What is the Best Time of Day to Send a Newsletter?

Why The Time Matters

In this digital age, everyone’s email inbox is crowded. Emails at the top of the pile receive the most attention, while those further down might be ignored or, even worse, never be opened. This is why sending your emails at the right time is so important.

Sending at the right time can ensure your email is at the top or close to the top, and sending at the wrong time can mean your email being left unread, only for other emails to come in and for yours to get lost in a pile.

Email open rates are a great indicator of whether your email campaign is working. If your email always arrives at the right time, you will likely see higher open rates, leading to higher click-through rates.

If you send your email at the wrong time, there is a likelihood that the recipient will not read it all the way through. This means they might not see your call to action or might put off clicking on it until a later time. Most people forget to come back and click those links, which further emphasises the importance of sending an email when people have the time to read through and click your calls to action.

Understanding your customers’ habits, behaviours, and time zones will help you know the best day and time to send a newsletter, so take advantage of other data you have.

Best Time To Send Newsletter: General Considerations

Before we look at the best day of the week to send an email, there are some general considerations to keep in mind and some universally accepted tips. For example, you should send your emails during the day. Mistakes occur when the one sending the email is in a different time zone from their recipients. Fortunately, some automated email services will let you send emails at the right time, regardless of the time zone.

Another general tip is to avoid sending emails on Monday unless they are crucial or the recipient expects them. In the case of a newsletter, Monday is the worst day to send it because people are flooded with emails when they get back from the weekend.

While many avoid opening these emails because they feel overwhelmed, those who dislike inbox clutter might delete them or mark them as read/opened without reading or opening them.

Weekends are also terrible because people are out relaxing, spending time with their families, or on adventures. Newsletters sent on the weekends have the worst open rates so avoid doing this.

What is The Best Day To Send a Newsletter?

The general rule for many marketers is mid-week, which includes Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. These are the days with the best open rates. Tuesday has the best open rates, which could mean better site traffic, click-through rates, and conversions.

But there is a problem. So much data says Tuesday is the best day to send a newsletter. What do marketers do? Many of them send their emails on Tuesday. If you also decide to do this, you will be fighting to get your audience’s attention, so you must put a lot more effort into your subject lines.

Many companies have considered Wednesday and Thursday the best times to send a newsletter. There is less competition these days, especially in the middle of the day when people are out to lunch.

Thursday comes a close second to Tuesday regarding open rates, with data from MailChimp, a popular email service, confirming this.

There is a caveat: avoid sending emails on two consecutive days. If you send a newsletter out on Tuesday and Wednesday or Wednesday and Thursday, you will overwhelm your audience, and you will see your open rates and, thus, click-through rates dwindle over time.

Friday has generally also been considered a bad day for sending a newsletter. However, evidence shows you can have great success depending on your business, product, and services. Some companies reported seeing open rates as high as 21%, according to GetResponse, another email service.

Marketers who were asked about this attributed this data to the fact that there is less inbox traffic on Friday, as many marketers assume no one will read their newsletters.

To stay ahead, keep analysing your data and adjusting accordingly. Trends and general advice shift as marketers adapt, but your data will always tell you the truth and show you the correct trends.

What is The Best Time to Send Out a Newsletter?

The best email open times tend to be during the day, between 6 AM and 5 PM, depending on the day. Many studies show that the best specific time is between 9 and 11 AM and 1 and 3 PM.

That first slot is to catch the people who check their emails when they get into the office. It is excellent for direct B2B newsletters and marketing because studies show this slot has the highest open rates for B2B emails. That does not mean that other newsletters will not work well because numerous companies see great success with this slot.

The second slot is for those who read their emails during lunch breaks. Scrolling social media and checking emails is viral at these times, so check to see whether your data trends this way.

The Best Email Open Times Can Depend on The Device

When checking the best time to send out a newsletter, one key consideration is the device you think your audience is using and what your data tells you.

The mid-week, morning, and midday approaches work well for desktop users who are likely to open their emails at work. However, things change with mobile users, who are more likely to be active early in the morning and in the evening.

The 6 to 8 AM slot is great for catching those who check their emails when they wake up and on their commutes. On the other hand, 6 to 9 PM is excellent for those on commutes and those who check their emails right after work.

The number of people who opened their emails on mobile devices in the evening stood at around 25% five years ago, with the number on the desktop side being 55%.

However, we now use mobile devices more than we did back then, so we expect this number to have grown significantly. This is especially true when you consider that the number of mobile website visitors surpassed desktop visitors a few years ago.

Additionally, businesses have tools that simplify the process of creating mobile-first and responsive emails, so we can expect open rates to be high, with click-through rates following suit.

Why Is There So Much Discrepancy?

You will find many discrepancies when you look at different studies and data surrounding this topic. Some people even recommend sending emails on Monday, which most of the data does not support. So, why is there so much discrepancy?

A common source of discrepancy is the different audiences that businesses target. Some audiences prefer reading emails early in the morning on Monday, while some may like to read their emails during their commutes. You will likely get skewed data if you survey more people from one group.

The other reason is reporting anecdotal data. Every business is different, so that it will collect data differently. The data collected from one company will be very different from the one collected by another. If one source is taken as the truth, it skews studies and conclusions from that single source.

This is why it is essential to have research done based on data from lots of businesses. At least a hundred from a single category would be a great place to start.

Lastly, there are behavioural differences between countries. For example, more people in the UK check their emails when they wake up than those in Germany or Spain. Those in France are more likely to check their emails in the evening than those in Spain or the UK.

Collecting data for your businesses will help you know what would work best for you; taking different metrics into account, such as demographics and where customers are located, will help you greatly.

Conclusion

While there are accepted best days and times for posting a newsletter, there can be discrepancies due to several factors. You should use these best days and times as a guide, with your data helping to fine-tune your newsletter sending days and times.