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You hear people say that there's a science behind finding the right time to send an email to ensure engagement—and they're right.

There is A LOT of conflicting data about when the best day/time is for sending out emails, which should come as no surprise. However, after comparing data sets from Moosend, CampaignMonitor, GetResponse,  Coschedule, and Wordstream, here is what we found across the board (B2B and B2C):

• Tuesdays and Thursdays have the highest open rate

• Saturday has the lowest average open rate for B2B, but one of the highest for B2C

• The sweet spot for delivery time is between 8-9 am (open rate of 21%), 1-2 pm (open rate of 22%), or 5-6 pm (open rate of 21%)

• Emails sent after 6 pm decline in open rates

• Monthly emails have the highest open rates, followed closely by weekly

These stats cover many industries, so it's essential to keep that in mind.

Demographics

When you send will also depend on your audience. If you are reaching an older demographic or those you work your typical 9-5, sticking to the 8-9 am schedule is a given. If you reach out to a younger demographic, like college students or young professionals, sending an email around noon or 1 pm is a better fit.

Pro Tip: If possible, use your CRM to send your emails based on the recipient's time zone to ensure they receive them during the ideal window of time where they are in the world.

Industries

Open rates will be affected based on if you are a B2B or B2C business and your industry. Here are just a few examples:

• Healthcare Services - 21% open rate, 8.94% CTR

• Telecommunications - 21% open rate, 7.11% CTR

• Retail - 23% open rate, 8.53% CTR

• Financial - 23% open rate, 6.82% CTR

• Manufacturing - 23% open rate, 9.31% CTR

• Education - 25% open rate, 7.49% CTR

• Real Estate and Construction - 26%, 7.17% CTR

The average across all industries is around 20-21%, and the average CTR is 7.8%.

CampaignMonitor noted that your optimal email campaign engagement days are different depending on your industry. For example:

• Advertising and Marketing Agencies: Tuesdays

• Education: Sundays

• Healthcare Services: Wednesdays

• Travel, Hospitality, and Leisure: Tuesdays

• Food and Beverage: Wednesdays

A surprising statistic for B2C is that the best time to send an email is on Saturday at midnight. Who knew?

Design

It's not just about timing, though: you also want to ensure that the format of your email is engaging enough to convert once it's opened.

75% of all emails in the US get opened on portable devices like smartphones. With that in mind, you'll want to make sure your email format is responsive and mobile-friendly, with minimal scrolling needed for the most critical information.

Scheduling By Industry

After breaking it down and comparing the data, here are our recommendations for the best time to send an email in 2022 for maximum engagement.

• Ecommerce: 10 am on Thursday or Friday

• Telecommunications: 2-3 pm on Monday or Tuesday

• Marketing Services: 4 pm on Tuesday

• Hospitality/Food & Beverage: 8-10 am on Wednesday

• Professional Services (B2B): 8-10 am on Tuesday or Friday

• Nonprofits: 3-4 pm on Friday

After going through all that data, we'd like to leave you with just a few tips to keep in mind as you plan your next email campaign:

• try not to send any emails early in the morning or after office hours

• avoid sending emails on weekends unless you're retail

• best days to send are Tuesdays and Thursdays

• the ideal window of delivery time should be between 9 am - 3 pm depending on your industry

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