Did you know that Tuesday is the best day to send newsletters? The data doesn’t lie – this day has the highest open and conversion rates, making it the ideal choice for your email marketing campaigns.
However, each day of the week performs differently. While Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays show excellent results, Mondays, Fridays and weekends have a significantly lower performance. In terms of time of day, the period between 10:00 and 14:00 is positioned as the most effective, although it is curious that emails sent at 8:00 in the morning achieved the highest open rate (20.32%) according to a study carried out on 2 billion emails.
Remember that choosing the right time can make the difference between your message getting attention or going completely unnoticed. For B2B companies, for example, emails are primarily viewed during business hours Monday through Friday, while in the eCommerce sector, the highest volume of purchases is concentrated around 8:00 pm.
In this article you will learn the best day to send newsletters, discover the most effective time slots and we will show you the keys to find the perfect moment to connect with your audience. Do you want to improve your open rates and maximize the performance of your campaigns?
Why does the day and time of shipment matter?
The exact time you send your emails can determine the success or failure of your entire email marketing strategy. When you select the right day and time, you significantly increase the chances that your message will be seen, opened and generate the desired action from your recipients.
Impact on open and click-through rates
The choice of the optimal time to send your newsletter directly affects two fundamental metrics: the open rate and the click-through rate. These indicators are essential to measure the initial effectiveness of any campaign.
In theory, if you send an email just before your recipients check their inbox, your message will appear at the top, making it more visible and increasing the probability of interaction. Remember that the inbox is often cluttered, and emails that appear first get better interaction than those that are relegated further down.
User behavior studies show that the probability of an email being opened is highly dependent on the time and day of receipt. For example:
- Mailings sent early in the morning tend to have higher open rates because they coincide with the routine of many people checking their mail at the start of the day.
- Tuesdays show higher open rates compared to other days, reaching up to 30% when sent on a weekly basis.
- Weekdays (Tuesday through Thursday) generally get better results because users are already settled into their work routine.
Recent studies indicate that Monday is the day with the highest average open rate, reaching 42.61%, since many people check their email at the beginning of the work week. However, other analyses contradict this data, indicating that on Mondays the mailbox is usually saturated after the weekend.
On the other hand, emails sent mid-morning (around 10:00) achieve not only high open rates, but also high click-through rates. This may be because it is a time when many users take short breaks and are more willing to interact with non-essential content.
How it influences the final conversion
The timing of sending not only affects opens and clicks, but also directly impacts the final conversion, which is the ultimate goal of any email marketing campaign.
If you send your emails in inappropriate time slots, such as during peak business hours, your audience won’t have time to read the email or click on those strategically designed buttons. Keep in mind that the ultimate goal is to convert readers into leads or close sales, a process that requires time to fill out forms or browse product pages.
Timing can make the difference between capturing the recipient’s attention or losing it completely. While content and design are essential, the time at which the message arrives has a major influence on its effectiveness.
By sending emails at the optimal time, you ensure that they arrive in inboxes when they are most likely to be seen, rather than getting lost in a sea of emails. Consequently, this translates into higher open rates and thus a higher likelihood of achieving the desired conversion.
In short, timing is crucial in email marketing. An email sent at the right time can make the difference between an immediate success and a message lost among dozens of notifications, directly impacting the ROI of your campaigns.
Best days to send a newsletter
“Mondays and Fridays are not exactly the best days for sending newsletters.”
– Plonik Team, Experts in digital marketing and email marketing
“Mondays and Fridays are not exactly the best days for sending newsletters.”
– Plonik Team, Experts in digital marketing and email marketing
When planning your email marketing campaigns, choosing the right day can make the difference between success and failure. Numerous studies have analyzed user behavior and identified clear patterns about the best days to send newsletters.
Tuesday: the most effective day
Tuesday stands out as the star day for sending newsletters. Most analyses agree that this day is the most effective, with the highest open and conversion rates in practically all sectors. Why does Tuesday work so well? Mainly for three reasons:
- Users have already overcome Monday’s initial chaos and are more settled in their work routine.
- Have had time to organize your inbox after the weekend
- Greater willingness to review non-urgent mails
Tuesday is the ideal time to capture the attention of your audience, especially if you send your newsletter early in the morning (before 8-9 am) or in the early afternoon (between 2 and 4 pm). During these times, recipients tend to spend more time reviewing their emails at a leisurely pace.
Wednesday and Thursday: good alternatives
Wednesday and Thursday are excellent alternatives to Tuesday. Wednesday, although for some people it represents the busiest working day, shows open rates of over 41%. We recommend using this day particularly for newsletters that promote weekend offers or events, especially if your target audience are thoughtful shoppers.
Thursday, along with Tuesday, is consistently recommended by experts. Opening rates soar precisely on Thursdays, with good results in virtually all sectors. However, you should keep in mind that:
- Thursday is already widely known as an effective day, which increases competition in the inbox.
