Optimal Email Marketing Delivery Times

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November 12th, 2008 | Marketing | 2 Comments

If you are a B2B or consumer marketer and use email marketing mailings you need to be aware of the effects of delivery times on your response and open rates.

Sending your emails at the right time of the day is critical to the success of your campaigns, especially if you are mailing mainly to business execs.

Think about it… When you turn on your computer in the morning, you have a bunch of emails to go through from the night before. However, once you have gone through your email and moved on to your daily routine, there is a less chance you will have time to read every email fully. I bet that most of you dedicate the first half hour of your day to reading email. Am I right?

You are not unique! Business execs around the world do the exact same. For this reason, you want your email to be received just before the reader sits down at the computer and starts their day. Delivered at this time your email is most likely to be at the top of the inbox, and thus most likely to get read.

I feel that 6-8:00am (M-T) works best for business execs and slightly later works best for the average consumer. If your list encompasses people from across the country or around the world, you need to segment your mailing list and deliver in batches to hit each timezone at the right moment.

Changing your current mailing times from mid day or afternoon to an early-morning delivery will dramatically increase your click-through and open rates. If you are running behind on a mailing and decide to send it out late in the day, you are costing yourself valuable conversions. Instead of rushing or sending an email late in the day, program your delivery time for early the next day – get some rest and thank me in the morning!

Have you found similar results with the time of day for email delivery?

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About the Author

Zach is a marketing consultant and owner of a FL web design and marketing group. He offers graphic design and marketing services, speaks on Internet marketing, and blogs about it all in his free time. (»)

Contact Zach: Company Website | Email

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2 Comments

  1. Francois Lane

    November 12, 2008 @ 3:13 pm

    Great post! I would add two points:

    1- Test! Don’t assume early in the morning is the best moment unless you tested different times during the day.
    2- Be consistent. You want people to expect your emails, especially for frequent mailings like daily newsletter. Pick a time, like 8AM, and make sure your mailing goes out at 8AM sharp every day.

    Francois Lane
    CakeMail

    Reply

    zacheos

    Great points… I couldn’t agree more about testing. Ideal delivery times can vary drastically from audience to audience. I have heard of websites that cater to younger, techy readers that get better clickthrough rates and increased pages/visit by sending newsletters at midnight when their audience is surfing the web late night.

    Reply

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