What's the best time to send an email? It's the multimillion-dollar question we always get asked. But is there a specific time? Does when you send an email matter?

We're Kennedy and Carrie, and you're about to find out the truth about this…

Ready?

SOME EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS: 

(0:33) Want to carry on with the conversation? Join our FREE Facebook group. 
(2:17) Is there a universal 'best time' to send an email? 
(6:03) The best time to send an email depends on your email list. 
(7:40) Why you shouldn't rely on open rates. 
(11:35) The best time to send an email is when you'll send that email. 
(16:14) Know your audience. 
(17:52) Create email automations. 
(21:05) So when's the best time to send an email? 
(23:23) Join The Email Hero Blueprint. 
(23:51) Subject line of the week.

Is there a universal ‘best time' to send an email? 

Depending on whose teachings you follow, you may have heard lots of different theories about the best time to send an email. Like with most things, the prevalent advice tends to change over time.

But what happens if we pick an arbitrary time and say that’s the best time to send an email? Let’s say that time is 4 pm GMT. What happens then? That everyone in our world sends all the emails at that time! And there's a big problem with that. If everyone does the same thing, we all blend into one. And when that happens, things stop working. Something that once worked for someone suddenly doesn't anymore – because everyone's doing the same thing.

Email marketing isn’t about finding someone’s formula and copying it. Unfortunately, there isn’t a secret sauce for everything – not one that will work for everyone anyway. So we need to stop searching for fast solutions. Sure, they're handy. Because no one wants to do the guesswork or the split testing in their own business to find out the best time to send an email. We all want the shortcuts. But in this case, there isn’t one. There’s no right or wrong answer.

The truth is that the best time to send an email depends on your email list.

The best time to send an email depends on your email list

The most practical thing you can do is to figure out the time that works best for your email list. And the fastest and most efficient way to do this is to test out sending emails in the morning for a bit, then in the afternoon for a while, and then in the evenings. At the back of that, check what happens to your click-through rates.

Ideally, you'd also look at sales. But because other factors are involved when it comes to conversion and sales (such as the quality of your offer or your sales pages), click-through rates are a good metric to track. After all, you can have the best emails in the world, but if they send people to a shitty sales page, they won't convert!

Why you shouldn't rely on open rates

Open rates aren't a reliable metric to track – they don't tell the full story. For example, Kennedy recently sent out an email and did a split test with two different subject lines. The subject line with higher open rates had lower click-through rates, while the one that got opened less got higher click-through rates. This shows that you could always write subject lines that ‘trick' more people into opening your emails. But that doesn't mean they'll click on the links inside them. The mindset they're in also matters, and if once they read your email they feel misled by your subject line, they won't be in the mood to click on your links.

One of the reasons people rely so much on open rates is that perhaps they’re not selling in every email, or they haven't worked on their offer. Or maybe they’ve fallen into the trap of doing too much coaching or giving away too much in their emails. When the clicks (or sales) don’t come, marketers can be tempted to look at open rates. But the truth is that sometimes our subscribers open emails but don’t have an intention or need to buy, so they won't take the next step with you. Open rates can be faulty and flawed in many ways, including the way the technology reports on them.

A quick note on click-through rates

Some businesses are seeing an increase in bot clicks in their emails. If you sell to people who work in corporations that use spam detectors, they’ll have software that clicks on the links in the emails they receive to make sure they’re safe. To work around this and get a figure of the real number of clicks you're getting on your emails, you can use a bit of technology that only counts a click if the person stays on the sales page for three seconds or longer.

The best time to send an email is when you'll send that email

While doing some testing on the best time (morning, afternoon, evening) to send an email in your business is great, we think that the best time to send an email is when you will send that email! 

When do you experience the least friction in your day? When are you likely to get it done? If you decide mornings are the best time to send an email and then you miss the morning one day and never send that email, that's the worst that can happen. Because an email that’s sent is always better than one that isn't!

If you’re waiting for inspiration to strike to send an email, you may never send it. Kennedy, for example, is a creature of habit and a routine-driven person. So he builds triggers into his day that remind him to do specific tasks. The best time to send an email for Kennedy is when he sits at his laptop in the morning while his cup of tea is brewing. And doing it at the same time every day means he always gets it done. Once he's sent his daily email, he doesn't need to worry about it anymore. It's not something he'll have to keep reminding himself of throughout the day. It's done!

When we start overthinking the best time to send an email, we're throwing an unnecessary obstacle in the mix. Often that happens when we avoid doing things that feel uncomfortable. Think of the subscribers on your email list as people who are sitting in your living room for the day, like guests in your home. They’ve opted to hear from you, so they’re there waiting for you to address them. Would you walk into a room of people you've invited and not say anything ‘unless inspiration strikes? You wouldn't, because that would be awkward!

