Last Updated: January 2025
Determining the best time to send email campaigns is crucial to a successful email marketing strategy. When your emails land in recipients’ inboxes at the right moment, your chances of higher engagement and improved delivery rates significantly increase.
The sheer volume of emails sent each day was over 347 billion in 2024, according to Statista.
If you’ve ever felt your email campaigns go unnoticed, you’re not alone. Timing plays a pivotal role in ensuring your message gets read. While there isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution, there are strategies you can use to find the perfect timing for your campaigns. This article outlines proven tips to help you identify your “sweet spot” for email sends.
Table of Contents
- Key Insights on the Best Time to Send Email Campaigns
- Factors Influencing the Best Time to Send Email Campaigns
- Best Time for Specific Email Types
- Avoid Common Pitfalls
- A/B Testing for Optimal Results
- Transactional Emails: A Special Case
- Best Time to Send Marketing Emails
- Best Time to Send B2B Emails
- Saufter: Revolutionizing Email Marketing with AI
- Conclusion
Key Insights on the Best Time to Send Email Campaigns
Data-Driven Benchmarks
Analyzing historical data is an excellent starting point. For instance, during major shopping events like Black Friday or Cyber Monday, sending emails at 7 AM often results in peak open rates between 8 AM and 9 AM. Similarly, campaigns sent during holiday weekends, such as Memorial Day, showed 7 AM as a preferred send time, though open times varied significantly.
Best Day to Send Emails
Research from HubSpot and other industry leaders suggests:
- Tuesdays typically correlate with slightly higher open rates.
- Emails sent at 11 AM (EST) perform well.
- Engagement tends to drop later in the week and over weekends.
By leveraging these insights, marketers can create campaigns that maximize engagement, ensuring their messages are seen and acted upon.
Factors Influencing the Best Time to Send Email Campaigns
Audience Behavior
Your audience’s habits significantly affect the best time to send email campaigns. For example:
- B2B audiences: Engagement is usually higher during work hours on weekdays, with Tuesday through Thursday being ideal.
- B2C audiences: Emails sent over the weekend may perform better, especially for promotional content targeting leisure activities.
Industry Trends
Different industries experience varying levels of success at different times. Retail emails may perform well on weekends, while professional services often see higher engagement midweek. For instance, fitness-related promotions thrive early in the morning, whereas dining offers perform better after work hours.
Time Zones
If your audience spans multiple time zones, consider segmenting your list to send emails at optimal times in each region. Alternatively, a “follow-the-sun” approach ensures emails reach recipients around sunrise in their respective locations, increasing visibility.
Best Time for Specific Email Types
Email Blasts
For general email blasts:
- Midweek mornings or early afternoons yield better results.
- Avoid Mondays, Fridays, and holidays when inboxes are typically cluttered.
- Testing different time blocks, like lunch hours or the start of the workday, can help fine-tune your approach.
Promotional Emails
Promotional campaigns often perform best when sent:
- Midweek, particularly on Tuesdays or Wednesdays.
- During late morning (9-11 AM) or early afternoon (1-3 PM).
- Avoid sending during early mornings or late evenings to prevent emails from being buried.
Newsletters
Weekly newsletters perform well when sent on Thursdays, allowing recipients to review them before the weekend. Mid-morning or late afternoon timings are recommended to catch your audience during breaks.
Avoid Common Pitfalls
To maximize email delivery and engagement:
- Avoid sending emails at peak times like the top of the hour (e.g., 11:00 AM or 2:00 PM). Instead, choose off-peak times such as 10:55 AM or 2:36 PM to bypass ISP traffic.
- Ensure your subject lines are compelling and relevant to encourage opens.
- Regularly test your timing to refine your strategy. What works today might not be as effective tomorrow.
These small adjustments can significantly enhance your campaign’s performance, keeping your emails from getting lost in the crowd.
A/B Testing for Optimal Results
A/B testing is essential to identifying the best time to send email campaigns. Test variables such as:
- Time of day: Morning vs. evening.
- Day of the week: Weekdays vs. weekends.
- Specific time blocks: Start of workday vs. lunch break vs. end of the day.
Let the data guide your decisions. Once you find patterns, make incremental adjustments to fine-tune your campaigns. Additionally, analyze metrics like open rates, click-through rates, and conversion rates to gain a comprehensive understanding of your campaign’s effectiveness.
Transactional Emails: A Special Case
Unlike marketing emails, transactional emails are triggered by user actions and sent in real time. Timing is less critical here, as these emails naturally align with user activity. However, ensuring swift delivery is essential for maintaining a positive user experience.
