Archive for Testing
Timing your E-Mail Marketing
Source: Ron Rule
Somehow over the years I’ve managed to work “check my email†into the morning routine, sometimes even before getting dressed or pouring a cup of coffee, and I’ve noticed a few things:
- My Inbox is fullest first thing in the morning.
- It’s mostly newsletters and marketing stuff that came in after midnight.
- I don’t read any of it.
Sound anything like your morning mailbox? The answer is most likely yes, proving once again that most e-mail marketers still aren’t hitting the mark with their newsletters. With automation tools for consumer engagement, a lot of companies have taken a hands-off approach, leaving the delivery process to systems that automatically send out messages some time between midnight and 6:00 AM. As a result, their newsletters are being ignored by the vast majority of their subscribers.
What most marketers forget is that their newsletter is just one of many that their subscribers receive. Marketers who think that sending out the newsletter at midnight makes sense because it will be the first thing their subscribers see when they wake up are losing out because their messages are getting buried among everyone else’s. The more mail that’s in the subscriber’s Inbox at the time your newsletter comes in, the less likely they are to read it. When I tell marketers this, they never believe me… until I ask them “Of all the marketing and newsletters you get, how many of them do you read?â€. Then it sinks in.
Every e-mail marketing expert will tell you that the subject has to be captivating and thought provoking if you want your newsletter to be read, and that’s true – but what they never tell you is that the time you send out your newsletter is just as important as the subject. There is no magic time of day, it’s different for everyone, but there is one easy way to figure out yours…
Look at your analytics.
Specifically, look at your site’s traffic by the hour and figure out (1) What time of day are the most people visiting your site, and (2) What time of day are the most people BUYING things off your site. Get at least a full 30 days worth of data together for an accurate assumption, and if your weekend traffic is significantly lower than your weekday traffic (usually the case for B2B products) then filter out the weekends.
These numbers will tell you when people are thinking about the types of products you sell. If you’re getting the majority of your traffic at 4:00 PM, then your newsletter should be going out shortly before that. If your peak traffic and peak conversion hours are different, test both. And this strategy isn’t limited just to daily newsletters, apply the same rules to weekly and monthly – figure out what day of the week you’re getting the most traffic and set your newsletter to go out on that day.
With a little patience and some testing, you’ll be able to find the optimal time of day to send out your newsletter and give your e-mail marketing campaigns the boost they’ve been missing.
Call to Action Advice
“Click here” is a common spam trigger phrase in acquisition email so we advise clients to avoid the term altogether and use “press here” instead. This white paper dives deeper into the strategic reasoning behind developing better call to actions with some great advice.
Source: White Paper by Extravision.com
The Importance of Your Call to Action
For email to succeed as a form of communication, your recipient quickly needs to know exactly why you are sending them an email and this reason why should take them to a clear call to action.
Sounds obvious, but surprisingly enough, many email marketers pay least attention to their call to action, as they are so busy concentrating on their design template and in creating engaging content that their call to action can very easily become an afterthought, which usually ends up as “Click Hereâ€.
Moving beyond Click Here
“Click here†is something we all understand. It’s clear, concise, universally understood and easy for the reader to visualise the physical action you want them to take, because it’s far easier than saying “Please click your mouse button on this link so that you will jump from this email to the specially designed landing page we have created for you at our website.â€
The click is also the basic unit for measuring the click-through rate (CTR) a common measure of success for an email marketing campaign.
However, this “one size fits all†command doesn’t always serve the needs of the call to action, which really needs a custom fit to suit the sender, the recipient and the end result. Sometimes “click here†might appear to demand a greater commitment than your customer is willing to make at an early stage in the conversation. For example: “Learn more†might actually more closely reflect what’s going on in their head.You should try to vary your call to action wording to reflect where in the sales cycle your customers are likely to be.
Another big problem with continually using “click here†as your main call to action is simply that it’s repetitive and boring! Plus, it falls short as a call to action, because it doesn’t tell the subscriber “why†they would want to “Click Hereâ€.
Nor does it answer that universal question all readers have that drives so many actions: “What’s in it for me?â€
Writing your Call to Action
Never forget that your recipient is only interested in “what’s in it for meâ€. Ignore this at your peril!
Good sales copy should always focus on the benefits to your recipient to keep them engaged in your mailing. Once you have them interested in how you are going to make their life better, then it becomes your job to give them an opportunity to act on their need.
