The truth is that all Email campaigns are different from audience to message. Trying to figure out the best day to send Emails by leveraging data is a good place to start. But remember that Email marketing statistics pulled from averages compiled via different marketing studies is only that… an average. Your campaign may fit neatly within the “averages” but experimentation is often required to validate the assumption.
As such, the number one rule when figuring out the best day to send Emails FOR YOU is to test your campaigns.
Our platform makes sending Emails with A/B splits easy. This is great for understanding how one subject line might have a better draw over another. But you can (and should) vary your message testing by DATE. Naturally, you won’t send the exact same message two days in a row. But given enough time between sends, you can get away with sending the same message. Leveraging the A/B split test during testing will help differentiate the subject line and may give you added insights.
So, with that out of the way, which day is the best day to send Email Marketing?
According to a Quarterly Email Benchmark Report by Experian, Tuesday has a slight lead as the best day in both unique open rates as well as average order values to send Emails.
Image Credit: Experian
Another interesting finding is that sending in the afternoon offers a general boost to Email Marketing results vs. sending messages than mornings.
Important: Experian has released more recent data suggesting that unique open rates have risen 7.3% while unique click through rates have decreased 8.7%.
Regardless of when you send, think mobile!
It is often tempting to leverage complex layouts in Email marketing. But as mobile has become more prevalent, we highly recommend that regardless of when you send your Email, you work to keep it as simple as possible:
- Be sure your phone number is prominently featured in the message header.
- Be sure to include your location details somewhere – either in the message header or footer.
- The Email’s content body should be single column width.
- Images can work as lead-ins to content but creating complex wrap-around formatting is unnecessary.
- Be sure that your content encourages interaction back on your web site and for heaven’s sake be sure your web site itself is mobile friendly.
Additional thoughts on the best time to send Email marketing messages:
- Put yourself in the shoes of the Email recipient.
- Busy executives will typically dive straight into Email as a start to their day to see if there are any urgent fires. Therefore, morning is the time to communicate URGENT messages that need immediate attention. But decision makers may be more receptive to complex messages that require deliberation toward the last couple of hours of their day.
- Consumers that are coming home from a long day at work likely won’t sit in front of their computer / laptop / tablet to check their Emails until after they’ve had dinner and taken some time to relax. One could easily target Email delivery later in the evening. Also, weekends tend to be quieter Email days so definitely test Saturday and Sunday delivery.
- Offer value in your Email marketing.
- Always work to be informative. Remember that the Email recipient is taking time out to read your message. Make it worth their while.
- Understand your audience. Someone who has subscribed to your “super savers” list will desire deals. But clients for service-oriented businesses likely need content that helps to reinforce why they chose to do business with you in the first place. (Test and survey to determine your audience’s tolerance to sales, etc.)
At liftDEMAND we include optimized Email marketing as a core part of our services. Make your businesses as successful as possible with targeted Email marketing. Your clients would like to hear from you and we can help. Schedule a consultation with one of our team members to find out how we can simplify Email marketing.
