For years, email marketers have adhered to a longstanding benchmark for advice on the best day to send email. For as long as I can remember, it was thought that the most effective or responsive days to send email were between Tuesday and Thursday. It made sense. On Monday, inboxes are overflowing from weekend email not yet opened and on Friday, recipients are deleting as much email as possible to expedite an early exit from the office.
So what is the best day to send email?
I don’t cook much, but every now and then my appetite convinces me that it is worth the time and effort. Recently, I thought that it would be a good idea to do some baking with my daughters. We decided on cookies, unanimously.
I pulled the tried and tested Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook off the shelf and we rummaged through for something that met the approval of our mutual taste buds. Thirty minutes later, there were crumbs on the floor and a sink-full of dishes. Mission accomplished!
Recipe for Peanut Butter Cookies
1/2 cup margarine or butter
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar 1/2 cup packed brown sugar or 1/4 cup honey
1 egg 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
* bake at 375 degrees for 7 to 9 minutes or till bottoms are lightly browned. Cool cookies on wire rack. Makes about 36.
Some email marketers use a similar approach when determining the best day to send email. They decide what to send and then look for an available recipe for good send dates. There are some good email marketing metrics available, like eROI’s Quarterly Email Statistics Report.
When betting on horses, a conservative bettor will play the odds. He might not get a huge payoff, but it is the safest way to play the game. Conservative email marketers are no different. They will play the odds and use benchmark data to determine when to send email.
Here’s the rub.
It costs the same whether you send your message out on Tuesday or Saturday. So the horse analogy doesn’t quite fit this scenario. Also, not all recipes are created equal. We enjoyed our cookies this weekend, but I’ve had much better in local bakeries where they created their own custom recipe rather than using the Betty Crocker benchmark. The same it true with email marketing benchmarks. Industry averages can be telling. But they are not necessarily the best fit for your own particular audience.
The only way to really know the best day to send email is to create your own recipe by running tests on your own, unique audience until you find the best response. Track your own email, testing open and click-through rates on different days of the week over a predetermined time period.
…and always keep in mind that an old recipe can get stale after a while. Your audience can change their habits and the best day to send email can too.
Interested? Create your own best day to send email recipe with our award-winning GroupMail newsletter software.