If you just describe a bunch of features, without relating why someone would want those features then you leave people wondering why they should care.  So, if you do not make it clear in your email, exactly what you are trying to get your recipient to do after you have got them to read your message, then you are walking away from the conversation, without letting them know what you want from them, which is a wasted opportunity.
Have you ever listened to someone talk about themselves for hours and wondered what they want from you?  In the end, you tune them out and do your best to look interested (if you are polite) or you look for the easiest escape route.  There may be compelling things that they have to offer you, but you’ve already tuned them out as being arrogant or self absorbed.
In a standard email message, you don’t have a lot of space to tell people “why†they should click a link and so your call to action phrase will need to compel the reader to click the link to find out “what’s in it for meâ€.
Minimise any distractions or non-essential content from your email, stay concise and to the point. You have a limited amount of space and if you have a lot to say in your email, it’s better to display a link to a web site that contains the full content of your message. For example, use a snippet of text with a link to “read moreâ€.
The subject line and headlines that you use need to provide your recipient with more clues about the purpose of your email.  As many people simply skim through emails without actually reading them, you need to keep your message clear by using short blocks of texts, bullet points, a subject line that relates to the purpose of your email, and headlines that form complete sentences.   Content that is heavy and long in copy often backfires because the call to action/purpose of the email gets buried.
In addition don’t be afraid to introduce a sense of urgency to your call to action if it’s applicable. You can encourage your subscribers to respond immediately by letting them know if there are any limitations or restrictions or by using action phrases. For example if you had limited spaces available on an event you were running you could use, “Spaces are limited, to avoid disappointment book your place now”. This call to action is clear and shows the recipient exactly what they need to do and why.
Designing your Call to Action
You should only promote one call to action. Don’t try to offer both a whitepaper and a webinar in the same email, because the result will be disappointing response rates for both.
A simple layout makes it easy for recipients to respond to your call to action.  Be realistic and clear about the actions that you want your email message to inspire, as this will help direct you to design an effective call to action. Do not limit yourself to text alone. A call to action can also include images, brand names, and logos.
If you do use images, then add supporting text under the image and in the “alt†tag so that your reader will know what to do if images are disabled.  A lot of email clients have images disabled by default so using “alt†tag will give the subscriber a place to go even if they do not download images on their email client.
When using text for your call to action, a simple way of catching your subscriber’s attention is to use a larger font or use boldface action words, key phrases and anything else that can drive the reader’s eye down to the official call to action. Boldface does make scanning much easier, but use in moderation and also avoid using massive font, capitalisation or punctuation excessively, as this can get you caught in spam filters!
Use white space to offset or highlight the call to action and if the action at the end of an article is simply to read the full story; use a hard return, indent to make it easy to see exactly where the call to action is.
Spreading your Call to Action Around
Obviously, the call to action must be a clickable link, but that cannot be the only path to your landing page. Giving your customers more options will increase your total click through rate. You should never hesitate to move your call to action up in the mailing or use multiple calls to action throughout your email.
The most obvious place to place your call to action is at the end of the email after the conversation you are having with your recipient; in much the same way as you might give out a business card at the close of a conversation.  However, that is not the only way of being clear and direct with your recipient. Why not have a call to action at the top, the middle, and the end. It could be the header of your email, the images they see inside the mailing, headlines, or text within the body of the email.   Make headlines informative and action-oriented, so that they can perform this double duty.
Matching the Call to Action to your Landing Page
A landing page gives you the opportunity to present additional information that you couldn’t fit in your email. Writing email and landing pages together ensures that you have a consistent message, which is driven by the call to action. Marketers whose email message generates a product or service should match the call to action to the landing page where the email link will send clickers.
For example: a retailer’s call to action email message may tell the customer, “Buy now!†However, the buying process may not start immediately when the reader clicks through to the landing page. Instead, the link you provide takes the customer to a product page for more information: product descriptions, pricing, image shots, discounts etc.
For example: if you have a page of images showing different varieties of the same product, the call could invite people this way: “See all 20 colours here.†Or, if you simply must include the word “click†“Click to see all 20 vibrant colours.â€
Summary
Following best practice can help you to create a stronger call to action, but it is always important to remember the golden rule in email marketing: test, test and test again! Different areas of your database may respond better to a certain style of call to action. By doing both, you can set yourself on the to more successful email marketing.
