Best day of the week to send marketing email
Email marketing is all about getting your subscribers to
read your email, so often the question is asked, what is
the best day for mailings? Common wisdom has many mailings
going out Sunday or Monday, Sunday for Sunday through Monday
sales, and Monday for other mailings. This view has gradually
changed as marketing has moved online and people have had
the time and money to study the most effective marketing
techniques for internet marketing. It has become clear that
there are different days that work better for different
types of mailings.
First, it is important to separate different types of email.
There are emails that are sent out to reinforce brand name,
and emails to promote specific web pages. Studies have shown
that different days of the week provide different benefits
for open vs click-thru rates. Apparently, Monday through
wednesday is the peak time for email marketing, meaning
most emails are received on those days. This means people
are more likely to open email that day, because they are
getting a lot of it. However, having to compete with all
that email means you will likely only get a cursory glance.
Meanwhile, Friday through Sunday, with a peak on Saturday,
is the best time for click-thru rates, meaning you will
get less views but they will spend more time reading your
emails.
Really, the problem with choosing a good day of the week
for your emails is that it depends on who you are marketing
to. If your target market is the average consumer, someone
who does not spend an extended time using their computer,
you are going to want to have the highest number of individuals
opening your email. Monday, however, is not the best day
to send, as many people will be cleaning out their inbox
from the weekend, leading to a greater number of deleted
emails. Instead you should send out your emails between
Tuesday and Thursday if your target market is a general
user. If, on the other hand, you are marketing to technophiles,
heavy internet users, etc, you should send out your emails
on Friday or Saturday. These users will be likely to read
their email daily, even on the weekend. Because they are
likely to read your email anyway, you should go for the
lowest volume days that have the highest level of click-thrus.
One of the best ways to figure out the optimum time for
your emails is to study your own email list. This simply
involves using a mailer that tracks open and click thru
rates. What you should do is spend a week or two sending
on mailings on monday, then tuesday, etc. until you determine
what is the most effective day for your needs. This way,
you can customize your mailing timing to your subscriber's
needs.
