Email Blast – 10 tips for timing your marketing emails

So maybe you have great ideas for promoting your business via email blast marketing, but you’re unsure at what time of day and how frequently you should be sending the emails.

Email campaign timing could be crucial, since studies show the average email user worldwide sends and receives some 225 messages daily. To cut through that morass and optimize the chances your messages will be seen and clicked upon, you must optimize the timing of your campaign.

Fortunately, research has already been conducted that can provide helpful guidelines. Consider the following when devising your email blast schedule.

1 – Consider asking those on your email list how often they’d like to hear from you when they opt-in or subscribe. Some will feel bombarded and lose interest if your name appears every day, others will want the whole shebang. Segmenting your address list ahead of time can also help divide your audience in logical ways that can help you customize messaging.

2 – Experiment by testing different frequencies and times of day via A/B testing. Your sweet spot for optimal responses will vary greatly depending on geographic area, demographics and other audience characteristics as well as whether your audience checks email via mobile.

3 – Analysts have long advised sending emails Tuesday through Thursday mornings between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. when many people read their emails (mobile users may read them earlier, since 40 percent check email within five minutes of waking up). A recent report from Coschedule.com, aggregating data from 10 different email studies, is even more specific. “Tuesday … is hands down the No. 1 best day to send emails,” advises Nathan Ellering in the report. “If you send two emails a week, choose Thursday for your second day. And while late-morning send times were the most popular in general, several concluded the best time to send emails is at 10 a.m.”

4 – Other studies indicate nighttime and weekend hours can also be effective. One report across industries found unique open rates averaged 21.7 percent between 8 p.m. and 11:59 p.m. and 17.6 percent between 12 a.m. and 4 a.m.; those intervals also produced the highest click-through rates. In a different study, Saturdays and Sundays produced the lowest sales volumes but the highest open and click-through rates.

5 – Other research shows 24 percent of emails are opened within the first hours of delivery, while virtually none are opened if they’re unread within the first 24 hours.

6 – This may sound counterintuitive, but your emails may be noticed more if you send them on weekends when other businesses are refraining.

7 – Remember to adjust to different time zones when scheduling blasts.

8 – Several efficient software tools can store and automatically send your pre-written emails, but small business owners can also send each message manually. Just create a calendar reminding you when to mail each one in accordance with current and upcoming events.

9 – Stagger messages to ramp up urgency before special events. For example, offer a sneak peek of a big weekend sale on Thursday, tout the details (“This weekend only”) Friday and Saturday, and warn customers as the sale ends (“You’re about to miss it!”) Sunday.

10 – Use specialized software that can measure metrics such as open rates, click-through rates and conversion rates. Comparing those numbers will help you plan future campaigns so you stop wasting time and money on ineffective timing strategies.

Custom Toll Free can help you choose a highly memorable phone number that will generate calls from your email marketing campaign. Learn more about how about strategic call marketing can drive your sales at 1-800-CUSTOMIZE.