In today’s digital landscape, it can often feel like you need the wind to be blowing in the right direction for everything to go in your favour. That is to say, sometimes it doesn’t matter if you’ve spent hours perfecting your email design, if you get the timing all wrong.
But fear not! In this comprehensive guide, we’ll explore the best times and days to send your emails, taking into account all the important things such as your audience, your industry, and what your consumer behaviour looks like. Let’s not waste anymore time and dive right into the art and science of email timing.
Best time to send marketing email
Finding the best time to send marketing emails is dependent on a couple of things. One of those is whether your audience are the early-bird-catches-the-worm kind of folk or everyone else. Finding out whether your audience is made up of business to business clients (B2B) or is more business to consumer (B2C), can give you an edge and help determine what kind of routines your audience might have.
Morning vs. evening
If you’ve come back and figured out your audience is mainly professionals and B2B groups, mornings are probably the best sending times for your marketing messages. Many professionals check their emails first thing in the morning, making it an ideal time to ensure your message lands in their inbox.
Pro-tip: Be mindful of how early you send your emails out. Too early and you risk being buried in a crowded inbox.
Evening on the other hand is ideal for B2C audiences. Studies show that emails sent between 8 PM and 12 AM have higher open and click-through rates. This probably has something to do with people being home from work, relaxed, and having the headspace to interact with fun promotional content.
Finally, let’s not forget that consumer behaviour and email engagement can change. When planning your campaigns, factor in things like seasonality, holidays, or even current events. For example, sending holiday-themed promotions closer to the actual holiday can be more effective, as people are in a buying mood.
We’ll get a little more into the nitty gritty of B2B versus B2C audiences in a moment but for now let’s check out the best days to send email marketing messages across the board.
Pro-tip: If all else fails, A/B testing can help determine the best time for your specific email campaigns. We’ve got you covered with our guide to A/B testing.
What are the best days to send an email?
Mid-week
The mid-week send aka Tuesday and Wednesdays are great days to get your message out there. Usually by this stage in the week, all the weekend back-log is cleared and people are not yet swamped by all the other tasks they need to get done ahead of the weekend. A major plus, the mid-week send is a pretty solid choice for reaching both B2B and B2C audiences.
Weekends
It may come as a surprise, but weekends can be a pretty effective time to reach consumers. Many people use their weekends to catch up on personal tasks, including checking their personal emails. If your audience is B2C heavy, a weekend promotional email send is a great way to engage with your consumers and be front of mind when they have a little bit of free time.
Pro-tip: To make the most of your weekend sends, have a think about running weekend-specific promotions or newsletters for maximum impact.
Increase frequency before an event
It kind of goes without saying that if you’re hosting an event, a flash sale, or a time-sensitive promotion, you want to be all over your email strategy. A few days before the event, it’s a good idea to up the ante a bit and increase the frequency of your emails to build anticipation and remind your subscribers of the upcoming opportunity. Always be sure to clearly communicate the date and time to avoid any potential confusion.
Don’t battle mad mondays
Mad Mondays, Manic Mondays and any other alliteration you can think of describe the start of the working week, really says it all. Mondays are often a super challenging day for sending out marketing emails… Not least because people are just getting their working hats back on, but also because they’re bombarded with all the messages built-up from over the weekend. You might like to give your consumers (and yourself) a beat and consider saving your marketing emails for another day.
Pro-tip: If you really can’t avoid sending your emails out on Mondays, it’s a good idea to time them with any exciting promotions, compelling offers and important brand updates you have upcoming. Play it right and you could set your brand apart from the rest.
Knowing your audience
We talked a little bit about this before, but it can’t hurt to say it a second time… Understanding your audience is a fundamental aspect of a successful email marketing campaign. We get a little more specific about the best times for sending to B2B or B2C audiences in the breakdown below.
Best time to send B2B emails
For B2B audiences, focus on sending emails during business hours, particularly in the morning. This is when professionals are actively working and checking their emails. Aim for Tuesday or Wednesday mornings, and avoid sending B2B emails on weekends or late in the evening.
Best time to send B2C emails
B2C emails, on the other hand, can be more flexible. While evenings and weekends can work well, the exact timing should be based on your specific audience’s behaviour. Again, using A/B testing to determine the optimal time for your B2C email campaigns is a good habit to get into.
Email benchmarks by industry
To further tailor your email timing, it’s essential to consider industry-specific benchmarks. Below is a table summarising email benchmarks for various industries. For more detailed metrics, refer to our email metrics page.
| Industry | Open Rate | Click-through rates |
| Banking & Finance | 50.59% | 6.89% |
| Education & Training | 37.73% | 6.57% |
| Government & Defence | 45.31% | 9.09% |
| Healthcare & Medical | 49.25% | 6.18% |
These are the average industry benchmarks for open-rates and click-through rates across the April- September period of 2023. These results are subject to change and may vary.
To really get your send times down to a T, you need to consistently monitor your email performance as things change.
How to optimise emails for better open rates?
Congratulations, you’ve figured out the best times to send your email marketing messages, and you’ve got your marketing campaign working like a well oiled machine. Now is probably a good time to think about what else you can add into the mix to super-charge your click-through rates. To fine tune your campaign you might consider asking yourself the following questions:
Do you need to increase or decrease your frequency?
Monitor your email frequency and avoid overwhelming your subscribers. If you notice declining open rates, consider sending fewer emails. If engagement is low, you might need to increase your frequency to stay on your subscribers’ radar.
Are your emails optimised for different devices and screens?
Ensure that your emails are responsive and look great on various devices, including smartphones and tablets. A well-optimised design can significantly impact open and click-through rates. Click here for more creative tips on how to nail your next email marketing design.
Is your subject line relevant to your audience?
Subject lines are all about drawing in the attention of your consumers, and the best way to do that is ensure you’re crafting subject lines that resonate with your audience. While that sounds easier said than done, you know your audience and we know that a personalised, engaging subject line can make all the difference in getting your emails opened.
Pro-tip: Avoid spammy words and any of the spam cliches like capital letters, overusing emojis and exclamation points. Keeping your subject line sharp and to the point is the best way to reel in your audience.
Are your subscribers based in different time zones?
If your subscribers are spread across different time zones or are the fortunate among us who get to travel whenever they please, you might consider segmenting your email list and sending emails at the most appropriate times for each group. You can use email marketing platforms with timezone-based scheduling features to simplify this process.
What does your email deliverability look like?
Maintaining a healthy sender reputation is vital for getting your emails delivered to the inbox. Simply put, you want to make sure your emails aren’t ending up in spam folders. Not only is this likely to get you on your email service providers (ESP) black -list, it also means that your brand is missing out on reach. To maximise the deliverability of your email marketing messages make sure to regularly clean out your email list and remove any inactive or unengaged subscribers.
Final takeaway
One thing you’ve probably realised is that the best time to send your email marketing messages is really made up of a lot of different moving parts. Finding the perfect send times for your business means understanding your target audience, leveraging your industry benchmarks, and ultimately, the nature of your email campaigns.
By getting all these things sorted you can significantly improve your email open rates and overall campaign success. Remember that email marketing is not a one-size-fits-all approach, and ongoing testing using the Vision 6 platform and refinement tools are key to achieving the best results.