Image credit: Danilo Rizzuti
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posted in: Creative | HTML Creative Best Practices | Landing Pages | Resources | Testing | Writing Effective Copy Better preheaders? Six ideas to consider…
The preheader text of any email has a very important function and is considered prime real estate so it should be carefully considered. It can contain anything from utility links to offer text, but for acquisition campaigns it’s like a dangling carrot that appears RIGHT after your subject line. The inbox preview treats preheaders as the first line of text in your email so it should outline your offer and call to action. Keep in mind that the preheader does push your email imagery down and with limited screen displays on hand-held devices, you need to make it count. This post outlines some other points to consider.
Source: Mark Brownlow, Email Marketing Reports
There’s plenty of great info out there on what to put at the very top of your email: the preheader area which typically features one or two lines of text in small font.
So rather than rewrite the wheel, let me invite you to reflect deeper on how you can use that space better.
The very top of an email matters. It matters a lot.
For example, it caps the preview pane that many people use to assess an email’s worth. And it’s displayed in the actual inbox itself by certain email applications, such as Gmail. So it deserves more thought that we typically give it…
Text alignment
Nearly all preheaders you see come nicely centered on the page. Is that because this brings the best results, or is it simply a nod to tradition or a desire for aesthetic symmetry?
I ask because some email software packages (e.g. Thunderbird) and webmail services (e.g. Windows Live Hotmail) allow recipients to use a vertical preview pane. So the preview displays the left hand side of the email and centered text might fall out of view.
Here’s an Amazon email in a horizontal preview pane:
Here’s the same one in a vertical preview pane:
Note how the two preheader messages don’t appear in the second case.
It certainly seems worth testing different preheader alignments and layouts to check on effectiveness.
Think beyond the “web version” link
The vast majority of preheaders contain only one item: instructions on how to access a web version of the email should the message fail to display properly.
This makes intuitive sense, given the trouble we have with blocked images and a lack of standards in how email software and webmail services handle HTML email.
But, again, is it effective?
Or do we have it there because, well, we’ve always had it there?
The “web version” link in my own newsletter’s preheader typically gets less than ten clicks. Not enough to justify dominating the entire preheader space.
Additional options for the preheader are other functional items, including:
- “Unsubscribe” link
- “Edit preferences” link
- “Forward to a friend” link
- Permission reminder
- A request to “whitelist” the sender (add the sender to the recipient’s address book)
- Link to a mobile version
There are good arguments for each, but functional or administrative information grows stale with time and is easily glossed over.
So how else might you use the preheader?
As Stefan Pollard writes in a detailed introduction to the topic:
“You can use this valuable real estate to build value, interest and excitement in your message”
A strong option for informational newsletters is a quick headline alerting the reader to the mail’s content. Like marketing agency eROI do (note also how this snippet is left-aligned!):
For more promotional emails, consider a quick summary of the offer and a call to action. Bronto’s DJ Waldow writes on this very subject:
“Click-throughs on the clear call-to-action in the preheader have shot through the roof”
The final mix of information / promotion / functionality you use in your preheader depends on your audience and email model, of course.
A preheader needs to be short and succinct, otherwise it becomes the actual message, not the preheader. So cherry pick the options that make most sense to you and experiment.
Fewer words, same impact
The preheader is not the prologue to an 800 page novel. Yet many preheaders read like this:
“If this email does not display properly, then click here to view the web version”
That doesn’t leave much space for anything else. Does it need to be so long? In some cases, where the audience is not particularly web savvy, maybe it does. In others, you can shorten it…
“Email not displaying correctly? Click here“
If your audience is very clued up when it comes to online life, how about just:
“Web version“
The shorter you can keep each preheader element, the more elements you can include. Or the more space you can dedicate to more useful features.
Make changes through time
If you have an established preheader format, nothing says you have to keep this constant through time.
For example, some like to top an email with a reminder of why the recipient is on the list:
“You are getting this email because you signed up for it at the ABC website”
How long do you need to keep that message there? After delivering ten weekly issues to an address, could you move that message to the email’s footer and free up the preheader for more impactful messages?
Perhaps the initial emails to a new recipient can contain that lengthy, but clear, “If this email does not display properly, then click here to view the web version” message.
After, say, the fifth email to that address, might we shorten that message to the simple “web version” link, saving space and attention for other purposes?
Dynamic preheaders?
Advanced email marketing systems change content according to what they know about the recipient. Can we apply the same logic to the preheader?
