Early Morning and Weekends Are Best for Emails (and Abuse Reports)
Using data from Dan Zarrella and Pure360, KISSmetrics examined the effect of timing for email marketing in its report, “The Science of Social Timing Part 2: Timing & Email Marketing.” A notable trend is that early mornings and weekends are optimal for many email metrics.
First, on a high-level view, 10 p.m.-6 a.m. (times are all relative to time zone) is dubbed “The Dead Zone,” when a large fraction of emails sent are ineffective.
“The Consumer AM” happens from 6-10 a.m. This is the second most popular opening time of the day, “with consumers allowing themselves to be distracted by offers on clothes, live events, restaurants and consumer goods,” according to KISSmetrics.
“Do Not Disturb” occurs from 10 a.m.-noon, and is when consumers aren’t opening marketing emails and focus on work instead.
“The Lunchtime News” occurs from noon-2 p.m., and is a time when consumers are unlikely to open marketing emails, as they spend time reading the news and magazine alerts.
“In the Zone” happens from 2-3 p.m. During this segment of the day, consumers remain focused on work and respond mostly to email offers related to financial services.
“A Life-changing Afternoon” happens from 3-5 p.m., when “job-related apathy” sets in and consumers begin to think about their personal circumstance. More emails related to property and financial services are opened during this time than any other type of promotion.
“Working Late” happens from 5-7 p.m., during which there is a notable rise in email recipients opening holiday-related and B2B promotions.
“Last Orders” happens from 7-10 p.m. During this time, recipients are off work and are more likely to respond to consumer promotions. “Offers on clothing, special interests such as sports and gym promotions performed extremely well in this period.”
Open rates reach a peak of around 44 percent on Saturdays and around 53 percent during the early morning.
Click rates peak at around 10 percent on Saturdays and around 10 percent in the early morning.
On the flip side, abuse reports reached a peak of about 0.11 percent on Saturdays and about 0.15 percent in the early morning.
Bounce rates also reach a peak of about 0.11 percent on Saturdays and about 60 percent in the early morning.
KISSmetrics also notes that the best sending frequency is 1-4 emails per month. However, unsubscribe rates are also highest when the sending frequency is 1-4 emails per month.
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