In email marketing, the timing of your messages is crucial. There is definitely something to be said about knowing the best time to send out your emails to get your subscribers to open them. It is also important to know the right time so that your conversion rates are at their optimum.
According to industry experts, there is actually a preferred part of the week and time of day that is believed to be the best time. At this time, it is believed that sending out your emails closer to the middle of the week (Wednesday between 1 pm-3 pm) is more effective.
This is based strictly on statistics collected and analyzed by trade publications and published for general consumption. However, what works for another marketer may not be indicative of what you may experience for yourself.
The good thing is that most of the top ESP’s (Email Service Providers) provide tools and analytics at the user’s dashboard, included with your paid membership.
However, these tools are designed to help you determine for yourself the best time of the week and time of day for you to send out your email campaigns to your subscriber list.
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Good and Bad days and times to send out your email campaigns
Do you allow trends and people’s thoughts to influence your decision about something? If yes, then you consider only scheduling your campaigns on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.
So, that means Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday won’t yield high open rates, and also, they will not convert at a high rate as they would if you choose a time between 1 pm and 3 pm.
Now, with all that said, you need to do your own research to discover what seems to work best for your business. The primary reason for this is that you can follow all the recommendations and still fail to achieve the open rates or conversion rates that you expect to get.
This is mainly because many factors can influence how your subscriber list reacts and responds to your email campaigns.
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Ways to Improve the delivery of your email campaigns
If you’re not meeting your open rate expectations, you need to figure out if you are dealing with a timing issue.
And, if you discover that it’s not a time issue, you can dive deeper into figuring the root cause from the analytics and reports.
6 Steps to figure out how to fix open rate issues not caused by delivery timing
- Step #1 Conduct a research
Do your research to discover the industry standard regarding the delivery times and days of the week. Mostly, it is accepted that Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday are the best three days to send out your email campaigns.
The same people also recommend sending your emails in the early afternoon on those days, between 1 pm and 3 pm.
A note: just because it is believed to be true doesn’t mean it will work for your situation.
- Step #2 Use the built-in metrics
Take a look at your dashboard to see what data you have in front of you. Most popular email service providers have several built-in metrics that collect data for all of your email campaigns.
You will see the best times to send your emails. You will also be able to use the data to see if the numbers are low; other factors can easily cause it.
- Step #3 Check for areas of improvement
Is there room for improvement? If yes, you need to decide if you are going to accept the results. The numbers do not lie, and you have to evaluate them against your expectations. Only you know yourself if the numbers in the report are acceptable.
However, keep this in mind; there is always room for improvement. So focus heavily on the ones that can use the most improvement and keep tweaking all the other aspects.
Use the data in the reports to your advantage and make whatever changes that you deem necessary.
- Step #4 Use the built-in tools
Take advantage of all the built-in tools that are provided to you on your email dashboard. One of the most widely acclaimed tools is the A/B Testing tool, and it will definitely live up to its hype.
This is a powerful tool that allows you to break up your email list into smaller groups. This way, you can quickly test any changes. And if you still think that time is the issue, you can test what days and times work best with your email subscriber list.
» MORE: How Much Does an Email Marketing Campaign Cost?
- Step #5 Build solid relationships
Make sure you are getting to know your subscribers on your list. Building a solid business relationship will help you understand your subscribers. As a result, you can determine what motivates them to open your emails and click on your call-to-action buttons.
The data collected from your email campaigns is invaluable to you as long as you recognize it from the beginning. This will also help you to create successful email subject lines and copy that is in the body of your emails. This also includes a powerful call to action at the end of your email message.
- Step #6 Review previous campaigns to imrpove future ones
Once you have analyzed all the data collected from your previous email campaigns, you need to take action yourself. Ask yourself, are my emails right for my subscriber list? If the answer is yes, then you can proceed. But, if the data says otherwise, you need to have a plan of action. This means figuring out how to change the affected areas.
The quicker you can fix it, the faster you can improve your open rates and conversion rates.