- It is preferable to send informative newsletters first thing in the morning.
- For commercial content, it is best to avoid the afternoon slot.
If you plan to send two newsletters a week, the Tuesday-Thursday combination is especially effective.
Avoid Mondays, Fridays and weekends
Although Monday shows an average open rate of 42.61% according to some studies, most experts recommend avoiding it. On the first day of the week, users are mainly:
- Planning your work week
- Catching up on emails accumulated over the weekend
- Less responsive to non-urgent mail
Regarding Friday, people are generally already tired of reading new mailings and more focused on the impending weekend. However, it can be effective for one-off promotions or weekend events, especially if you send the newsletter early (between 7:00-8:00) targeting compulsive shoppers.
As for Saturdays and Sundays, these days have the lowest participation rates. Most users do not check emails during the weekend, dedicating this time to personal and family activities. Saturday, in particular, shows the lowest average open rate of the whole week (41.17%).
All in all, Tuesday is still the best day to send newsletters according to most studies, followed by Thursday and Wednesday as highly effective alternatives. But what is the best time to send these mailings? Let’s look at the most effective time slots.
What is the best time to send newsletters?
“If you have to send it this day do it first thing in the morning, before 8 or 9 a.m. or last thing, between 2 and 4 p.m.”
– Plonik Team, Experts in digital marketing and email marketing.
Once you have identified the ideal day to send your newsletter, the next step is to determine the exact time to send it. Remember that the time you choose can be the difference between your emails being seen or being buried among dozens of messages in the inbox.
Between 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m.
The data is clear: the most effective time slot for sending newsletters is between 10:00 and 14:00. During this period, open and click-through rates are at their highest. Let’s analyze each time in detail:
- 10:00-11:00: This is considered the “golden hour” for mailings. Why? Because most people have already gone through the first hour’s urgent mailings and have time to explore content they find interesting.
- 12:00-14:00: The lunch break is another particularly favorable time, especially for B2C audiences. Many users take advantage of this break to check their personal emails while eating.
- 15:00: The most recent studies indicate that this time shows the best engagement in both open and click-through rates.
The success of these schedules lies in the fact that they coincide with times when people, although they are in the middle of their work, can take short breaks to check their e-mail.
Avoid late at night or very early hours.
On the other hand, we recommend that you avoid certain times that have proven to be ineffective. Mailings sent after 22:00 are less likely to be seen and tend to be relegated to the inbox until the next day.
Surprisingly enough, the highest open rates are recorded first thing in the morning (before 6:00). However, this data can be misleading – many users quickly check their email when they wake up but do not interact deeply with the content.
An interesting fact: the highest click-through rates occur after 18:00, almost doubling those generated during the morning. This tells us that while openings may occur early, the real interaction tends to happen in the evening hours.
Consider the time zone of your audience
One aspect that many marketers often overlook is the time zone. If your subscriber list includes people from different parts of the world, scheduling mailings based on their geographic location is critical.
For example, if you set up a campaign to be sent at 10:00, ideally it should arrive at 10:00 in each recipient’s time zone. Otherwise, some might receive your newsletter in the middle of the night, which is obviously not the ideal situation.
For global audiences, you have mainly two options:
- Segment your mailings according to the geographic location of your contacts
- Use email marketing tools that allow you to program mailings adapted to each time zone.
This time zone delivery feature is only available if you schedule your campaign at least 24 hours in advance, but it ensures that your message arrives at the optimal time for each user, maximizing your chances of success.
Differences between B2B and B2C audiences
Knowing your audience in depth is essential to optimize the timing of your newsletters. Did you know that effective strategies vary significantly depending on whether you are targeting other companies (B2B) or end consumers (B2C)? Let’s analyze these differences that can determine the success of your campaigns.
Working hours vs. free time
For B2B audiences, business hours make a difference. The best results are obtained between 10:00 and 16:00, with the 15:00-16:00 time slot being particularly effective for capturing attention before the end of the day. On the other hand, for B2C audiences, more flexible times such as early mornings (6:00-8:00) and after 18:00 work better.
If you send newsletters to companies, we recommend sending them during office hours. On the other hand, for end customers, it is better to send them during lunchtime or right after the end of the working day. This is because consumers tend to check their personal e-mails in their free time, while professionals do it as part of their work tasks.
Different reading behaviors
In the B2B environment, the aim is generally to foster long-term loyalty in order to establish lasting business relationships. In contrast, B2C email marketing tends to focus on triggering an immediate purchase.
The data doesn’t lie: 84% of people spend less than 10 minutes a day reading newsletters, which makes it even more important to correctly segment by audience type. Professionals in B2B environments check their emails as part of their daily tasks, particularly early in the morning, while B2C consumers show more flexibility and tend to check their personal emails during breaks or in their free time.