Sending emails is a discipline. It’s about getting into the practice of taking regular action. Let's not wait for ‘the perfect time' – it doesn't work that way. Pick a time that works for you and stick with that.

Know your audience 

Once you've figured out what works for you, focus on what works for your audience. Who are the people on your list? Are they professionals who do everything on their phones because they’re always on the go and rarely sitting at a desk? Are they stay-at-home mums? Hobbyists? Or do they run brick-and-mortar businesses and spend the day with customers, only to check emails at night? What are their habits? When are they checking their email? You're never going to know everything about everyone in your audience. But you can generalise and make some hypothetical (yet educated) guesses.

With that said, don't get too hung up on this. Do what works for you, irrespective of your audience. Because as long as you send them, your emails will be sitting in someone's inbox until they're ready to check them. And because you sent the email, you might get a sale.

Create email automations 

Sending live, broadcast emails is crucial. However, setting up automated email marketing campaigns is also a fundamental component of your email marketing. It gives you the confidence of knowing that no matter what’s happening in your life, your business, and the lives of your audience, your emails are still going out.

Email automations can be a saving grace, especially when you have those hard times in your business when you don’t feel like being present or aren’t functioning the way you should. The automated campaigns do the heavy lifting for you. You can literally ‘forget about them', and they'll still make sales in the background.

So when's the best time to send an email? 

In a nutshell, the best time to send an email is the time you'll send it. If you want to, you can test mornings, afternoons, and evenings and check your click-through rates and your sales. Be cognizant of your audience, but don’t overthink it. And once you have meaningful data, go back and look at patterns.

But let's look at it this way. If you were sending physical letters, you wouldn’t only send them when you know the person is at home waiting to pick them up, would you? Because you don’t know when the post will get there or when exactly the other person will be at home and ready to check it! It’s the same for email. Your job is to make sure the email lands in their inbox. Your subscribers will do the rest.

And if you miss a day, don’t think you can't start again. When you stop sending out emails regularly, you might struggle to get back into the habit but don’t use this as an excuse to stop for good. Jump back on the horse and start again!

Join The Email Hero Blueprint 

If you want access to all our training and our done-for-you, already-written email campaigns to help you do anything you want in your business, check out The Email Hero Blueprint. It’s the leading programme for people who want to maximise the sales of their courses, memberships, and digital products using email marketing.

Subject line of the week

This week’s subject line is “Spitting chickens”. The click-through rate was really good on this email. And that's because Kennedy (accidentally) did something pretty cool. You can't tell whether the chickens are spitting, or whether someone is spitting chickens! Kennedy was referring to a scenario where you’re out eating food, and the waiter comes over when you have your mouth full (of chicken, presumably) and asks you if you’d like any more drinks.

But back to the subject line, it worked because it has a lot of compound curiosity. It raises questions. Is a chicken spitting? Why was a chicken spitting? At whom? But one thing you’ll notice (and that’s a pattern with all our subject lines) is that it has nothing to do with the product. So check it out!

Useful Episode Resources

Related episodes

How To Increase Your Open Rates (They’re Wrong But…)

Practical Ways To Increase The Average Click-Through Rate In Your Email Marketing.

Master Your Metrics – Unleashing The Power Of Email Marketing Analytics.

FREE list to improve your email marketing

If you want to write better emails, come up with better content, and get your readers to click and buy, here's how. This is a list of our Top 10 most highly recommended books that will improve all areas of your email marketing (including some underground treasures that we happened upon, which have been game-changing for us). Grab it for FREE here.

Join the FREE Facebook group

Do you want to chat about how you can maximise the value of your email list and make more money from every subscriber? There's a way! Every business is different, so come and hang out in our FREE Facebook group, the Email Marketing Show Community for Course Creators and Coaches. You'll find a lot of training and resources, and you can talk about what you're up to.

Try ResponseSuite for $1

This content is sponsored by ResponseSuite.com, the survey quiz and application form tool that we created specifically for small businesses like you to integrate with your marketing systems to segment your subscribers and make more sales. Try it out for 14 days for just $1.

Join The Email Hero Blueprint 

Want more? Let's say you're a course creator, membership site owner, coach, author, or expert and want to learn about the ethical psychology-based email marketing that turns 60-80% more of your subscribers into customers (within 60 days). If that's you, then grab The Email Hero Blueprint.

This is (hands down) the most predictable, plug-and-play way to double your earnings per email subscriber. It allows you to generate a consistent sales flow without launching another product, service, or offer. Best news yet? You won't have to rely on copywriting, slimy persuasion, NLP, or ‘better' subject lines.

Want to connect with Carrie?

You can find Carrie on her website!

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