"Is it bad to send an email on a Friday?" Your email timing FAQs answered

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Using some of the best sources of data of email marketing, we've compiled some useful stats to help answer key questions.

It's important to only consider these answers as a first step; use them, try them out, and test your audience's response. Then, you can build the best email calendar for your business. Easy as. 

Q: What is the best time to send an email campaign in 2021? 

A: As a general rule, emails sent at 8AM, 1PM, and 5PM tend to perform the best. Use these times as a jumping point, but always consider your recipients.

This might be what their typical day looks like, or their time zone, commute hours, and work breaks. For example, you could have a target audience of over-workers, secretly checking their emails in their kitchen at 1am,  so you may consider meeting them there. 

Q: Does the time you send an email matter? 

A: Yep. And timing can actually matter just as much as the email content. Emails which sit at the top of the inbox tend to receive more engagement, so getting that timing right is essential.

In fact, 86.4% of respondents say having time to read an email is an important factor in determining whether to open it. So it's got to arrive at just the right time for your audience. 

Q: What is the best time of day to send a mass email?

A: Mid-week, Mid-day. It's suggested you send mass emails between 1-3pm, or 9-11am. 

Q: What is the best time of day to send a cold email?

A: The best time to send a cold email is in the morning. Anywhere between 6am and 10am works best. 

Q: What is the best time of day to send an email newsletter?

A: See the mass email answer above - mid-week, and mid-day works best. 

Q: How often should you send newsletters?

A: The best frequency for newsletters isno more than twice a week, and at least once a month.

In fact, 61% of consumers want to see at least one email a week from brands they follow. So, sending a weekly newsletter is what most people want. 

Q: What is the best time to send a B2C email?

A: Although some studies say there's not a big difference in open rates for specific days of the week. Although, Saturday at midnight seems to work best. 

Q: What is the best time to send a B2B email?

A: It seems like the best time of day to send B2B emails is early in the morning between 12:00am and 8:15am, if your goal is to achieve a high open rate.

Q: Is it better to send an email on Friday or Monday?

A: GetResponse has suggested that sending emails on Friday has an open rate of 20.58%, while Tuesday had the best click-through rates. 

Q: Should you send marketing emails on the weekend?

A: Fewer emails are sent at the weekend, so you could stand out in your prospect's inbox. Although, Saturday is also the worst day for certain groups, and for B2B, in terms of open rate.

Q: What's a good email open rate?

A: If you look at benchmarks across the board, you can get a good view of how your own emails should be performing.

On average, the open rate should be between 12-25%, the click-through rate 2-5%, and the click-to-open rate should be between 10-22%. 

Q: Is it bad to send a marketing email on Friday?

A: Emails on Friday consistently underperform compared to those sent on other weekdays. When asked by a study why recipients weren't opening emails sent around midday Friday, they answered:

“I’m trying to finish my work for the week on Friday, and don’t have time for anything else.” 

Another stated: “I like the e-digest, but I never seem to get to it."

Q: Is it bad to send marketing emails late at night? 

A: 6pm falls during or after an evening commute, when people are more likely to be active online. So, good for B2C campaigns.

Q: Is it bad to send marketing emails on holidays? 

A: Making sure how many emails to send is a balancing act. You want to encourage product awareness and 'top-of-mind', but you don't want to annoy potential customers. 

Q: When should you send holiday marketing emails?

A: November is when most companies tend to start delving into their holiday email marketing campaigns. Two of the most important events in November are Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and the Monday after Thanksgiving. 

Q: What time is best to send an email, depending on my industry?

Business Type

Best Day to Send an Email Campaign

Best Time to Send an Email Campaign

Ecommerce

Wednesday

10:00 AM

Software/SaaS

Wednesday

2:00 – 3:00 PM

Marketing Services

Wednesday

4:00 PM

Offline Retail/Hospitality

Thursday

8:00 – 10:00 AM

Professional Services (B2B)

Tuesday

8:00 – 10:00 AM

NGOs (Nonprofits)

Tuesday or Wednesday

3:00 – 4:00 PM

Overall

Tuesday or Wednesday

10:00 AM or 3:00 PM

 

Q: What is the best time to send emails to get a response?

A: Marketers have concluded that the best time for sending emails to get a reply is between 8am and 10am. Late in the evening works too - around 8pm. 

On any given weekday, people often open 66% of emails, but will only respond to less than 40%.

Q: What is the best time of day to send a sales email?

A: Statistics show that Tuesdays and Thursdays are the best day to send sales emails. With the exact hour, there are key transition times.

This is: 8am for the morning group, and 1pm to catch those who open emails during/after their lunch break. 

Q: When is the best time to send an email on a Monday?

A: Remember, these are all averages. Consider your audience first! But saying that: 10AM is the peak time, with a nice boost between 5-7PM.

Q: When is the best time to send an email on a Tuesday?

A: 10am.

Q: When is the best time to send an email on a Wednesday?

A: 2pm.

Q: When is the best time to send an email on a Thursday?

A: 8pm.

Q: When is the best time to send an email on a Friday?

A: 10-11am, with another spike around 2pm.

Q: When is the best time to send an email on a Saturday?

A: Midnight.

Q: When is the best time to send an email on a Sunday?

A: 11am, when people are waking up.