For example, suppose a reader has one of the common webmail addresses and registered an open on each of the last five emails you sent them. We can assume they have unblocked images for your mails and likely see your message pretty much as you intended.
Might the system tag such individuals and suppress the “if you can’t read this email…” message, releasing the space for something else?
If recipients don’t register an open, might you then insert a “whitelist our address” message in the next email, since appearing in a recipient’s address book commonly means images are then displayed automatically in your emails?
And can you serve a different “whitelist” message depending on the domain of the recipient? So @gmail.com addresses get whitelisting instructions specific to the Gmail webmail interface?
Expand the concept to other emails
If you accept the value of the preheader, why limit this to your standard marketing emails? Why not use preheaders in transactional emails, too?
OK, let’s stop there. I have no evidence to hand that any of the above is yet an established best practice. But all are thoughts worth exploring as you work to optimize that critical piece of email real estate.
Image credit: jscreationzs
You might also like this post: http://blog.mailchimp.com/time-to-reconsider-preheaders/
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posted in: Creative | HTML Creative Best Practices | Targeting & Planning | Testing | Trends Putting Email Creative To The Test
Source: MediaPost : Email Insider
When your current email creative is scoring touchdowns, why would you add a new play into the rotation? Because, most likely, your competition is looking at your game-winning plays and figuring out how to copy them or trump them. And that means you have to evolve your formula and elevate your A-game.
You might want to think about adding a creative A/B test to the list. What’s a creative A/B test? It’s where you pit your current creative (A) against a revamped version (B) to see which one garners the most clicks, opens, sales or whatever your benchmark for success might be.
By testing a new execution before you roll it out to your entire email program, you can identify what works and what doesn’t before you fully commit to something that may not drive results in the end. A simple A/B test is all it takes to pinpoint ways to evolve your design, copy, calls-to-action, links, subject lines and more. Here are four quick tips for successful testing. Add more to the comments section if you have a tried-and-true approach, or a testing triumph or tragedy that you want to share.
Be strategic about your testing. Testing isn’t something you should figure out on the fly. You want to plan for it, both from a business perspective and a creative perspective. Consider sitting down quarterly as a team with your email calendar in hand and planning tests across the three-month period.
Test the same thing multiple times. Flukes happen, so to be sure your new creative is really affecting clicks, test it out a for a full month. That way you get beyond the novelty stage and can start to see for sure if there is a sustained lift.
Keep it simple by choosing one element to test at a time. For example, you might change up the design but keep the content exactly the same. Or vice versa.
Know the potential liabilities. Go into your test with your eyes wide open. If there is potential for a new execution to affect deliverability, pull a small percentage of your list to see what happens. Based on the resu! lts, you can decide whether it makes sense to roll it out to the masses.
Spread the word and share the results. Before you commit to a test, make sure all the key players are on board, from marketing people to creative folks. And once the test is over, be sure to socialize the results within your organization.
Image credit: Idea go
B2B Email Frequency
Many B2B clients wonder at what pace they need to be emailing prospects and clients to really make an impact in their campaigns. This post helps support V12′s stance that it’s all subjective…and here’s why:
Considerations for B2B Email Frequency
Source: Ardath Albee, Marketing Interactions
This is a question that gets asked a lot; How often should we send emails during a nurturing program? And, yep, wait for it — the answer is — it depends.
Here are some of the factors to assess when formulating the answer to the frequency question:
- How long is your buy cycle?
If it’s 8 months, trying to increase the frequency to complete the program in 3 months isn’t going to change that. Buyers will move at their own pace. Fatigue them and lose them. Being uber pushy also results in pushing them away. Instead of trying to use frequency to increase their urgency and momentum – focus on how your content can help do that. Trying to increase your buyers’ momentum with frequency is really a demonstration of your urgency, not theirs. - What volume of content can your resources produce?
If it takes one month to get an article researched, written and to pass muster through the corporate editing process, you need to account for that in relation to the number of resources you can assign to the project. Map your processes to a timeline so that you can meet the frequency schedule you choose to follow. Being able to continuously publish content is important. Better to space it out and do it well than to rush to publish based on an artificial schedule you cannot maintain over the long haul. - How will you publish the content?
Can you publish blind (not on the site navigation) web pages quickly and easily to use their URL links in your emails? Or do you need to wait for two weeks once your content is ready to go for IT to get it loaded and published for you? Or, do you need to publish in PDFs which means more time for production with graphic design and layout? - Who else is emailing to the lead list identified for this program?
