The best time to send marketing emails

Timing is everything — especially when it comes to sending marketing emails. After all, as marketers, our messaging is only as good as the action it drives. But with inboxes flooded and attention spans fleeting, finding the best time to send marketing emails can feel like navigating through a maze of possibilities.

In this article, you’ll get tips and tricks for navigating the art of the best time to send marketing emails – and how to maximize their impact. You’ll learn how to make sure your messages resonate with your audience when they're most receptive, how optimal timing can enhance Engagement levels, and, ultimately, conversion rates, as well as how to make the most of marketing tools to streamline your work.

What you’ll learn:

• When is the best time to send marketing emails?
• What are best practices for scheduling email sends?
• The best time to send marketing emails by industry
• How you can measure email performance and Engagement
• Use email automation, scheduling tools, and AI to streamline your workflow
• How Marketing Cloud helps you find the best time to send marketing emails

Wondering, "What is the best day of the week to send emails?" is completely normal. And asking "How often should I send marketing emails?" is natural, too. While we would all love definitive answers, the optimal send time can vary depending on factors like target audience, industry, and geographic location.

Understanding the demographics and behaviors of your target audience is key. Do your customers tend to open their emails in the morning? Do they click-through your content in the afternoon? Different industries may have different email Engagement patterns. Are you in the leisure industry? If so, perhaps, Saturdays and Sundays are effective. You can get this information using various analytics tools, including email marketing platforms, web analytics tools like Google Analytics, heatmap tools, CRM systems, and email testing platforms. You can also conduct A/B testing, and ask your audience for feedback using surveys or feedback forms.

Let’s say you’re a fitness brand targeting busy professionals. By dividing your audience into two groups — those who engage during weekdays and those who engage during weekends — you can tailor your email sends accordingly. For the weekday group, sending motivational emails early in the morning might help them kick start their day. Meanwhile, delivering workout tips and challenges on Friday afternoons could inspire weekenders to make the most of their leisure time.

Consider the time zones of your target audience if they are spread across different regions. Does sending emails between 10am and 12pm in the recipient's local time zone yield better results? Experimenting with different times of the day will help determine the best sending time. Imagine you're a travel agency promoting vacation packages. You have customers spread across different regions, from New York to California. By segmenting your audience based on their time zones, you can ensure your emails arrive at the best time.

Now, let's focus on frequency preferences. Imagine you're a fashion retailer catering to a diverse customer base. Some customers may enjoy receiving daily updates about new arrivals and exclusive offers, while others prefer a more curated approach with weekly or monthly newsletters. By segmenting your audience based on their frequency preferences, you can strike the right balance.

Scheduling email sends is crucial for maximizing your customer Engagement and response rates. You’ll need to analyze metrics such as open rates, click-through rates, and conversion rates to identify patterns and trends in email Engagementngagement. In doing so, you can better tailor your send times to maximize the chances of recipients engaging with your material.

A/B testing involves sending different versions of an email to a subset of your audience to determine which version performs better. First, you test different send times and days of the week to identify the optimal schedule for your specific audience. Then, you analyze the performance metrics of each test to determine the most effective email sending times.

If your target audience spans multiple time zones, consider scheduling emails based on the recipient's local time. Find email marketing tools to use that allow for time zone segmentation to ensure your emails are delivered at the most appropriate time for each recipient.

But don’t stop at researching and testing. You need to monitor performance metrics continuously to identify trends and patterns. By keeping track of relevant metrics, you can assess the effectiveness of your strategy and iterate for improvement.

The best time to send marketing emails can vary across different industries, as the behaviors and preferences of audiences can differ.

Take healthcare, for example. Healthcare professionals’ schedules often revolve around long shifts and irregular hours. They may have limited time to check their emails during the day. In this case, it would be wise to avoid sending marketing emails during typical working hours. Instead, consider targeting them during their downtime, such as early mornings or late evenings. Sending an email about a medical conference or a new research study during the early morning hours might catch their attention as they prepare for their day.

Contrast that with retailers, who have a broader range of opportunities to engage with their audience. Retail customers often browse and shop during their leisure time, which is typically in the evenings or on weekends. For this audience, sending marketing emails during weekdays, particularly in the late afternoon or early evening, can be effective.

Imagine a fashion retailer promoting a limited-time sale on their latest collection. Sending an email on a Thursday evening, just as people are winding down from their workday and starting to plan their weekend activities, can create a sense of excitement and anticipation, leading to higher engagement and conversion rates.

Here’s a quick general breakdown for email timing strategies for B2B:  

• B2B professionals are more likely to engage with emails during weekdays, particularly from Tuesday to Thursday.
•  Sending emails between 9am and 11am tends to yield higher open and click-through rates in the B2B sector. 
• Mondays are often busy with catching up on work, while Fridays are associated with wrapping up the week, making these days less optimal for B2B email sends.
• Sending emails during the lunch hour, around 12pm to 1pm, can be effective as professionals may take a break and check their emails during this time. 
• B2B professionals may prioritize urgent tasks early in the morning and wind down in the evenings, making these times less ideal for email engagement.

