When’s the best time to send an email? Honestly, there isn’t one universal best time.
While data suggest Thursday is the best day to send email, with Tuesday coming in second place, this isn’t a hard-and-fast rule.
Like many other email marketing “best practices,” the answer will depend on your unique audience. You’ll need to test your hypothesis and validate that it aligns with your target audience. What works for one industry will not always be the same for another. Your audience might prefer opening email on Wednesday, but you’ll never know until you begin experimenting.
Every business is unique, and it’s your job to serve your audience best. Let’s look at the current data around optimizing email send time.
While different studies show differing results, we can still gain a general understanding of email engagement behavior by analyzing several studies.
Studies on the Best Time To Send Email
https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/best-time-to-send-email
https://www.mailerlite.com/blog/best-time-to-send-email
https://mailshake.com/blog/best-time-to-send-email/
HubSpot Blog: “Best Time to Send Email Campaigns”
HubSpot’s analysis emphasizes sending emails when recipients are most likely to engage with them. According to the study, Tuesday is the optimal day for sending emails, followed closely by Thursday. The best times are between 9 AM and 12 PM and 12 PM to 3 PM. HubSpot suggests avoiding late evenings, especially after 6 PM, as engagement drops significantly during these hours HubSpot Blog.
Key Points:
- Best Days: Tuesday and Thursday
- Best Times: 9 AM – 12 PM, 12 PM – 3 PM
- Avoid: After 6 PM
Mailshake: “The Best Time to Send an Email in 2024? Backed up with Data”
Mailshake’s study concludes that midweek days—specifically Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday—are the best for email engagement. Their data shows that Tuesday is particularly effective for open and click-through rates, making it a prime day for email marketing. In terms of specific times, the study suggests that the most effective periods are early Morning (8-11 AM) and late afternoon (4-6 PM). These times align with when recipients are most likely to check their emails, either at the start of their workday or as they wind down in the afternoon (Mailshake).
Key Points:
- Best Days: Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday
- Best Times: 8-11 AM, 4-6 PM
- Avoid: Midday (12-3 PM) and weekends
MailerLite Blog: “Best Time to Send Email”
MailerLite provides a detailed examination of optimal times and days to send emails to maximize engagement. Their data shows that Tuesday is consistently identified as one of the best days for sending emails due to high engagement rates. Similar to Tuesday, it shows high open and engagement rates, making it a strong choice for email campaigns. Additionally Thursday is highly effective, particularly for maintaining consistent engagement throughout the week.
Key Points on day:
- Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday are the best days for sending emails.
- Monday can also be effective but generally sees slightly lower engagement compared to the midweek peak days.
- Saturday and Sunday: While these days can show occasional peaks, they generally have lower overall engagement rates.
Key Points on day:
- Late Morning (10 AM – 12 PM): This time frame is highlighted as the most effective, with peak open rates occurring during these hours. Subscribers are typically settled into their day but not yet overwhelmed by tasks.
- Early Morning (7 AM – 9 AM): There is a notable bump in open rates during these hours, likely as people check their emails during their morning routines or commutes.
- Early Afternoon (1 PM – 2 PM): This period also shows good engagement, as it coincides with post-lunch breaks when subscribers might be catching up on their inboxes.
- Late Evening (5 PM – 7 PM): Another mini peak in open rates, as people wind down from their workday and check their emails.
Additional Insights
- Weekend Sending: Saturdays and Sundays generally show lower engagement rates. However, Saturday mornings do see a spike in open rates around 7 AM and 11 AM. The engagement tends to drop off in the afternoon as people shift their focus away from their inboxes.
- Smart Sending Feature: MailerLite offers a “Smart Sending” feature powered by AI. This tool analyzes historical data to determine the best time to send emails to each subscriber, optimizing send times for maximum engagement automatically. (MailerLite)
Key Takeaways
- Tuesday and Thursday are generally the best days for sending emails.
- Late Morning (9 AM – 12 PM) is the optimal time of day.
- Continuous Testing: While these general guidelines are a great starting point, it’s crucial to analyze your own email performance data to tailor your strategy to your specific audience.
Optimal Days and Times to Send Emails:
- Mid-Week (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday):
- 10 AM – 11 AM: People are settled into their workweek and are more likely to engage with emails.
- 2 PM – 3 PM: After lunch and before the end of the workday.
- Avoid Mondays and Fridays:
- On Mondays, people are catching up on work, and on Fridays, they are winding down for the weekend.
- For B2B Emails:
- Best Time: 10 AM – 11 AM on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.
- Reason: Business professionals are typically more active and responsive during these times.
- For B2C Emails:
- Best Time: Weekends and evenings.
- Reason: Consumers are more likely to check personal emails during their free time.
Conclusion
When considering when to send out emails, there are a handful of considerations to be made. All of them lead back to one question “Who is our target audience?”.
If you understand who you’re trying to reach, you can then reference data validated best practices and find the time that they are most likely to both see and engage with your email.
From this handful of studies you can see that Thursday is most often cited as the best day to send email, with Tuesday coming in second place.
Notice shift in results from one study to another. As we mentioned before, different audiences will provide different results.
Start with these email sending best practices and slowly start to experiment with a wider range of send times. If you see results, continue testing to validate the assumption.
Thanks for reading.
– Vincent