Is corporate marketing sending awareness pieces or a company newsletter out once a month? Are your leads also receiving invitations to webinars? What about new product announcements or version releases? What else? Unless you can isolate your targeted lead list, you need to look at the entire universe of email that they could be exposed to from your company and plan accordingly. As I said before – fatigue them and lose them. - Are you able to segment your lists for better personalization or are you still using a one-size-fits-all approach?
If you’re segmenting – bravo! Your frequency should be slower with content offers matched to progression across buying stages based on the specific interests of that segment. Remember that your buyers are just as busy – if not more so – than you are. This said, responding to them when their behavior shows a pick-up in interest should be built into your frequency (touch point) plan.If you’re unable to segment your list, I suggest selecting 3 possible themes/issues that may interest the different segments of your list. Identify the hook quickly so those who aren’t interested can pass until they get an email with higher relevance. With this method, you will have lower response rates because your emails and content will be targeted to a specific segment even if your list is not. But, you’ll have the opportunity to engage those interested in specific topics and can begin to identify with them based upon response. You may also spur pass-along as one lead may share or forward something they know would interest someone else on the buying committee.
This said, don’t start sending like crazy trying to meet all interests at once because you’ll alienate your entire list. Rotate through the themes with one send every 10 days and that way you’ll be delivering something relevant to the interests of your leads at least once per month – even while using one list for all. Not the best approach, but I’ve seen it work when planned well.
There are other things to consider in determining frequency, but I hope this helps you get started. Remember to look at the answers to the question in two ways. The first is related to your internal processes, the second is related to your prospects’ experience.
Frequency affects both sides.
Image credit:Â renjith krishnan
WHITEPAPER: Phishing Facts for Email Marketers
This paper will help marketers better understand ‘phishing’ factors, the risks involved, and how it can impact email campaigns. Email phishing attacks are destructive for everyone, it’s not just the brands (and their customers) who fall victim to this scam…it’s the entire email community who will feel the effects. Click here to download the entire white paper
Image credit: jscreationzs
Gettin’ Granular: Segmenting Your Email Statistics
Source: Tim Falls, Deliverability.com
Statistics are critical to any email campaign, be it bulk or transactional. In order to run efficient and effective campaigns, an organization must have in place some way of gaining insight into how their messages are received and acted upon by their customers and subscribers.
Data such as delivery, open and click rates and number of abuse complaints (spam reports), opt-outs (unsubscribes) and opt-ins, allow a company to analyze performance and act accordingly to optimize their content and other aspects of their emails (e.g., subject lines, headers, from: address, etc). Through calculated optimization of email-specific key performance indicators, a business can maximize its return on investment. After all, email delivery, whether executed in-house or by a third party vendor, can represent a significant operational and/or marketing expense. continue reading »
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posted in: Deliverability | Metrics & Testing | Monitor Delivery | Targeting & Planning | Testing | Why Segment Your List? Email frequency: can you increase it safely?
This week a client was questioning the frequency with which they could send (and then re-send) their email marketing message without hindering performance. V12 recommends a send frequency of 7-10 days to avoid list fatigue and increased complaints to ISPs. This is based on our experience and our overall goal to maintain optimal performance of our email infrastructure. This post gives more concrete evidence as to why marketers should heed this advice for acquisition campaigns and also when you should test outside the norms for your industry.
Source: Mark Brownlow, Email Marketing Reports
Email frequency: can you increase it safely?
As the marketing world (re)discovers email, many people are asking if they can send out more email to keep sales/responses flowing through difficult times.
Experts are skeptical, citing the risks of increased spam complaints, unsubscribes and list fatigue. Short-term response boosts can come at the cost of delivery problems, damage to your brand, and long-term loss of sales/responses.
But is there a way of sending more email without incurring these problems? Is this even the right question to ask? Answers below. First, though, you need to understand three things…read entire post here
Here’ another older post you might enjoy on this topic because the principles still apply today: Balancing Email Frequency
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posted in: HTML Creative Best Practices | Metrics & Testing | Targeting & Planning | Testing Building email subject lines to increase revenue
Subject lines may be the most crucial factor to the success of your email marketing campaigns…they are also easy to change, test and analyze. Building an effective subject line takes effort, patience and creativity. Many marketers spend the bulk of time building the actual look and feel of an email first and then throw together a Subject Line. We suggest you spend the majority of your time building a compelling and RELEVANT subject line first and then design your creative from there. This post outlines the topic of Subject Lines and how to best optimize them for better revenue. You can also download 2 reports below from Epsilon with more detailed information on Subject Lines.