Segmentation by mail type
The B2B contact list usually consists of customers, suppliers and company contacts, often with corporate domains. Meanwhile, B2C audiences mostly use services such as Gmail or Hotmail. This difference is important to avoid spam filters.
Remember that 74% of respondents use their primary email to subscribe to newsletters, but you must consider that consumption patterns differ significantly. Therefore, segmentation is key: divide your list considering whether it is a B2B or B2C customer, industry, region, working hours and demographic factors. By doing so, you will be able to determine more precisely which is the best day to send newsletters to each specific segment.
How to find your best day and time
Beyond what the general statistics say, you need to find out when your specific audience is most receptive. Industry data provides a good starting point, but finding the perfect time to send your newsletters requires experimentation and systematic analysis.
Perform A/B tests with your list
To identify the optimal sending time, A/B testing is essential. For example, you can send your newsletter on Tuesday at 11:00 a.m. and compare it with another mailing on Thursday of the following week at the same time. Remember that to obtain reliable results, you should carry out these tests during periods without vacations or special dates.
One strategy we recommend is to split your subscriber list and send your campaign to half on Tuesdays and the other half on Thursdays. You can also experiment with different times within the same day to discover when your audience shows the most interaction. This method, similar to a controlled scientific experiment, will provide you with objective data about the real preferences of your contacts.
Analyze results by segment
During your analysis, it is essential to examine data by specific segments. Keep in mind that cultural differences significantly influence email usage habits, so analyze your results by considering the geographic location of your subscribers.
Use tools such as the campaign comparator available on email marketing platforms to compare historical results for each indicator. These features show you both percentages and absolute figures, allowing you to sort data by campaign, date or specific metrics for a more complete view.
Adjusts according to actual behavior
With the data you have collected, adjust your strategy according to the actual behavior observed in your subscribers. Did you know that some platforms offer intelligent delivery systems that automatically optimize the delivery schedule for each subscriber according to their previous interaction?
For certain niche markets, sending at later times can be surprisingly effective. So, although general statistics point to Tuesday as the best day to send newsletters, your specific audience may be more receptive at completely different times.
Don’t forget that the moments of maximum opening do not always coincide with those of maximum click or conversion. To get a complete picture, complement your analysis with data from other tools such as Google Analytics, which will help you identify the busiest days and the most visited content.
Conclusion
The exact time to send your newsletters largely determines the success of your campaigns. Although Tuesday stands out as the best day to send newsletters, with higher open rates and higher engagement, you should not forget that each audience has unique characteristics that require personalized attention.
Time slots between 10:00 and 14:00 offer the best opportunities to capture the attention of your subscribers. However, remember that these patterns vary significantly between B2B and B2C audiences. Segmentation, therefore, becomes your best ally to optimize results.
To maximize the effectiveness of your campaigns, we recommend that you systematically implement A/B tests. These will allow you to discover the specific ideal moment for your audience, beyond the general statistics. In addition, an email verifier is an essential tool to ensure that your messages arrive in real, active inboxes, considerably increasing your open rates and preventing your efforts from being wasted on invalid or abandoned addresses.
Continuous analysis of results by specific segments will help you to progressively refine your strategy. In the end, finding the best time to connect with your audience is not an exact science, but a process of constant improvement based on real data.
Want to see significant improvements in your campaigns? Start experimenting today with different days and times for your mailings, apply the recommendations in this article and watch your open and conversion rates improve dramatically. Consistency and methodical analysis, along with proper verification tools, will transform your email marketing strategy into a truly effective communication channel with your audience.
FAQs
Q1. What is the best day of the week to send a newsletter?
Tuesday is generally considered the most effective day to send newsletters, with the highest open and conversion rates. Wednesdays and Thursdays are also good alternatives.
Q2. What is the optimal time to send a newsletter?
The most effective time slot for sending newsletters is between 10:00 and 14:00. Specifically, the period from 10:00 to 11:00 is considered the “golden time” for sending, since most people have already checked their urgent emails.
Q3. How does the timing of delivery affect open and click-through rates?
The timing of sending significantly influences open and click-through rates. Emails sent at the right time are more likely to be viewed and opened, increasing interaction and potential conversions.
Q4. Are there differences in sending newsletters to B2B and B2C audiences?
Yes, there are notable differences. For B2B audiences, the best results are obtained during working hours (10:00-16:00), while for B2C audiences, more flexible times such as early mornings (6:00-8:00) and after 18:00 work better.
Q5. How can I determine the best time to send my newsletter?
To find the optimal time, it is advisable to perform A/B tests with your subscriber list, analyze the results by specific segments and adjust your strategy according to the actual behavior of your audience. Some platforms offer intelligent delivery systems that automatically optimize the delivery schedule.
