Knowing the best time to send an email is just as important as its content. Our data shows the right send time can have a huge impact on your target audience in an email marketing campaign.

This involves understanding the best times to reach out, considering the daily patterns of those you're contacting and when they check their email.

In this article, weโ€™ll discuss what our study found, how to use the data to improve email engagement rates, and why the conventional wisdom about midweek timings might not hold up.

Ready to dive in? Letโ€™s go!

Why Sending Emails Matters

Before we dive into the data, you might be wondering why it even matters what time of day you send an email.ย 

All of the work that goes into your email campaign, including high-quality content, visuals, subject lines, and calls-to-action, will get higher click-through rates if you know when to time your email with your audience.

The data that the QuickMail team has gathered can provide you with insights you can use to take your professional emails to the next level. They can help you:

  • Land your message in an inbox where your prospect will see it

  • Increase engagement and conversion rates with your email marketing campaigns

  • Improve your overall bounce rate

When Is the Best Time to Send an Email?

Conventional wisdom would say to avoid Mondays and start your email marketing strategy toward the end of the week, but that's not what we found.

Our data shows Sunday is the best day to send promotional emails if you want opens and replies. But if you're going for clicks, the best practice would be Saturday since Sunday has a lower share of weekly clicks.

Late in the week, you lose a share of opens and take chances on clicks, replies, and unsubscribes.

Here's a look at the best time to send an email for different scenarios:

  • Sunday sends had 18.7% of weekly opens

  • Sunday sends had 15.5% of weekly replies

  • Saturday sends had 16.9% of weekly clicks

  • Thursday sends had a whopping 30% of weekly unsubscribes

What's the Worst Time To Send Marketing Emails?

Thursday has the lowest share of weekly opens plus the highest share of weekly unsubscribes. Sending an email blast on Thursday would be like shooting yourself in the foot, so don't do it.

Wednesday and Friday also had low shares of weekly opens, while Saturday and Friday had low shares of weekly replies for send days.

Our Survey Data for Email Send Times

The sections below will provide more insight into our data to help you perfect your cold outreach for your B2B audience.

Best Time to Send an Email for Opens

For optimal email click-to-open rates, the weekend proves to be the best send time, with Sunday sends accounting for 18.7% of the week's opens.

Getting into prospects' inboxes over the weekend is a winning strategy. Saturday also shows a solid performance as a send day, with 16.9% of the week's opens.

Looking at it another way, emails sent on Saturday and Sunday were responsible for a third of all opens detected by our system. That's huge.

Of course, your prospects may be unique, which is why testing is so important. While the weekly open percentage is higher for emails that were sent on weekends, other days may yield better results in terms of responses or click-throughs for your niche.

Here are the best days to send email marketing considering their share of the weekโ€™s opens:

  • Monday: 13.1%

  • Tuesday: 13.4%

  • Wednesday: 12.9%

  • Thursday: 12.4%

  • Friday: 12.7%

  • Saturday: 16.9%

  • Sunday: 18.7%

Best Time to Send an Email for Replies

Many email campaigns are judged by their reply rates, and our data shows Sunday has the highest share of weekly replies (15.5%). Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday are also good send-day options, while Thursday and Friday lag behind.

Considering this, itโ€™s best to schedule emails on Sunday through Wednesday if you want to optimize your campaign for replies. Why Sunday works so well for opens and replies is interesting to consider.ย 

Perhaps recipients have mental space and are more likely to remember a well-crafted message on Sunday. Or, if they donโ€™t open their work email until Monday, the message you sent on Sunday is already on top of the stack. Either way, sending on Sunday and earlier in the week is a good strategy to get replies.

Here are the best send days ranked by reply share out of the week:

  • Monday: 14.1%

  • Tuesday: 15.2%

  • Wednesday: 15.2%

  • Thursday: 13.5%

  • Friday: 13.2%

  • Saturday: 13.4%

  • Sunday: 15.5%

Note that Saturday is not one of the best send days for replies. That said, replies are spread more evenly throughout the week than opens, considering the highest and lowest performing days.

Best Time to Send an Email for Clicks

Your main goal may be to drive clicks for a certain product or signup, and Saturday should be your top choice. Our data shows nearly 17% of all clicks recorded were from emails sent on a Saturday. But be careful, assuming the whole weekend is good, if you want to optimize for clicks. Sunday accounted for the fewest weekly clicks as a send day, so choose your day carefully.

