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"I am aware that success is more than a good idea. It is timing too." Dame Anita Roddick - Body Shop Founder |
How many times have you opened your email inbox only to find a large list of emails waiting for you on a Monday morning? Do you either skim through them quickly or delete them without even opening? If so, you’re not alone. Figures show that Mondays and Fridays are the two least popular days of the working week for people to open emails. This is |
hardly surprising when you consider both days are either side of the weekend. So why do businesses still send out some of their most important emails on these days?
If we take a few steps back from this scenario, it seems that from the outset we do not manage our time effectively and ultimately end up exposing ourselves to less than average results.
Devoting your time...
A key problem many businesses have is that they look at their email communication as instant news rather than what it should be – part of the marketing communications mix. As a result they often fail to dedicate the same time and effort in developing their eMarketing messages.
Example 1: "Our new sit-down lawnmower is now available at our online showroom."
Example 2: "Take the hard work out of gardening – sit down and enjoy the view as our Rotovator Mobile Mower does the hard yards for you. Act now to receive our special introductory offer."
By dedicating a bit more time to developing the message, you are able to deliver a message that engages the readers. This includes not just the features of your offer, but also the benefits and a call to action.
Defining the right time …
Either of the above examples will lose effectiveness if the email is sent without considering when the message is sent. This is true for days of the week and the time of year that your email is sent.
The goal of any marketing plan is to work towards maximising Return on Investment as well as promoting sales opportunities at key points of your business calendar. Would you send out a Christmas flyer at Easter? Unlikely.
Your eMarketing strategy must be combined with the rest of your marketing activity as well as a logical place in the calendar based on your promotion.
And sticking to the time …
Unfortunately, despite the best intentions of The Beatles, there isn't such a thing as 8 days in a week. Although we may plan to send an email on Tuesday morning, as the week quickly takes over, before you know it, its 16:00 on Friday and the email "has to be sent this week" regardless of how the timing may impact results.
Don’t sacrifice your results.
According to Vision 6's latest Email Marketing Metrics Report, there are decidedly better days to send emails if you want them to be opened and acted upon. Contrary to popular belief, Monday is not a prime day – in fact, it's one of the worst days of the week for emails to be read. The two busiest days of the week for sending emails in the second half of 2007 were Mondays and Fridays – yet for all the emails that were sent, both days achieved an open rate of less than 20%. Compare that to emails that were sent throughout the week – Tuesdays saw a peak of 24.62% of emails opened. If you're still not convinced this small percentage difference matters, consider an email send of 10,000 messages. The difference between 19.82% opened on Monday and 24.04% opened on Tuesday is almost 500 more people reading your email.
Taking these figures into account, planning your emails to be sent on the more profitable days of the week is the obvious solution. Knowing recipients are more receptive to emails received from Tuesday to Thursday, perhaps it’s time for you to start getting more out of your email campaigns.
