An often overlooked question in many online marketing campaigns is “When is the best time to send emails?” At first glance, it might seem superfluous… As soon as they’re ready you might think. Or, First thing in the morning, so they’re right at the top of the inbox! But it’s a question that deserves to be more than an afterthought. After all, the time you send your emails may very well be the difference between a sale or a deletion.

Luckily, here at Omnisend, we’ve been able to analyze over 2 billion (yes, with a B) promotional campaigns that utilized our omnichannel automation platform in 2018. That’s a lot of data.

So, when is the best time to send an email?

Well, let’s break it down so we can decide the best times of the Month, Week, and Day.

But before we do, let’s take a second to hammer home the point that the best time to send emails depends on your audience demographic. Your emails should be tailored to your audience, always, always, always.

But here are some great ballpark times to shoot for if you’re either 1) not sure when the best time is, or 2) sending emails to a general audience.

Best Time to Send Emails: Days of the Month

Generally speaking, email campaigns sent out on a monthly basis are from smaller brands. And that’s the way it should be. If you’re starting out, or selling niche items, chances are that your stores aren’t incorporating new ideas every week, and you’re building momentum with your marketing campaigns.

So, what does the data say about the best times to send out your monthly emails?

You can see that the first two weeks clearly outperform the end of the month, with the best days being the 5th, 12th, and 7th (at 19.15%, 19.03%, and 18.54%, respectively).

But let’s dig a little deeper…

Here, we see that the average number of orders starts strong, but then tapers off toward the end of the month. 

In fact, here’s what we find by looking at the numbers:

Days 1-10 of the month have an 18.56% open rate, with an average of 7.16 orders placed.

While days 21-31 have a 17.87% open rate, with 6.67 average orders placed. (And days 11-20 are in between.)

Though those numbers might not seem drastically different, imagine what it means to your sales as your email list increases…

Why do people spend less at the end of the month? Most people get paid on the 1st and 15th of every month. Doesn’t leave much money for the end.

Best Time to Send Emails: Days of the Week

If you send a weekly newsletter, you want to send it on the day of the week when people actually read it, don’t you?

Of course you do. That’s why you want to send your emails out on…

Thursday. (Okay, so that wasn’t as dramatic as I hoped it would be…)

But the data shows it: Thursday is THE best day of the week to send your emails (followed up by Tuesday).

Though it lags behind Sunday in CTR, Overall performance (which includes open rate and orders placed) goes to Thursday.

Why?

Anyone’s guess, really, but maybe Thursday is one of those days that are lazy enough to open something non-work related but productive enough to actually buy. Who knows.

But, something we do know, is that Monday is the worst day for a promotional campaign (followed up by Saturday). Makes sense. People are actually working (as opposed to pretending to work) on Monday, and they’re out living life on Saturday.

Best Time to Send Emails: During the Day

What do you think is the best time of day is to send your promo campaign? Did I hear you say “right after lunch?”

Check this out:

Look at where those graphs spike: 8am, 1pm, and 4/5pm.

Mmmm, mmm, good old predictable humans.

What do we do when we just get to work? We check out emails for a minute to ease into the day. That’s why 8am has the highest open rate, at 20.32%.

4/5pm is a good one for CTR, as people are goofing off a bit before work. (And who can blame them?) And this time (specifically 4pm) also has the best order rate, at 10.66 average orders per campaign.

Let’s not forget 1pm, which clocks in with best overall performance. Do I even need to explain why? (Hint: People are coming back from lunch, and not too eager to get back into work.)

Use wisely

Sending your emails at the right time of day can make a huge difference in your campaign, but don’t forget…

The keys to a successful campaign are:

·         Active Email List

·         Great Copy

·         Well-Timed Emails

…that are all tailored to your audience.

Go forth, and let the sales be with you.