A question that any email marketer is sure to ask. And while we wish we could give you a simple answer, truth is – it’s not that simple. Frustrating, yes, BUT while we can’t give you an easy answer, what we CAN do is share some of our tried and true advice on the matter.

In general, there are countless email marketing tips across the web that are great to consider when starting off. Some of these tips include:

• Weekdays: According to the Email Genome Project – created by popular email marketing platform, MailChimp – more subscribers seem to open emails during the workweek rather than weekends.
• Mid-Mornings: From the same Email Genome Project, emails sent mid-morning during the workweek generally see good open rates. Around 10:00 a.m. in the recipients’ own time zones.
• Monday Mornings: More specifically, many industries see Monday morning as the optimal open time. Why? Brands who send their emails in this time frame have the chance to catch subscribers early in the week, before they are bombarded with other emails.

Now you’ve got a pretty solid answer: Monday mornings or mid mornings throughout the week. That is of course unless you know something about your audience, as you should, in which case that time frame is probably wrong.

While the above tips are considered the general best practices for email marketing, there are many circumstances that prove them moot; we think two of the most important are:

Know Who You Are Marketing To

If you run any type of marketing campaign, then you already know how important audience demographics are – this holds true for email marketing too. Fact of the matter is, truly understanding your audience is just about the most important factor in experiencing success with this form of marketing – their interests and habits are sure to play a role in the likelihood that they’ll open up your email.

Let’s take a look at an example: According to Constant Contact, hotels tend to generate the best results when sending out emails on Wednesday mornings. The reason for this? Many of their subscribers could be individuals looking to plan a quick weekend getaway. By knowing your audience’s general routines and interests, you can better develop a timeline for when your emails might be most effective. And don’t forget about the rise of mobile! Since people no longer need to be sitting behind a computer to check their emails, you’ll need to assess how often your audience might be looking at their phones.

Consider Your Content

Think about the message that you’re trying to send to your audience – do you want to inform them of a special offer? A few expert tips related to your industry? The type of content that you are sharing with your audience must always be of value – if it appears spammy, chances are they won’t open it.

Where timing is concerned, think about when the content you’d like to send is going to be most useful. For example, if you’re a restaurant offering a weekly special, you’ll probably want to send your email at the beginning of the week rather than the middle so that customers have the most time to take advantage of it. Similarly, if you’re a plumber located in an area that is about to experience a cold spell, you’ll want to make sure you get your tips on how to prevent pipes from freezing before the weather hits, as it will be more valuable to your audience as they prepare rather than after the weather passes.

Final Takeaways

The biggest piece of advice that our experts can give is this: every strategy MUST be tested to find what works best for your brand. Equally, don’t forget about all of the other factors that contribute to someone opening an email – your subject line, user-friendliness (time to choose mobile responsive templates!), and the amount of emails you send. Let’s face it, no one wants to have their inbox spammed like crazy.

Here at Ferocious Media, we realize the value behind email marketing campaigns and are constantly testing out different strategies to figure out which works best for each of our client’s individual business needs. To learn more about the email marketing services we offer or to start speaking with one of our digital marketing experts, contact us today!