3 Factors to Consider When Choosing the Best Time to Send a Marketing Email

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Christa Tuttle Last updated: January 17, 2023

Everyone’s email inbox is consistently receiving emails, especially marketing emails. These emails typically are spread throughout the day with some being received at odd hours of the day, such as early in the morning or late at night. But, have you ever noticed receiving multiple marketing emails at the same time? Have you ever noticed your inbox pinging multiple times in a row or your phone notifications going off one after the other? Well, there is an explanation: email timing. Through various email testing methods, data analysis sessions and previous experiences, organizations can narrow down the best time to send a marketing email.

Why is knowing the best time to send a marketing email so important? Reports show that your email’s delivery time plays a significant role in open rates, click rates and overall email marketing performance. Consider these factors when determining the best time to send a marketing email.

#1. Day of the Week

Any day of the week might feel like a good day to send a marketing email, but this isn’t always the case. If you consider how each day of the week typically functions for many working individuals, this can help guide your decision as to what day of the week is the best day to send a marketing email. Here is a breakdown of the days of the week:

Monday: Common sense tells us that individuals typically are getting back into the workweek, often at a slow pace, and checking emails from colleagues and clients on Mondays while many marketing or promotional emails usually get glanced over, unopened or deleted immediately. But, recent data suggests that Mondays may not be such a bad day to send an email as open rates consistently match other days of the week.
Tuesday – Thursday: Marketers tend to lean towards these days as the best days to send marketing emails. Why? Individuals are settled into their weekly work routine and check emails at their normal pace, which means they are likely to open and click any marketing emails sent.
Friday: With many individuals ready for the weekend, many work tasks or projects are not started on this day. Many think of Fridays as days to wrap up these tasks or projects or have some heads-down work time with minimal meeting interruptions. Recent data shows that open and click rates remain consistent and comparable to rates on other days of the week.
Saturday and Sunday: In many cases, people do not check their email on the weekends and use the two days as time away from work. As personal lives take over, the time to check emails is minimal. But, depending on work culture, geographics and job type, this might be different. Marketers often avoid these days to send marketing emails. People still open and click emails on Saturday and Sunday, but not at of high as a rate as weekdays.

#2. Time of Day

Time of day is another influential factor in choosing the best time to send a marketing email or email marketing campaign. In many cases, sending during typical work hours makes the most sense as most individuals are online, actively checking their inbox for emails coming in, but this can also depend on the day of the week. Different times of the day are better for specific days of the week. Here is a breakdown of what to consider when choosing the best time of day to send marketing emails:

Early Morning (7 am to 10 am): This time can be optimal if your organization is looking to grab an individual’s attention when they are getting online to start their workday or filtering through emails from the previous evening or early morning.
Midday (11 am to 1 pm): This time can be optimal because this is when many people take their lunch breaks. Depending on their working habits, many take their lunchtime away from their computer and check missed emails once they get back while others work through lunch, continuing to check emails as they come in. Regardless of this, many people are more willing to check their email and open marketing emails during their lunch break.
Afternoon (3 pm to 5 pm): This time can be optimal if your organization is looking to grab someone’s attention towards the end of their workday as things are winding down. Many people wrap up tasks they are working on throughout the day or start planning for the next day ahead, so sending a marketing email during this time can be an option.
Evening/Night (6 pm to 9 pm): This time can be optimal if your organization is looking to reach your audience after working hours. People still tend to check their email after they finish working. This might be a great time to push out a marketing email if you are hoping to catch them in an after-hours fashion.

#3. Audience Demographics and Behaviors

While both the day of the week and time of the day matter as individual factors, the time of day and day of the week you end up testing and choosing to send marketing emails is influenced by your core target audience demographics and behaviors. For example, if your organization has a banking SaaS offering and the target audience is executive team members and C-suite individuals, the best time to send marketing emails differs completely than if your organization has an aviation technology solution and serves primarily pilots and aircraft technicians. Here is a breakdown of why audience demographics and behaviors matter when choosing the best time to send a marketing email:

Previous engagement data for marketing emails can give insight as to what day of the week and time of day open and click rates were the highest
Different roles and job titles have differing email open and click behavior
- Executives and C-suite members may not check their email as often due to their busy meeting schedules and check their email on the weekend consistently
- Entry-level and manager-level team members might be more inclined to check their emails as they might have more schedule flexibility and might not check email after hours or on the weekend
Marketing goals differ based on audience segmentation and can impact what time is best to send emails
- If you’re looking to increase awareness it might be best to focus on days of the week and times of day that have previously shown high open rates
- If you’re looking to generate leads it might be best to focus on days of the week and times of day that have previously shown high click rates

Make an Impact with Marketing Emails Through Optimizing Send Times

Using past engagement data and having a complete understanding of target audience demographics and behaviors can give your team all the information needed to create a strategic plan for sending marketing emails. By narrowing down a day, or a few days of the week, and a few times of day that perform the best, and match your marketing goals, will go a long way in marketing and business success.