Source: Jim Sinor, Net Imperative
Top tips: Optimising email subject lines to increase revenue
Most commentators will tell you that the subject line of an e-mail is the only part which will be read by the recipient without actually opening the message. But the logical next step is to test, analyse and ultimately optimise this crucial element to improve the performance of e-mail marketing campaigns.
If the recipient doesn’t use a preview pane, the from and subject line are the only elements of your lovingly crafted message that will grab a readers attention and compel them to open the message. Therefore, the subject line has a huge impact on opening rates and campaign performance metrics.
Subject lines should be evocative and compelling, while clearly conveying the content and purpose of the e-mail. Analysis and optimisation of the subject line can lead to better open rates and ultimately higher conversion rates. Simply put, getting the subject line right means more revenue.
So what makes a good subject line?
It is considered best practice to include a unique offer in the main body of any marketing e-mail. Mentioning it in the subject line communicates the value of the message to the recipient and will encourage them to open it. Consumers like getting more than they bargained for.
Try and avoid using words or phrases commonly found in spam such as ‘save now’, ‘special offer’ and ‘free’. This will help ensure your marketing materials, bypass filters, land in inboxes and maximise the chances of catching the consumer’s attention.
It is very important to future deployments that your subject line is not seen as misleading. This could lead to a high opt-out rate among recipients and cause issues with ISPs who may prohibit future mailings.
Try and keep it short. There is still debate over the ideal length for subject lines, but it is acknowledged there is a correlation between low open rates and long subject lines. 55 characters is generally seen as the very top end of the scale, but analysis has shown that anything over 40 characters will see a drop in the open rate.
Turn off caps lock. Most filters will capture and bounce subject lines using excessive capital lettering, and even if this type of e-mail does land in an inbox, research has shown consumers react badly and quickly delete them.
Use numbers. Newspapers and magazines use numbers in headlines to boost sales and this also applies to subject lines. Consumers love lists, such as the ‘Top 10 Bars’ in their city, and this can be used to encourage e-mail recipients to open the message.
Try and personalise the subject line of an e-mail by using data unique to the recipient, the most common example being their name. This practice could backfire if the cleanliness of your customer data is not what it should be. But when done well, it creates an instant connection with the reader and makes a compelling reason to open the message.
Be prepared with fallback entries for fields without complete data. The terms ‘customer’ and ‘member’ are decent fallback entries and should seamlessly fill the gap.
This list is by no means exhaustive and every organisation is different, so none of the guidelines discussed here are set in stone. What works for a retailer won’t necessarily have the same effect for a not-for-profit charity.
How can you identify what works best for you?
Testing, testing and more testing. Testing various options on a segmented database simultaneously is traditionally thought to be the best way to optimise your subject lines. First segment your data; it’s important to do this randomly so that the only variables are the subject lines you’re going to test.
Then apply a subject line to each part of the data, with each subject line utilising a different factor in the tips outlined above. You then deploy, at the same time on the same day, and after 24 hours have a look at your open rates; this will give you an insight into what works best. Perform this exercise regularly, and always try and do things in the testing phase; this way you can keep your initial engagement fresh and your response metrics high.
Read Epsilon’s Published documents on Email Subject Lines here:
Download Part 1: 11 Steps to Subject Line Testing here
Download Part 2: Avoiding 11 Common Pitfalls here
Image Source: jscreationzs
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posted in: Creative | News & Articles | Subject Lines | Testing | Writing Effective Copy Effect of time-of-day on unsubscribe rate
Source: Dan Zarrella, Science of Email Marketing Webinar, HubSpot
Dan Zarrella recently hosted the Science of Email Marketing webinar, view slides and video here. His findings were the result of analyzing over 9.5 billion emails in a recent research project. One common question covered in the research is coincidentally something clients always ask…”What is the effect of time-of-day on unsubscribe rate?” Slide 17 covered this topic (see below) and you can note the 3-4pm lull when most consumers are LESS likely to react to an email. On the flip side, the early morning 5AM-6AM time slots saw a high spike.
It should be noted that there is no right OR wrong time of day but you can use this research as a starting point to test what works for your industry, product, offer, and brand.
Click on the slide below to enlarge
