How Often And When to Mail?

In today's world, it seems that almost any topic is open for
debate. While I was gathering facts for this article, I was
quite surprised to find some of the issues I thought were
settled are actually still being openly discussed.


You can see that there's practical value in learning more about list.
Can you think of ways to apply what's been covered so far?

Email marketing is a powerful yet inexpensive way to make
contact with customers and prospects.

Depending on whom you are trying to touch, there may be certain
times of day, or days of the week, when the recipient may be
more responsive to your message. In addition to specific
timing for your email marketing campaigns, the frequency
and the number of times to send can all play a big role in
helping to improve your results.

When to Email?
For a mailing to business recipients, sending midday from 11 AM
through 3 PM is generally the best time. Sending a message earlier in
the day can result in a higher risk of the message getting lost in the
rush to prepare for morning meetings. Send it too late in the day and
it may end up quickly deleted before the recipient leaves for their
commute home.

On the other hand, when mailing to consumers, 5 PM through 8
PM is the best time. People tend to check their personal email when
they get home from work or after dinner. Most consumers are too
busy getting ready for work in the morning to read their email.
Like the time of the day, different days of the week can affect
your results as well. The best days to contact businesses are weekdays
except for Monday and Friday. Monday has proven to have too many
meetings to reach decision makers, and on Friday, most people would
prefer to leave early before the rush hour than receive your email, no
matter how exciting the email and offer may be.

Consumers are more likely to spend more time on the Internet on
weekends, and hence have more time to consider your offer. One
observation is that since many people tend to check their personal
email at various points throughout the day, selecting a specific time to
hit your target group while they are online is much more difficult.
Avoid Mailing During Holidays

During the holidays, people tend to be away from their computers
and don’t check their email regularly. This means they may get your
message when they return together with a ton of other mail that has
piled up during the holidays. Chances are all but the most important
messages will be deleted in a rush without a second look.

Frequency of the Email

Sending email too often can be annoying, resulting in recipients
asking to be removed. Don't send often enough and you may be
forgotten when the recipient is finally ready to buy. Generally, once
every 2-3 weeks is best. A few exceptions are a daily newspaper or a
time-dependant offer like a seminar invitation.

Sending three variations of the same offer to the same recipient is
a good way to improve response rates. You should never send the
exact same offer more than once. Otherwise you risk the recipient
thinking that it’s just another copy of the same email and deleting it. If
a recipient has not responded by the third attempt, they are not going
to respond at all, either because it’s the right offer/wrong time, or the
wrong offer altogether.

Following-Up

It is important to follow up at least once after an initial offer.
Many times it has been observed that a number of recipients will
clickthrough on the first mailing only after receiving a second mailing.
You cannot wait too long to send a follow-up message or they may have
forgotten about the original offer. Follow-up contact is recommended
1-2 weeks after the original offer is sent.

There's no doubt that the topic of list can be fascinating. If you
still have unanswered questions about list, you may find what you're
looking for in the next article.



Eugenijus Sakalauskas publisher
"List Building Newsletter"
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