For E-Mail Marketing, What's the Best Day?

Monday has been thought to be the optimum day for commercial e-mail messages, but a new study says that might not be so.

Last year, two separate studies found that Monday was probably the best day to send commercial e-mail. Return Path found that e-mails sent on Monday had delivery rates

Another study, this one conducted by eROI, suggested that not only delivery rates, but also open and clickthrough rates were better on Mondays.

But a new report by ExactTarget asserts that there is no "best day" to send commercial e-mails. If anything, the latter part of the week may be better. According to ExactTarget data, over 97% of campaigns are sent Monday through Friday. Wednesday is the peak day.

However, ExactTarget points out that the "best days for opens are not necessarily the best for clicks." In fact, the researcher found inconsistencies between the best day for opens and the best day for clicks, and that marketers need to make the distinction. Maximizing open rates is important for brand exposure, while generating clicks is the key if the goal is conversion.

The report found:

* Wednesday Through Friday Maximize Opens. Starting in July 2004, the best days for maximizing open rates shifted to later in the work week. For the July through November period, Friday performed the best, but it was less than 0.5% ahead of Wednesday and Thursday in average open rate.

* Weekends Rule for Generating Clicks. Weekend results are mixed, with open rates performing slightly below average, but Sunday and Saturday yield the highest click-through rates. With less competition in the inbox on weekends, people who open your email have more time to actually read and respond to your message.

No matter what day it is, the best day for the industry to e-mail may not be the best day for your particular marketing goals.

(Emarketer.com, September 27, 2005)

Days of the Week when Commercial E-Mail Messages Are Sent in the US,
December 2003-November 2004 (as a % of total)

Sunday      1.4%
Monday     18.7%
Tuesday    21.4%
Wednesday  22.4%
Thursday   19.5%
Friday     15.5%
Saturday    1.2%

Note: numbers may not add up to exactly 100% due to rounding
Source: ExactTarget, September 2005
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www.eMarketer.com

Note: Table made from bar graph.