Best time to send an email/newsletter?

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Don Draper

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We spent the better part of today preparing an email/newsletter for our mailing list which details some upcoming packages and specials. By the time we finished up it was close to 5 pm so we decided to wait until tomorrow AM to send it. Anyone have any anecdotal evidence of what is the best time of day to send something like this to be sure it is seen and read?
Also this is the first one we've done since switching to Mac and the integrated Stationery feature on Mac Mail is SO cool...it's like a letterhead and this particular one let us insert several pictures up at the top...it looks really slick.
 
At the risk of giving away all my secrets...use your own web stats to figure that out. When do you get the most traffic to your site? THAT'S when people are thinking about getting away. THAT'S when the email with the pkgs in it should hit their computers!
I would bet that is a different day and time frame for a lot of people, but it should be valuable info for you to look into for your own website.
 
At the risk of giving away all my secrets...use your own web stats to figure that out. When do you get the most traffic to your site? THAT'S when people are thinking about getting away. THAT'S when the email with the pkgs in it should hit their computers!
I would bet that is a different day and time frame for a lot of people, but it should be valuable info for you to look into for your own website..
Aha! You're a genius Bree. I can barely figure out what Google Analytics is telling me...now that we have some room to breathe here we really need to sit down and look at this stuff. Thank you!
 
Ha, ha, ha...as we suspected from the amount of phone calls we get on a Monday morning as compared to a Friday afternoon...everyone is planning their vacation on the boss' dime!
 
At the risk of giving away all my secrets...use your own web stats to figure that out. When do you get the most traffic to your site? THAT'S when people are thinking about getting away. THAT'S when the email with the pkgs in it should hit their computers!
I would bet that is a different day and time frame for a lot of people, but it should be valuable info for you to look into for your own website..
Aha! You're a genius Bree. I can barely figure out what Google Analytics is telling me...now that we have some room to breathe here we really need to sit down and look at this stuff. Thank you!
.
In GA, put in a date range. If you've had it for awhile, go back to January at least. Then go to 'Visitors' and then 'Visits.' That gives you a VERY easy chart to look at where the bars will show you immediately what days are your highest hitters. I may need to change my mailing day given what I am seeing in my stats...
What I will say is that traditional marketing says to not hit the in box on a Monday as you will be tossed in the trash unless you have a very catchy subject line. (Something you need to work on as long as it took to produce the email so you get it right!)
Do you have a way to track your email opens? If you don't have an emailing program and want to sign up for Constant Contact, let me know and we'll both get a discount! (That applies to anyone thinking about this, btw.)
 
Ha, ha, ha...as we suspected from the amount of phone calls we get on a Monday morning as compared to a Friday afternoon...everyone is planning their vacation on the boss' dime!.
OR, they planned all weekend and waited until a 'business' day to call you. Funny how some minds think...OK to call at 9 AM on a weekday, but not at 3 PM on a Sunday!
 
Two notes to add:
Don't send it on a Monday If they are work email addresses, they will have a bunch of weekend mail to deal with.
Use Bree's method, but will also add look at the weather forecast, don't send it on a what is supposed to be a beautiful day....Send it on a rainy crappy day. People are more likely to spend more time online on rainy days than on sunny days ... you can spot these same weather kind of trends in Analytics by just looking back at the week.... you will see traffic spikes on rainy days.
Also, send yourself the kind of templated email you want to send out, then look at the headers and see what the spam scores look like. Images and links can raise your spam score which means fewer people will actually get your email.
 
i don't have a suggestion of when to mail.
i used to do self mailings and had to space it out 50 or 100 a day was the limit to prevent my (or other persons) sending spam
do you have the opt-in link on your website so that visitors to the site can join your mailing list?
:)
 
Two notes to add:
Don't send it on a Monday If they are work email addresses, they will have a bunch of weekend mail to deal with.
Use Bree's method, but will also add look at the weather forecast, don't send it on a what is supposed to be a beautiful day....Send it on a rainy crappy day. People are more likely to spend more time online on rainy days than on sunny days ... you can spot these same weather kind of trends in Analytics by just looking back at the week.... you will see traffic spikes on rainy days.
Also, send yourself the kind of templated email you want to send out, then look at the headers and see what the spam scores look like. Images and links can raise your spam score which means fewer people will actually get your email..
Interesting take on the weather. But that means knowing the weather in your target market. It could be pouring buckets here and sunny in Philadelphia (isn't it always?).
Not necessarily your target market but where the majority of your email list lives.
 
i don't have a suggestion of when to mail.
i used to do self mailings and had to space it out 50 or 100 a day was the limit to prevent my (or other persons) sending spam
do you have the opt-in link on your website so that visitors to the site can join your mailing list?
:).
This is one of the perks of having an emailer do it for you. As long as you don't rack up the 'spam' clicks by the recipients, you can send as often as you like.
 
