Advertising Question of the Week: What Are the Best Times or Days to Send My Email Newsletter?

Had this post been written ten years ago, we might have advised you to send them out at the end of the day. Because that’s what logic seemed to dictate at that time and, well, frankly, everyone was doing it.

That logical dictation has since been blown out of the water.

Yet - very much in the spirit of old dogs being unreceptive to new tricks - it’s still what many companies are doing.  

But Mailing At the End of the Day Is Actually the Worst Time

Assuming you’re an email newsletter subscriber yourself, you’ve probably noticed the deluge of these newsletters that come at the end of the work day - coming at you when you’re at your most haggard and world-weary. Not your most “receptive” time.  

Or even worse, they come so late in the day that they accumulate in your inbox where they eagerly await. For you to erase them. 

Because honestly, even if that newsletter has the most mind-blowing content in the world, you’re probably like most people who’d rather just "clean house" first thing in the morning. In other words, you find far more satisfaction in deleting that barrage of emails clogging your inbox than in receiving data-driven marketing tips at 7:08AM. 

That being said, avoid sending your own email newsletter between 6PM-7PM.  Consider it the witching hour. It’ll be up against way too much competition. 

And forget about sending it after 9pm or before 7am. It’ll likely get rolled into the gruesome horror show that is the next day’s inbox clearing.

So Then What Are the Best Times to Send My Email Newsletter?

We were recently intrigued by a highly unscientific study

whereby a man subscribed to 100 different newsletters to see what time they landed in his inbox.  

He found that nobody sent an email newsletter in the 11AM-noon, 1PM-2PM, and 2PM-3PM hours. 

For Minimum Competition, the 2PM-3PM Spot Is Ideal

Even though the other two time slots showed no competition,

they bookend the lunch hour. As such, email newsletters are far more likely to fall victim to the “hangry”, or to those in food coma during those hours. But between 2pm and 3pm, work life can get pretty dull and a newsletter might be a needed distraction.

For Minor Competition, Shoot for the 10AM-11AM Slot

The brave leader of this unscholarly study then found that only one email newsletter came in between 10am and 11am. And there’s something to be said for a little competition. Especially if your newsletter sparkles in comparison.  

Are There Also Better Days for Sending Email Newsletters?

Yes. But you probably already guessed that.

Wednesday Is the Best Day

Strangely enough, the study found that Wednesday is the day with the least competition. In fact, it is on Wednesday that some newsletters get double the open rate of Monday and Tuesday. So for now, at least, Hump Day a darn good day to send your email newsletters.

Saturday Is a Close Second Runner-up

Yeah, it’s not an official business day. But in terms of sending your email newsletters, Saturday deserves your attention. Especially if your newsletters speak to certain interests or are more on the entertaining side. Saturday will provide more time to give it the attention it so clearly deserves. 

Forget All about Sundays and Thursdays

Sundays are an exceedingly low competition day. However, it’s something of a wildcard day, being a bit more buttoned-up than its older sibling, Saturday. And for many, it’s a day of rest. Or going to Home Depot. So who wants to compete with that?

Thursdays, on the other hand, are a high competition day. So marketing experts would advise against it since it’s too easy to get lost in the shuffle. 

Sending Your Email Newsletter At the Optimal Time Makes A Difference 

Of course, there will always be the exceptions. Farmers might seek the latest data on corn vs. soybeans at 6am. Or bakers may be pouring over a newsletter at 4am to learn about the next greatest thing since… sliced bread. 

But unless you’re driving it home to an early morning demographic, you’ll want to avoid those heavily competitive times.  

After all, it’s always nice to get a letter when you weren’t expecting one. Even if it’s a newsletter.