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We
are often asked when is the best time to send an email. Our
normal response is that different clients find they have different
success rates to the next. Some find Monday ideal, others
avoid Monday like the plague. Testing different times and
dates is the only way to ensure you send at the optimum time.
However
we thought it would be interesting to look at some stats to
see:
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What
days and time are the most popular for sending? Are some
days overcrowded and does the majority of those sending
on a day suggest that day being a good day?
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What
are the average open and click-thru rates for different
times and dates? Does this suggest that some times are
extremely good or bad for sending?
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Does
the time and day for sending vary between industry sectors?
We presume it does as sending a B2B email is completely
different to B2C
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Which
days are popular for sending?
Thursday
is the most popular day for sending email campaigns with nearly
¼ of all campaigns delivered on this day.
Thursday
is often considered a good day to send while consumers are
thinking about the weekend and what they need to buy. While
you could suggest Friday would therefore be a better day the
fact that many people take Friday off (Including those that
set-up and send the campaigns) could be a factor.
It
is no surprise to see Monday as the day the least email campaigns
were sent with the exception of Saturday and Sunday. Monday
is always thought of as a bad day as people are in delete
mode. There is a perception that when people come back in
the office on a Monday morning they just want to get rid of
as much email as possible that has built up over the weekend
and early Monday morning.
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How do open and click rates vary across the week?
If
we look at the actual performance of these campaigns some
of the theories are proven while some are definitely disproved.
Firstly
Monday has the lowest open rate and click-thru rate. In addition
the percentage of people opening the email and then clicking
is the lowest in the whole week. This backs up the theory
that people do not have time for marketing emails and newsletters
on a Monday.
Campaigns
sent on a Wednesday have both the highest open and click-thru
rate that is surprising. The theory behind this is perhaps
people have more time on a Wednesday. Less people are on holiday
and away from their work email while consumers are presumably
not enjoying a night out on a work day.
This
theory is also supported by looking at campaigns sent on a
Friday when the majority of people will have the weekend to
peruse the emails at their leisure. The fact that over ¼
of people that open an email sent on a Friday actually clicks
on a link backs this up.
In
reality the reason why these trends are happening is not important
but it can show you that certain days are worth trying. Next
month we will look at the times of day that work best before
focussing on different industries and how their emails vary
according to the day or the time of day they are sent.
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