Question

Topic: E-Marketing

E-mail - Best Time To Send

Posted by Anonymous on 5/22/2008 at 2:27 PM ET 50 Points
I am researching the best time to send to residential clients. I seem to be able to find info on B-to-B situations, but this will be for a service that is going to a client that we've done business with in the past. We will probably be using their private e-mail addresses as opposed to a work e-mail address.

The e-newsletter will probably have a combination of "soft news" along with the sales pitch - kind of like we are keeping in touch with them, and then adding "by the way, can we help you with our xyz service?"

Anyone have experience in this area?

Thanks!
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RESPONSES

  • Posted on 5/22/2008 at 2:33 PM Member
    I've actually been doing this exact thing for the past few months and have found very little difference in click-through or open rates. I have found that you should not send your emails on Fridays, but other that, no real dips/swings in numbers.

    It may also vary by industry a bit and I'm actually testing 4 different industries and seeing some very slight differences, but it's not statistically proven. I always assumed Monday afternoon or Tuesday morning would be best, but I've found it really is not a big deal after all if you already have an established relationship.
  • Posted on 5/22/2008 at 2:40 PM Author
    He has established clients, but he's never done an e-newsletter to them before. Any thoughts on this? In fact, the clients may have been "neglected" for a year or so (meaning no direct mail or other marketing).
  • Posted by gina.mencias on 5/22/2008 at 3:02 PM Accepted
    may not be that relevant to you, but www.emailstatcenter.com has the following statistics posted:

    The most popular email day of the year for retailers, based on percent of retailers tracked via RetailEmail.Blogspot

    *Dec. 26, 2006, Tuesday, the day after Christmas - 53.1%
    *Dec. 11, 2006, Monday, 14 days before Christmas - 49.0%
    *Dec. 15, 2006, Friday, 10 days before Christmas - 45.9%
    *Dec. 18, 2006, Monday, 7 days before Christmas - 44.9%
    *April 17, 2007, Tuesday, Tax Day - 43.7%
    *Nov. 27, 2006, Monday, the Monday after Thanksgiving Day (Cyber Monday) and 28 days before Christmas - 43.7%
    *Dec. 4, 2006, Monday, 21 days before Christmas - 42.1%
    *Dec. 8, 2006, Friday, 17 days before Christmas - 42.1%
    *April 24, 2007, Tuesday, 19 days before Mother's Day - 40.2%
    *June 5, 2007, Tuesday, 12 days before Father's Day - 40.0%
    - Email Experience Council/RetailEmail.Blogspot,

    "The Most Popular Email Days of the Year For Retailers" (July 12, 2007)
    Tuesday was retailers' favorite day to email, followed by Thursday, Monday, Friday, Wednesday, Sunday and Saturday. While 33% of retailers email on Tuesdays, only 8% sent emails on Saturdays. - Email Experience Council/RetailEmail.Blogspot, "Choosing The Best Day Of The Week To Email" (July 5, 2007)

    The ESP ExactTarget also put out a whitepaper saying, There is "no such think as a best day" The gist is really that whenever best day article are published, then everyone flocks to that day, making it the day that inboxes become flooded.

    My advice would be to test. Divide your email list in to 7 parts and send the same email to each part every day for seven days. This could give you a good estimation of what day may work well for you. Of course, there are other factors that drive open rate, like subject lines and content, but this would at least give you decent directional info.
  • Posted on 5/22/2008 at 6:08 PM Member
    Thursday afternoons.
  • Posted by Tracey on 5/22/2008 at 7:12 PM Member
    I agree on doing some testing. I've read that for B2C, people do a lot of online shopping at lunchtime. So I would guess that they are reading their emails at lunch too, although it may not make a difference exactly what time you send.
  • Posted by joshnason on 5/23/2008 at 12:25 AM Member
    It all depends on what the demos of the customers are and exactly what you're looking to push. For example, if you had targeted stay-at-home parents for a restaurant lunch special, I might try 11 am. You have to think about what you would do in their shoes and then, act based on that.

    The rule I traditionally preach is not Mondays or Fridays...mid-week is usually best.
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