Perfect Timing, a Key to successful E-mail Campaigns
Have you ever wondered why some of your e-mails get opened quicker or generate better click-through rates than others? The answer may well lie in the time those e-mails were sent. Hubspot’s Dan Zarella did some research into successful E-mail Campaigns and what kind of e-mail works best at any given time of day. Here are the results of his research:
06:00 to 10:00 – This is the best time to send consumer-focused marketing e-mails
10:00 to 12:00 – Few e-mails will be opened, as most people are busy getting on with their work
12:00 to 14:00 – During lunch breaks, magazine and news updates go down a real treat
14:00 to 15:00 – Back to work again and inboxes are ignored
15:00 to 17:00 – Early afternoons are perfect for sending financial and property related offers
17:00 to 19:00 – B2B and holiday promotions tend to get opened predominantly during the early evening
19:00 to 22:00 – After dinner, consumer promotions once again reach some level of popularity
22:00 to 06:00 – This is definitely a dead zone. Looks like only insomniacs open their e-mails in the middle of the night.
Understanding these time blocks, how they work and why different types of e-mails are more popular at different times of day goes a long way towards perfect e-mail timing. That period between 15:00 and 17:00, for example, is perfect for sending financial/ property related e-mails because that is the time when recipients are most likely to consider their life situations and how to improve them.
Open and click-through rates (as well as abuse reports) for more general e-mails, by the way, appear to be at their highest early in the morning and at the weekend.
Other Studies
A MailChimp study revealed significantly lower open rates at weekends. The study also showed an increase of open rates from 12:00 onwards, reaching a peak between 14:00 and 17:00. These findings were backed up by a GetResponse study, which revealed a slight drop off in opening rates and a significant drop in click-through rates over the weekend. According to GetResponse, the best day for good open and click-through rates is Thursday.
Trial and Error
Obviously, everybody has their own routines, so getting it exactly right can be extremely difficult, if not impossible. Keeping an eye on who responds to what kind of e-mail when and trying different approaches should, however, help.
An Experiment
An online retail company conducted an experiment that demonstrates this to perfection. Assuming that the time users had signed up for their e-mail list would probably mean that this particular time would be the perfect time to send e-mails, they analysed each individual user’s behaviour, then sent e-mails at the appropriate times. The result of this approach was in a 20{1884f1fad642c0a335e320fbf36199da8501940de449f82beb0b1edf5c3b25f3} increase in click-through rates and a staggering increase of 65{1884f1fad642c0a335e320fbf36199da8501940de449f82beb0b1edf5c3b25f3} in conversion rates.