And here’s another general breakdown for email timing strategies for B2C businesses:

• B2C customers often have more leisure time in the evenings and on weekends, making these periods ideal for email sends.
• Sending emails on Friday afternoons can capture the attention of B2C customers as they plan their weekend activities and shopping.
• Tailor email timing to align with specific events or seasons relevant to your B2C audience. For example, sending holiday promotions well in advance or launching summer sales as the season approaches.
• Use customer data and segmentation to send emails at personalized times based on individual preferences and behaviors.

Industry standards provide benchmarks for email timing, enabling you to compare your performance against your competitors and identify areas for improvement. Industry standards can also offer insights into the behaviors and preferences of your target audiences within specific sectors, helping your business tailor its email timing strategies accordingly.

While industry standards provide a starting point, it's crucial to analyze your own audience data and make adjustments based on unique characteristics and Engagement patterns.

When equipped with the right tools to effectively measure email performance, you not only enhance your ability to optimize future sends but also gain insights into the best times to engage with your audience. Here are key metrics to track for email effectiveness and performance:

Is a metric that measures the percentage of recipients who open your email. It indicates the initial Engagement and interest in your email content. For example, if you send an email to 1,000 subscribers and 200 of them open it, your open rate would be 20%.

Measures the percentage of recipients who click on a link within your email. It indicates the level of Engagement and the effectiveness of your call-to-action. If your email generates 50 clicks from the 200 recipients who opened it, your CTR would be 25%.

Measure the percentage of recipients who complete a desired action, such as making a purchase, filling out a form, or subscribing to a service. It reflects the ultimate goal of your email campaign. For instance, if out of the 50 recipients who clicked on your email, 10 made a purchase, your conversion rate would be 20%.

Measure the percentage of emails that were not delivered to recipients' inboxes. They reflect the percentage of emails not delivered to recipients' inboxes, highlighting issues with the timing of email deliverability and list quality.

Measure the percentage of recipients who opt out of receiving future emails from your campaign. It indicates the level of disinterest or dissatisfaction with your content. Tracking unsubscribe rates helps identify potential issues with email content, time of delivery, frequency, or targeting.

Track time spent reading an email, the number of pages viewed, or the number of shares can provide deeper insights into the level of interest and interaction with your email content.

By regularly monitoring these metrics, you see the patterns that reveal the best times to reach your audience. This allows you to tailor your email sends for maximum impact and Engagement, ensuring your messages are received when your audience is most receptive.

Industry research on email marketing exemplifies standard percentages for key metrics; however, it's important to note that these benchmarks can vary across industries and audience segments. As you research them, remember that they are a starting point. Use them as building blocks as you continually measure and optimize the timing of your marketing email sends.

Move faster with email automation

Email automation can help you discern the ideal timing for your marketing emails. By segmenting your audience based on various criteria like demographics or behavior, you can tailor your automated email campaigns to resonate with specific segments, ensuring your messages are received when they're most relevant. For instance, if you're in the fashion industry, segmenting based on purchase history can help you send personalized recommendations for new arrivals or seasonal collections, timed perfectly to coincide with your customers' shopping habits.

Identifying key triggers that initiate automated email workflows enables you to capitalize on pivotal moments in your customers' journey. Whether it's sending a welcome email to new subscribers, a follow-up message after a purchase, or a gentle reminder for abandoned carts, these triggers dictate precisely when your emails are sent, optimizing their impact and relevance.

Schedule emails with the right tools

Email scheduling tools can streamline your email workflow by scheduling emails for optimal timing. Because these tools allow you to analyze past performance data and look at audience behavior, it’s set up for you to schedule emails to reach recipients when they're most likely to engage. By maintaining a consistent email cadence and accommodating diverse audience preferences, you can build trust and keep your brand top-of-mind. Additionally, automated scheduling saves time and resources, freeing up bandwidth for other marketing initiatives.

When looking for an email scheduling tool, look for a tool that is easy to navigate and use. Ask yourself: Does the tool offer various scheduling options, such as specific dates and times, recurring schedules, or time zone customization? This flexibility will allow you to align your email sends with your audience's preferences.

A good scheduling tool should integrate with your CRM system or email marketing platform, enabling you to segment your audience and schedule targeted emails to specific segments. It should allow you to conduct A/B testing on different email variations, as well as provide comprehensive reporting and analytics features so that you can track the performance of your scheduled emails and make data-driven decisions for future optimizations.

Streamline email workflows with AI

Tools powered by artificial intelligence (AI) can enhance the workflow for optimal send times as well. Take, for example, a digital marketing agency managing campaigns for a diverse client base. By integrating AI-powered scheduling tools, they can input client-specific data, such as historical email performance metrics and audience demographics. The AI algorithm then sifts through this data to uncover nuanced insights, such as peak Engagement hours for different audience segments.

With this information, the agency can tailor email send times for each client, ensuring messages reach recipients when they're most likely to engage. If analysis reveals that a client's audience is particularly active on weekday evenings, the AI might suggest scheduling email campaigns during this period to maximize open rates and click-throughs. AI continuously learns and adapts based on real-time data, so it’s constantly refining its recommendations to reflect evolving audience behavior and preferences.