When is a good time to send an email? Whether it’s emailing a colleague or a potential employer, we want to make sure our emails are read and responded to. It can be tough for people to read through the huge wave of emails from the weekend on a Monday or find the energy to respond to emails on a Friday. So when is the optimal time and date for getting a response?
The Criteria for the Perfect Email Time
Open Rate
Image From Experion
Out of all the days of the week, Tuesdays have the highest open rate at 18.3%. After recovering from the weekend and getting ready to work on Monday, people tend to open more emails on Tuesdays in the morning.
There is a 23% likelihood that people will read your email within the hour it was sent. After that hour, the likelihood that they will read the email drops exponentially.
Response Rate
Image From Experion
Most people respond to emails in the early afternoon or evening after the majority of the workday has finished. It’s at this time that most people have time to actually respond to emails. Sending emails later in the week could also help with response rate since people have more free time on the weekends. However, weekend plans are unpredictable and sending it at that time may be a gamble.
In Conclusion
The best time to send an email is Tuesday at 8am-12pm if you want them to open it or Tuesday at 3pm-6pm if you want them to respond to it.
General Things to Keep in Mind
- Take into account possible time differences. A business email from New York to California at noon will be received three hours earlier.
- Keep in mind that many people are driving through traffic around 5pm, so aim to send emails before or after traffic hour.
- Think about your audience before you press send. Ultimately, these tips can help you get started, but people have their own schedules they adhere to. Other students may be checking their emails during class time throughout the day whereas small business owners may get home late and won’t check their emails till late at night.
- An exciting email subject line can help grab attention. Read last week’s post about creating good email subject lines.
More Information
http://customer.io/blog/timing-week-day-email-sending-schedule.html
http://www.prdaily.com/Main/Articles/The_bestand_worsttimes_to_send_an_email_13342.aspx