The data also shows some interesting fluctuations during the week. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday show decent results for weekly clicks, while Tuesday and Thursday don't. If you're planning a campaign for click-throughs, think about leapfrogging the T-days.

Since your results can vary, keep testing to find your best send days for clicks. Try a campaign on Saturdays compared to sends on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.

Here's the full list of weekly clicks by send day:

  • Monday: 15.1%

  • Tuesday: 13.7%

  • Wednesday: 14.1%

  • Thursday: 13.8%

  • Friday: 15.1%

  • Saturday: 16.9%

  • Sunday: 11.3%

Best Day to Send an Email for Minimizing Unsubscribes

Looking at unsubscribes, one day accounts for a huge chunk of the recipients who opted out during the week: Thursday. A whopping 30% of weekly unsubscribes followed emails sent on a Thursday.

Is it worth sending emails on Thursday at all? Looking back, Thursday had some of the smallest shares of weekly opens, replies, and clicks. Now, considering it has the highest number of unsubscribes, we'd recommend avoiding it like the plague.

Perhaps users are looking toward the weekend and getting annoyed at any marketing material they don't resonate with on Thursday. Whatever the reason, Thursday is one of the worst days to send an email campaign.

Hereโ€™s the share of weekly unsubscribes by send day:

  • Monday: 11.6%

  • Tuesday: 16.5%

  • Wednesday: 12%

  • Thursday: 30%

  • Friday: 10.8%

  • Saturday: 10.5%

  • Sunday: 8.7%

What's the Best Time To Send Marketing Emails?

Conventional wisdom would say to avoid Mondays and start your email marketing strategy toward the end of the week, but that's not what we found.ย 

Our data shows Sunday is the best send day for promotional emails if you want opens and replies. But if you're going for clicks, the best practice would be Saturday since Sunday has a lower share of weekly clicks.

Late in the week you lose share of opens and take chances on clicks, replies, and unsubscribes.

What's the Worst Time To Send Marketing Emails?

Thursday has the lowest share of weekly opens plus the highest share of weekly unsubscribes. Sending an email blast on Thursday would be like shooting yourself in the foot, so don't do it.

Wednesday and Friday also had low shares of weekly opens while Saturday and Friday had low shares of weekly replies for send days.

How To Find the Best Time To Send Emails For Your Audience

To find the optimal timing for your audience, carefully analyze their email engagement patterns. Avoid random strategies and instead systematically investigate when they're most likely to engage.

Are they entrepreneurs who check emails on weekends or weekday workers who prioritize emails like a daily ritual?

Examine your email analytics with a detail-oriented focus to identify the day that maximizes open rates. Rely on concrete data rather than speculation.

Advanced Metrics

Conduct A/B testing on various days, including weekends, to discover the schedule that resonates with your specific audience. You can also test email subject lines, introductory sentences, CTAs, cold email templates, the number of emails you follow up with, and more.

adding a variation to a/b test a cold email in quickmail

Tips for Better Email Open Rates

To increase your email open rates, it's essential to focus not only on the timing but also on deliverability. Use a tool like QuickMail that sends with a Gmail-approved API and provides free warm-up, inbox rotation to keep send volumes low, and domain monitoring.

inbox rotation image

When composing your email, prioritize clear and relevant subject lines, avoiding anything that resembles clickbait.ย 

Start your message with a personal touch, demonstrating that you're attentive and genuine. Present a value proposition that emphasizes the recipient's benefits rather than your product's features.

Effective email marketing involves targeted, personalized communication rather than a one-size-fits-all approach. Maintain a relaxed tone in your messaging, aiming for a conversational rather than overly formal style.ย 

reply handling with opportunities in quickmail

For those managing large volumes of outreach, cold email software can be a useful tool to maintain efficiency in your campaign.

For more tips, check out our ultimate guide on cold email.

Wrapping Up

As an email marketer, pinpointing the ideal time to send emails is crucial for enhancing engagement. QuickMail can be a potent tool in your digital marketing arsenal for this reason.

To determine the best send time, you could start by segmenting your audience and scheduling emails in the morning, afternoon, and evening across different days of the week. Monitor which time and day yield higher open rates.

Continuously test and analyze the results to refine your strategy. Remember, there's no one-size-fits-all answer; it varies across industries and audiences. By leveraging QuickMail's analytics, you can experiment with send times to optimize your outreach.ย 

As you grow your email list, keep testing to ensure you consistently hit that perfect email timing, which could significantly boost your engagement rates.

Click below to find the best day and time for email sending with a free 14-day trial of QuickMail.