You've Got Mail...The Timing of Your E-mails

Factor in timing, subject line and brevity to be sure others open and read your e-mails.Consider the barrage of e-mails that pours into your inbox each day. Nearly two-thirds of executives prefer to communicate via e-mail, according to a survey by Office Team. Is there a best day to send e-mails so yours get noticed, opened and clicked?

Kristy Amy of OnMark Solutions responded to this question on the COSE MindShare forum. "For B2B e-mails, consider holidays, plant shut downs and other timing issues that your customers experience," she says. "For example, people in the construction industry spend their time in the field during the day, but read e-mail and research online at home during the evening."

MarketingSherpa's E-mail Marketing Benchmarking Guide offers insight on e-mail volume by day of week. Tuesdays are the highest-volume days, with an average of 119 transactions. The report shows quiet Saturdays, with just 13 e-mails sent. But that doesn't necessarily mean that you should press send when the volume is down.

According to MarketingSherpa, high volume on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday is offset by the fact that open/click rates vary less. On Saturday, be sure to send e-mails early so they are opened right away. You may catch an executive who logs on in the morning. There is no magic bullet-so experiment and find what works for your business.

- Written by Kristen Hampshire, Contributor, COSE Update.