of the week for visits to a B2B site
Wednesday
Is an “ok” option as volume is low on this day – meaning there will be less competition to send an email on this day
Thursday
Volume is higher on a Thursday as consumer mailers look to reach people before the weekend or pay day
Friday
Friday has a high volume as emails will be read in work on Friday and at home over the weekend.
Saturday
Saturday is the lowest volume day of the week, so there will be less competition to send an email on this day