Best Time to Send Marketing Emails
The best time to send a sales email for marketing purposes is heavily influenced by audience behavior and email type. Marketing emails typically aim to capture attention and inspire action, so timing is critical to ensure they stand out in crowded inboxes.
Weekday vs. Weekend
And for marketing emails, weekdays are often more effective than weekends. According to research, messages that are sent on Tuesday and Thursday have high open and click-through rates. Recently, the days are in the middle of avoiding both rush hours in the morning, and tiredness at the end of the week.
Time of Day
This we believe, is the most suitable time to send marketing emails, between 9 AM and 11 AM in the late morning. At this time the recipients are typically at work and out of their working day and have only a short time typically used to check their inboxes. Another highly productive slot is early afternoon, between 1 and 3 PM because the recipients are likely to be checking their emails after a lunch break.
Industry-Specific Insights
Although such timings are rather universal for most industries, quite often, the retail and e-commerce industries discover that they can achieve even greater response rates by sending their e-mails on Saturdays in the morning. This trend follows the general consumer shopping trend since most people spend time shopping for items in their free time.
Avoid Peak Hours
Avoid sending emails during the peak rush hours of 8 AM, 12 PM, and 5 PM. These times are when most recipients are commuting, eating lunch, or leaving work, leading to lower open rates.
Testing and Refining
Ultimately, the best time to send a sales email varies depending on your audience. Testing different times and days will help you identify the most effective windows for engagement. By leveraging analytics, you can optimize future campaigns to match the unique behavior of your recipients.
Best Time to Send B2B Emails
The best time to send a sales email in a B2B context depends on professional habits and industry standards. Unlike B2C emails, which may benefit from casual weekend sends, B2B emails require a more strategic approach to align with work schedules and decision-making processes.
Best Days for B2B Emails
As to B2B emails, the research has found that these are best sent on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Such days are found smack in the middle of the business week when business people are most attentive to emails. Compared to other days of the week, there is a tradition to send emails on Tuesday by avoiding Mondays because their traffic increases with the so-called ‘Monday rush,’ while the best day for receiving emails is Wednesday, but in the afternoon, because recipients prepare for the weekend starting from Friday.
Optimal Time of Day
The best time to conduct B2B emails is in the early to mid-morning between 10 and 11 in the morning. It also means that during these hours the recipients are most probably at their desks monitoring their inboxes. Another is the early evening 12 AM- 2 PM during which people will have checked their emails when they are done eating lunch.
Consider Workflows and Roles
Understanding the roles and responsibilities of your recipients can help refine your timing. For instance:
- Executives may prefer emails early in the morning before their day becomes busy.
- Marketing and sales teams might engage better during mid-morning or early afternoon.
Personalization and Relevance
The best time to send a sales email to a B2B audience also depends on the email’s relevance and content. Personalized and segmented emails tend to outperform generic campaigns, regardless of timing. Combining tailored content with optimal send times ensures maximum impact.
Testing for Success
As with all email campaigns, A/B testing is crucial to discovering the best time to send a sales email to your B2B audience. Test various days and times, analyze engagement metrics, and iterate based on findings.
Saufter: Revolutionizing Email Marketing with AI
Saufter.io simplifies and enhances email marketing through advanced AI automation. It creates tailored campaigns, delivers fresh weekly suggestions, and provides actionable insights with real-time analytics. From content creation to performance tracking, Saufter ensures your email marketing strategy stays innovative and impactful.
Key Features:
- Automated Email Campaigns: AI crafts and optimizes personalized email campaigns based on customer behavior, saving time and boosting engagement.
- Weekly Campaign Suggestions: Receive fresh, data-driven ideas every week to keep your email strategy dynamic and effective.
- Advanced Analytics & Reporting: Access real-time insights to monitor email performance and make informed adjustments.
- SEO Optimization for Emails: AI suggests trending keywords and content topics to ensure your emails resonate with your audience and drive results.
With Saufter, businesses can streamline email marketing, improve personalization, and maximize customer engagement effortlessly.
Conclusion
Finding the best time to send email campaigns is an ongoing process that requires data, testing, and adaptability. Studies reveal that emails sent at optimized times can boost open rates by 20% and click-through rates by 15%, significantly enhancing your campaign’s effectiveness.
With over 4.37 billion email users worldwide, timing your campaigns effectively can put you ahead of the competition. To recap:
- Use historical benchmarks as a guide.
- Segment your audience based on time zones and behavior.
- Test and analyze results consistently.
- Avoid peak ISP traffic by choosing unconventional send times.
By focusing on both timing and content, you’ll maximize engagement and build stronger relationships with your audience. Ready to elevate your email marketing strategy? Start experimenting and uncover the perfect send time for your campaigns today.
