WHAT IS THE BEST TIME TO SEND AN EMAIL ?
Perhaps the most frequently asked question in email marketing is: When should we send our email promotion or newsletter? The short answer - Tuesday through Thursday mornings are generally good times. The long answer is much more complicated, and like most all email marketing questions, depends on numerous variables and your specific situation.
When determining the optimum time to send (I'm defining "send" as when to schedule your email for delivery) emails, you need to break the question down into three parts:
1) When do you want recipients to actually receive your email?
2) What factors drive how long it takes for the emails to actually reach each recipient? 3) Do you have the resources necessary to continuously send emails at a regular predetermined time?
To help answer question #2, I've developed the following "Time to Send Formula" and then discuss in detail the factors that drive all three of these questions.
DOT - (IF + SD + QF) = ST
DOT = Desired Open Time - the first hour time period in which you want your readers to receive and open your email IF = ISP Factor - the duration it takes ISPs to actually deliver emails
SD = Send Duration - the time it takes software/ASP solutions to send a given volume of emails QF = Queue Factor - the period of time emails may be in the queue behind other email campaigns ST = Schedule Time - the time emails are scheduled for distribution.
Ok, now you are saying to yourself, I didn't realize I needed a calculator to determine the best time to send emails? Well you don't. The point of the above formula is really to get you to understand and think about the many variables in the email delivery process that may be beyond your control. And in particular, that you consider how long it takes for emails to actually reach your recipients in box.