Sending email to the right people, on the right day and at the right time. This is the dream of every email marketing professional.

Those who manage to get these three items right are already halfway to achieving the best open rates.

The other half will depend on the quality of the email subject line and, of course, whether the email makes it to the inbox.

Do you know what makes messages reach the recipients’ inbox?

There are a number of surveys and studies by serious companies on the best days and times to send email.

We’re going to look at the most reputable ones, but professionals should take the following into consideration:

• The objectives of each campaign must accompany consumer behavior, which is very diverse. That’s why there’s no perfect time for all mailings.
• What is the social culture of the buyer persona like? For example, a survey carried out in the United States takes into account the American context. This way of life is different from Brazil.

Now that you know how to identify possible points of divergence between the research carried out and your marketing and communication needs, let’s move on to the data.

Using this data, you will be able to analyze which information best fits your strategies.

Send email data

• Moonsend: Thursdays and Tuesdays, in that order.
• HubSpot: Tuesdays and Wednesdays, in that order.
• CoSchedule: Thursdays and Tuesdays, in that order.

So can we conclude that the best day to send email is Tuesday? No.

But we can conclude that the best triggers can be made on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, as they all showed good open rates.

If Mondays and Fridays don’t appear in the search results, it’s a sign that the open rates aren’t satisfactory. The same goes for weekends.

Tuesday was the day that fitted all the surveys. But is it the best day for your business?

Consider the following hypothetical situation: you work with sales emails (e-commerce). If, coincidentally, your best revenue is always on Tuesdays, YES, this is the best day to send your messages.

Now, let’s suppose another scenario: you have a not so good open rate on Wednesdays, but your revenue on that day of the week is higher than on all other days.

If research shows that the best time to send is between Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, then the best day for you to send is Wednesday, even though your open rate isn’t satisfactory.

It’s worth noting that if you don’t have the best open rate on Wednesdays, you should analyze what can be done to improve it. This way, your campaigns are optimized and sales increase.

Do you see how the best day to send depends on factors that are totally inherent to the development of your business and consumer behavior?

In the case of sales emails, the “revenue generation” factor influences results, as do open rates.

But what about those who don’t work in sales?

If your goal is to convert, simply replace the revenue generation item with the number of conversions.

And if your goal is only to inform (sending a newsletter, for example), only take open rates into account.

The same process is valid for relational emails that don’t work with conversions and also for transactional emails (those without a reply; created only to notify the user of a transaction).

Best time

• Moonsend: 1pm and 2pm and 9am and 10am, in that order.
• HubSpot: 9am and 12pm and 1pm and 3pm, in that order.
• CoSchedule: 9am and 10am and 1pm and 3pm, in that order.

Note: if all senders send at the same time, there will be competition for space on the sender’s screen, and your email may be in an unfavorable position for the user to see.

To avoid this, send your emails at different times. For example, if you’ve opted for a time of 15:00, schedule the trigger for 15:03.

The best time to send email: the golden tip

For you to define the best day and time to send email, collect the researched data, run tests and monitor performance.

Preparing for the test

Before running your tests, take a look at what the research says. It’s true that Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday are the best days for sending. Knowing this, apply the test on these days of the week.

And remember that, just like consumer behavior, surveys change frequently. That’s why you should always consult them before analyzing the best day and time for your mailing.

Here’s how to apply the test.

To define the best day to send email

• Select a list of valid emails.
• Take three different samples of contacts, each containing 10%.
• Send the email to 10% of your contacts on Tuesday.
• Repeat the operation on Wednesday, sending to the other 10% sample.
• Do the same thing on Thursday, selecting the last 10% sample of addresses.

This way, the day with the most opens will be the best.

To define the best time to send email

You can only define the best time once you know which day is best. Let’s say the results show Thursday as the best date.

• Select a list of valid emails.
• Take three different samples of contacts, each containing 10%.
• Send the email at 9am to 10% of your contacts on Thursday.
• Repeat the operation at 1pm by sending to the second sample.
• Do the same thing at 3pm, selecting the last sample.

That way, the time with the most opens will be the best.

*Now you know the best day and time to send your emails.

Remember to cross-check your data (revenue levels, if you work in sales, for example) to reach a reliable conclusion.

And always test. Consumer behavior changes frequently and this directly interferes with decisions to send email marketing.

Conclusion

How do I know if my email has been read by as many people as possible? There is no best day or time for everyone. The right decision will depend on the professional’s attentive eye, observing trends and realizing how they can be adapted to their strategies.

Consulting available research is an important tool for building a base, but monitoring the buyer persona’s behavior in conjunction with the business objectives is crucial if the timing of the mailing is to make sense and bring good results.

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