Timing Is Everything: When To Send Emails To Your Customers [infographic]

Email marketing small businessDoes your business use email marketing as part of your online marketing plan?

I hope so.

Hopefully some “Social Media” guru didn't tell you that email is dead and that you need to “Tweet” at people instead of emailing them.  Email marketing is far from dead, in fact, most internet marketers still consider it their #1 marketing tool despite all of the email trashing these days.  They love email marketing because they “own” the customer, they don't rent it, like what happens with social media.  When I say own, I mean that they have the customers contact information and have permission to reach out to them.

While there is definitely a science to creating an effective email marketing campaign,  if done correctly, it can be a major marketing platform for your business.  Some of the biggest factors in email marketing success are:

  • Building an email list in the first place
  • Segmenting your lists so that you can target your messages
  • Using an email marketing service so you can track your analytics and manage your lists
  • Creating content and offers people will want to read
  • Sending your emails at the right time

Timing your emails

While there are some standard best practices when it comes to the timing of your emails, in the end you need to understand your customers and their routines.  Knowing when your customer base will be available to read your email (people love checking personal email while getting paid…aka, at work) and when they are not. Since over 25% of the opens happen during the first hour, sending an email out at 7pm to your audience of moms who are trying to get dinner ready and get their little ones to bed will probably not produce a great open rate for your email.

The infographic below, courtesy of Get Response, shows you some of the reasoning as to why it's a bad idea to send an email out at 5pm on a weekday and why afternoons usually work well.

When is the best time to send an email

 

 

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Gary

CEO at 3Bug Media
Gary Shouldis is the founder of 3Bug Media, a web marketing company that helps businesses create 360 Marketing Strategies to dominate their market. His blog is read by over 20 thousand small business owners a month and has been featured in the N.Y. Times Small Business, Business Insider and Yahoo Small Business.