I know we’ve talked about this before  (along with every blogger and ESP in existence!) but clients keep calling me and asking me.  Yes it’s true.  Sending your email on the right day, at the right time, can have a HUGE impact on the success of your campaign.

Unfortunately!

I mean that ‘unfortunately’.  It’s really annoying that you can’t just build your brand, get the copy right, and the offer right, and get your call centre staff all chirpy on the phone, and your bricks’n'mortar’ all looking beautiful… why can’t it be enough to just get all of the elements all perfect and then send it any old time?

There are many factors involved in a successful campaign.  None of them (or very few) are black or white.  Most involve a good part of all of science, maths, technology, intuition, experience and art!  And add anthropology too.

Results for Email by Day of the Week

So, sticking to just one question – which day is the best day to send email? Our Jericho Email Marketing Report this year (download it free here) showed some interesting results.  We looked at the volume of email sent on each day of the week, and which days performed best for opens, and click throughs recorded and… drum roll please…

Top Open Rate Days of the Week:  Monday & Friday
Top Click Through Days of the Week: Saturday & Monday
Worst day for Open Rate and Click Through Rates: Sunday

Perhaps all those years of us recommending Tuesday and Thursday meant that they and Wednesday ended with more volume, and therefore less response.  Monday and Friday have been abandoned to an extent by marketers, so there’s opportunity to get organised and snatch those opens and clicks…   and then there’s Saturday – that dark horse that gets more than it’s fair share of clicks.  So, what’s the best day to send my email campaign?  The long answer is that there are more questions! Are you talking to consumers or other businesses? Are you providing information or asking for a sale? Is it time critical or general update?  Is it a one off, or a regular campaign?  There is no doubt that Mum and Dad at home (B2C) are more likely to read their email during the weekend than an office worker (B2B).

TIP
Put yourself in your recipient’s shoes. When would you be most open to receiving, opening, and responding to the email?  One of the simplest ways to decide is to test it! Split your database in two, then send the same campaign to each half at each of your selected times.  Compare the response metrics.

Remember that a good platform like ours at www.smartmailpro.com will let you set up A/B testing yourself, as well as schedule sends so that even if you are not there on Monday (or Friday) your email marketing can get the best results possible.  Good luck – and let me know how it goes )