If you use email marketing and monitor the statistics you’ll be aware there are certain days and times that are better than others for sending emails. You’ll probably never hit on the perfect time, when everyone will read your email, but by spending a little time analysing your database you should be able to work out when is the best time to send marketing emails.

The first thing to consider is whether your database is mainly business to business (B2B) contacts, or mainly business to consumer (B2C). You may well know the answer already, but if you’re not sure, take a look at the email addresses, because they will give you a clue. A B2B database will have mainly domain-based email addresses; but if you notice there are lots of generic or ISP emails addresses in there – e.g. @gmail.com, @hotmail.co.uk or @btopenworld.com – then you’re more likely to be targeting B2C. The best time to open emails varies quite a lot between B2C and B2B so if you have a mix of both it might well be worth separating the domain-based emails and the generic/ISP ones into two separate lists and scheduling them to send at different times.

When is the best time to send marketing emails to B2B contacts?

When sending marketing emails to B2B contacts you need to be aware of normal working hours and think about how managing an inbox fits in with the daily routine. Monday morning is definitely not a good time – because most people will be ploughing through a mass of emails sent over the weekend and anything non-urgent or unimportant is likely to be deleted unread. Friday is also not a good day, as people tend to be rushing to get everything finished before the weekend and again will not have the time to read anything that’s not vital. The weekend is definitely out in most cases – because most people will not be at work. (However, if your database has a lot of self-employed people in it you may actually find an email on Saturday morning gets read.) Research has found that the best days to send B2B marketing emails are Tuesday to Thursday, with Wednesday being the day most emails are opened.

When it comes to scheduling a time, again think about the daily routine most people have. Emails early in the morning will get lost in a full inbox, and deleted unread. Emails late in the day will either be deleted if they arrive just as the recipient is packing up for the day, or will sit in the inbox overnight – and be deleted next day. Scheduling your emails for somewhere between 11am-2pm gives them the best chance of being read – perhaps while the recipient eats their lunch!

When is the best time to send marketing emails to B2C contacts?

With end users and consumers you actually have a lot more flexibility in which day to send your emails. We’d still suggest that Mondays and Fridays are worth avoiding, as most people are busy those days, but most other days are worth trying out. It’s much more important to think about the time you send your emails though, and this will depend a lot on the type of consumers you are emailing. If your targets are students then early evening, when they’ve arrived home from school or college, is a good time. Homemakers, stay at home mums and self employed people are more likely to open and read emails received during the day – preferably around the 11am-2pm time slot. For most consumer-related emails though, your best bet is to send them between 7pm-9pm. Think about your own routine – you may well come home from work, sort out dinner, put the kids to bed etc and then sit down in front of the TV with your laptop and browse your emails.

By experimenting with different days and times and monitoring the results you’ll soon find the optimum time to send your marketing emails. If you’re not yet using email marketing and autoresponders in your business then give us a call on +44(0)8432 894 402 today to find out how you can send unlimited emails from just £20 a month.

When done well, email marketing is a cost-effective tool for turning contacts into customers and increasing traffic to your website. Here are some helpful tips to help you make the most of this useful internet marketing tool

7 tips for effective email marketing

1. Grab their attention
When people open up their inbox and go through their emails you have a split second to grab their attention before they delete your email or, worse still, mark it as spam. Make sure the subject line is catchy and grabs their attention, perhaps by including something of benefit to them. “My 3rd newsletter” or “Greetings from ABC Company” isn’t likely to appeal, but “Top 10 tax tips” or “Useful tools to help you with (something)” might. However, don’t trick people into opening your email – make sure the subject line is relevant to the content!

2. Keep it short
When your email goes on for pages and pages, you might be lucky and find people file it away to read later – but they’re more likely to delete it. Keep it short – include teaser paragraphs that are interesting and intriguing, and link them to longer articles on your website.

3. Put the good stuff at the top
Many email programs have a preview pane where the top part of your email will be visible – so make sure that preview pane shows something worth reading! Try putting the most interesting article at the top. If you’re running a competition or a special offer, make sure that’s first in the email as it’s likely to encourage people to open and read the whole message. Alternatively, you could include bullet points showing what’s in the rest of the email.

4. Make it personal
Most email marketing tools allow you to add tags that pull in information like the recipient’s first name or company name. You’ll get a much higher clickthrough rate if your email starts “Hi Peter” rather than “Hi there”. However, make sure you use the tags properly and you do have the relevant information in your database – sending out emails that say “Hi [FNAME]” won’t do you any favours!

5. Make it easy to unsubscribe
Don’t take this personally, but not everyone will want to receive your emails. Make sure you include an Unsubscribe link or button so people can opt out quickly and easily. However, depending on the mail software you’re using you might be able to turn Unsubscribes to your advantage, by asking why people don’t want to hear from you. Useful market research!

6. Timing is everything
Think carefully about when you send your marketing emails because it plays a huge part in determining how many get read. Monday is never a good day – you know what it’s like yourself, you’re ploughing through the weekend’s email and anything not important or relevant is likely to be deleted. Friday is also not a good day – we’re all getting ready for the weekend and don’t want to waste time reading newsletters! Tuesday and Wednesday are often the best days to send your marketing emails, and early afternoon rather than morning is thought to be the best time. Experiment and see when you get the most opens and the most clickthroughs!

7. Beat the spam filters
Email spam filters are getting ever more sophisticated, but there are a few things to avoid to help your email on its way. Don’t use terms like “free” or “special offer” or “£££” in the subject line. Don’t write the subject in CAPITALS or use lots of !!!!!!!!! And don’t leave the subject line blank – make sure you put something genuine and relevant in there.

If you’d like to find out more about how to use email marketing effectively, have a look at our Email Marketing and Autoresponders packages. You can send unlimited emails every month and we’ll even set up your account for free! Click here for more information, or call the team on +44(0)8432 894 402 to discuss your requirements.