Email Marketing Articles

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.