One of the most common questions our specialists get asked is what is the best time to send an email marketing campaign in order to get maximum engagement. Unfortunately, there is no hard-and-fast formula to guarantee success. That said, finding your send-time sweet-spot can be found through testing, but where to begin? Here are some learnings for you to consider and to inspire you along the way:

Avoid interrupting!

First thing’s first; consider when your audience is most likely to be actively checking their inboxes, as opposed to interrupting them. To do this, you’ll need to get into the collective mind of your subscribers (you may find persona building helps you achieve this). Additionally, think about your colleagues’ schedules: chances are if there’s a recurring meeting every morning ‘til 10am you might want to avoid this time.

Test your email campaign, and test again.

As mentioned, there is no one-size-fits-all answer here, so testing the time of day and day of the week you send your email campaign is strongly recommended. You can report on the engagement timeline in GatorMail to analyse spikes in opens; sometimes you may find this is after the initial send time.

Think about your own habits with your inbox. Do you check your emails on your phone? If so, do you check your emails on your commute to/from work? Depending on your subscriber base and whether you are B2B or B2C will help you plan this.

There’s a simple play to consider here:

  • For B2B think about when you’re at your desk. Ideally, you want to catch subscribers who are at their desk and mildly distracted or just finishing a task. But let’s face it, we’re not mind-readers or spies…
  • If your campaign is for B2C, then think about when you’re not at your desk/the opposite of above: coffee and lunch breaks, going home.

Click or call?

Consider not only what your call to action is, but how much effort it takes your subscriber to complete. For example, if the CTA is to read a lengthy article or to make a phone call, you might want to think about when you would have the time in your own day to complete these actions.

Personal vs. Business

Drilling further down; awareness of whether you are approaching your subscriber to meet business or personal needs will determine “when” to send your email marketing campaign. For example, a phone call might be better suited to your subscribers during their lunch break if the content is personal. Whereas, if it’s business related it should be while they are at work, working. Therefore avoiding 11:30am – 2:30pm (when lunch is taken) is preferable.

Additionally, if your call to action is quite literally a call, you’ll need to assure that you have sufficient staff to answer the phones. Remember you want your subscriber to feel as though the interaction is effortless on their part!