Two notes to add:
Don't send it on a Monday If they are work email addresses, they will have a bunch of weekend mail to deal with.
Use Bree's method, but will also add look at the weather forecast, don't send it on a what is supposed to be a beautiful day....Send it on a rainy crappy day. People are more likely to spend more time online on rainy days than on sunny days ... you can spot these same weather kind of trends in Analytics by just looking back at the week.... you will see traffic spikes on rainy days.
Also, send yourself the kind of templated email you want to send out, then look at the headers and see what the spam scores look like. Images and links can raise your spam score which means fewer people will actually get your email..
swirt said:
look at the weather forecast, don't send it on a what is supposed to be a beautiful day....Send it on a rainy crappy day. People are more likely to spend more time online on rainy days than on sunny days ... you can spot these same weather kind of trends in Analytics by just looking back at the week.... you will see traffic spikes on rainy days.
Swirt! We had 74 yesterday and other innkeepers were talking about cold, turning up the heat and rain.
wink_smile.gif

 
Weather related:
So sent it to Seattle and the UK and you can't miss!
cheers.gif
 
Two notes to add:
Don't send it on a Monday If they are work email addresses, they will have a bunch of weekend mail to deal with.
Use Bree's method, but will also add look at the weather forecast, don't send it on a what is supposed to be a beautiful day....Send it on a rainy crappy day. People are more likely to spend more time online on rainy days than on sunny days ... you can spot these same weather kind of trends in Analytics by just looking back at the week.... you will see traffic spikes on rainy days.
Also, send yourself the kind of templated email you want to send out, then look at the headers and see what the spam scores look like. Images and links can raise your spam score which means fewer people will actually get your email..
Interesting take on the weather. But that means knowing the weather in your target market. It could be pouring buckets here and sunny in Philadelphia (isn't it always?).
Not necessarily your target market but where the majority of your email list lives.
.
But that means knowing the weather in your target market. It could be pouring buckets here and sunny in Philadelphia (isn't it always?).
Not necessarily your target market but where the majority of your email list lives.
Yes, this is a good point Bree.
 
Two notes to add:
Don't send it on a Monday If they are work email addresses, they will have a bunch of weekend mail to deal with.
Use Bree's method, but will also add look at the weather forecast, don't send it on a what is supposed to be a beautiful day....Send it on a rainy crappy day. People are more likely to spend more time online on rainy days than on sunny days ... you can spot these same weather kind of trends in Analytics by just looking back at the week.... you will see traffic spikes on rainy days.
Also, send yourself the kind of templated email you want to send out, then look at the headers and see what the spam scores look like. Images and links can raise your spam score which means fewer people will actually get your email..
Interesting take on the weather. But that means knowing the weather in your target market. It could be pouring buckets here and sunny in Philadelphia (isn't it always?).
Not necessarily your target market but where the majority of your email list lives.
.
But that means knowing the weather in your target market. It could be pouring buckets here and sunny in Philadelphia (isn't it always?).
Not necessarily your target market but where the majority of your email list lives.
Yes, this is a good point Bree.
.
swirt said:
But that means knowing the weather in your target market. It could be pouring buckets here and sunny in Philadelphia (isn't it always?).
Not necessarily your target market but where the majority of your email list lives.
Yes, this is a good point Bree.
Something else I thought of is that would work if you (the B&B) are located in a usually sunny clime. Otherwise, if it's raining outside my house while I'm reading the email, I'm going to assume it's raining where the B&B is, too. Which is why biz was so slow this spring. It rained all over the NE and no one wanted to bother going where there was more rain!
 
I am waking up to reservations submitted eastern standard time at 915 to 1015 each night. Not that this is the best time to READ a newsletter, but seems to be a regular time to book a room online here.
 
Two notes to add:
Don't send it on a Monday If they are work email addresses, they will have a bunch of weekend mail to deal with.
Use Bree's method, but will also add look at the weather forecast, don't send it on a what is supposed to be a beautiful day....Send it on a rainy crappy day. People are more likely to spend more time online on rainy days than on sunny days ... you can spot these same weather kind of trends in Analytics by just looking back at the week.... you will see traffic spikes on rainy days.
Also, send yourself the kind of templated email you want to send out, then look at the headers and see what the spam scores look like. Images and links can raise your spam score which means fewer people will actually get your email..
Interesting take on the weather. But that means knowing the weather in your target market. It could be pouring buckets here and sunny in Philadelphia (isn't it always?).
Not necessarily your target market but where the majority of your email list lives.
.
That is why you tune in to the weather channel before you send the newsletter and say - Gee, sorry it is raining there today, we have beautiful sunshine streaming through the trees and twinkling off the waves down at the harbor as the breeze fills the sails of the schooners.
 
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