When it comes to email marketing, open rates are everything. You can have the greatest newsletter or the best sales email copy in the world – but if no one opens it you won’t get any results.
I’ve written before about email subject lines and deliverability: two key things that influence your open rates. But what about timing? Does the day and time you send your emails have an impact on how many people open them?
Times Have Changed
In the past, the day and time you sent your emails would have a big impact on how many people opened them. Time it just right and you could nudge your open rate up by as much as 25%.
But times have changed. Technology has progressed and new behaviours developed. In the past, most people checked their emails on their computers. This meant that timing your emails to go out when your target audience was sat at their desk would give you the best results.
But smartphones have changed that. Habits have adjusted and now more than 80% of emails are opened on a phone!
Not only does this mean that your emails need to be mobile optimised, but it also means that the day and time people check their inbox is no longer quite so set.
So Does Timing Still Matter?
Yes. But we need to look at it from a different angle. Instead of trying to discover the ideal time that they’ll be sat at their desk, we now need to think more about their headspace.
Let me give you an example:
If you’re emailing business owners, they’re almost certain to be opening their inbox early on a Monday morning – but that’s not likely to be a good time to get their attention. Monday morning they are stressed, busy and thinking about everything they need to do that day to kick the week off to a good start. If they come across your email then, they’re likely to archive it before even giving you a chance. You need to find a time when they have the time and headspace to potentially give you a little attention.
Consistency Is Key
It’s not just their schedule that matters. Consistency is key when it comes to email newsletters, so think about your own schedule too. Plan to create and send your email newsletter at a time that works for you so you can send it on the same day and time every week or month. If you fail to accommodate your own needs you’ll end up missing deadlines and being inconsistent.
Just Ask
And finally, if you want to know when the best time to email your audience is, just ask them.
Drop an email out to your list explaining that you want to be as much help to them as possible and you know they’re busy – so you’d like to ask when the best day and time to contact them would be?
Test, Tweak, Repeat
As an email newsletter specialist, we send hundreds of thousands of emails every year and there’s one strategy that never fails us. Test, tweak and repeat.
You can learn all the theories and read all the books, but when it comes to marketing the magic sauce really is to test it.
So whatever day and time you choose to send your emails, be sure to test it, assess it – and tweak it to see what happens. Tiny changes can sometimes give some unexpected results.
Want a little help with your email newsletters? Book a call to see what we can do for you…
