The Best Time To Send Cold Emails in 2024 for Maximum Open Rates
Increase the effectiveness of your cold email strategy by sending it at the right time. Find out the best times to send cold emails in this guide.
Sending cold email at the right time can significantly boost your chances of success. Knowing the best time to send cold emails can help you increase open rates, click-through rates, and response rates. Cold emails can be random or timed to be sent at an optimal time. I'll be sharing effective timing strategies for cold emails that can help you win over more clients. Let's dive in.
Why Finding the Best Time to Send Cold Emails Matters
Getting the timing right when it comes to sending cold emails is crucial. Statistics show that poor timing can significantly impact your email open rates. For instance, Hubspot reports that 47.9% of B2B marketers engage most with emails between 9 AM and 12 PM.
Similarly, 30.9% of B2C marketers reported peak engagement during the same time frame. If you miss the window of opportunity to engage with your audience, your emails might end up being ignored, marked as spam, or even damage your reputation as a sender.
Email Marketing: The Perfect Blend of Art and Science
Email marketing continues to be a powerful tool in the age of video content and reels. According to Hubspot, 85.4% of marketers use automation as part of their email marketing tactics. If you are not leveraging automated email marketing, you might be left behind as your competitors are most likely using these tools.
Automated email marketing can significantly improve sales conversions, sometimes by as much as 14%. These automated campaigns allow you to send personalized and unique offers to your subscribers, making them feel valued and increasing the chances of engagement and conversions.
How to Determine the Best Time to Send Cold Emails
When it comes to the best time to send cold emails, I’ve learned that it’s important to avoid relying solely on other people’s data. The main reason is that what works for one person, or even 100 people, may not work for you. The best approach is to test for yourself and see what works best based on your audience. You see, each list is different. And not only who is on the list, but also how they got there. If you have a list of people who are your ideal customers, but they didn’t sign up to get your emails, you’ll likely have a different performance than someone with a list of people who actually signed up to receive emails from them. My advice is to take what people say with a grain of salt. Try it, but then try other times as well. You might be surprised what actually works best for your audience.
Early Morning Isn't Always Best
It’s commonly thought that sending cold emails early in the morning is best because they’ll be at the top of the inbox when someone checks their email. But here’s the thing: People have gotten smart to this tactic, and now everyone is doing it. This means your email has a higher chance of getting lost in the inbox (or in the Promotions tab). I like to take a contrarian view and send emails around 10am-11am. That’s because people have already gone through their emails for the morning and are likely working on something. If your email comes through and they’re taking a break, they’ll be more likely to open it.
Post-Lunch Safe Bet
Another good time I like to experiment with is around 1-2pm. This is because people are back from lunch but get into that afternoon lull. If you’re not the first email they get after lunch, you’re likely going to be the break they take as they transition into the afternoon. And the same goes for 3-4pm, as they’re wrapping up their day and might be looking for a break.
Weekdays vs. Weekends
If you’re sending promotional emails, I’ve found weekends to be hit or miss. Everyone thinks weekends are less crowded, and they are. But they’re also less crowded because people aren’t as interested in emails from companies on the weekends. In general, weekend emails should be your lowest priority for sending. If weekends are your best days, you likely want to find out why your audience is different and act accordingly. And again, it matters how you got the email in the first place.
Tuesday is the New Friday
If you want to optimize your sending, Tuesday is your best day for cold emails. Generally speaking, people are back into the swing of things on Tuesday and are looking to catch up. They’ve gone through their emails from the weekend and are looking for things to do. Tuesday is also a good day to send because you’re giving them time to digest your email and make a decision before the weekend.
Industry-Specific Insights
The best times for sending will vary based on your industry. For example, I’ve found that sending emails for a B2B product works best in the morning because people are at their desks, catching up on emails. If you’re selling a consumer product, you might want to wait until the afternoon when people are more likely to be taking a break. This is another reason it’s important to test different times. For me, if I send a B2B email in the afternoon, it performs worse than in the morning. But a consumer email in the morning doesn’t perform as well. The key is to test, analyze and then test some more.
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How Times Zones Determine the Best Time to Send Cold Emails
One of the main challenges in email marketing is optimizing send times across multiple time zones. No matter how hard you try, some of your recipients will receive your email at night if you have an international email list, whatever time you select. This can lead to your email being ignored, as it might get buried under a pile of other emails by morning.
Sending cold emails very late at night or early in the morning can also be advantageous. By avoiding competition during the day, you might find that your emails have a higher chance of being opened and read when your recipients start their day.
Timezone-Based Email Sending for Improved Engagement
Implementing a "Timezone Optimized" Blast can help solve the challenge of sending cold emails across various time zones. This feature is designed to divide your email list down by each user's estimated time zone and then send your email at your preferred time in their timezone. This personalized approach can ensure that your email lands in your recipient's inbox at a time when they are most likely to open it.
Effective Send Time Optimization
Recommendations for improving send time optimization include automated staggered sending based on time zones and using heat maps to visualize peak engagement periods globally. By analyzing recipient engagement data, you can identify the best times to send emails to different time zones. This ensures that each recipient has a higher chance of opening and engaging with your emails, regardless of their location.
Leveraging AI for Send Time Optimization in Email Campaigns
Send Time Optimization (STO) is an AI-driven add-on for your email campaigns, which analyzes the email responses of every recipient in relation to the campaign launch time, and then sends the next email at the optimal time for them.
Supercharge your cold email creation and sending process with Leap AI for maximum open rate with AI Workflows.
Beyond Timing: Boosting Open Rates Holistically
One crucial aspect when sending cold emails is to ensure that you’re sending them to verified email addresses. This crucial step can make or break the success of your email campaign. A clean email list is the foundation for successful cold email outreach. The quality of your email list is as important as the timing of your email.
While it’s tempting to amass a massive list, quality is more important than quantity. Instead of sending to a large list and hoping for a few hits, your goal should be high engagement. Sending emails to unverified addresses will result in a higher bounce rate and lower overall engagement.
Catchy Subject Lines: Reel in Your Prospect’s Attention
Regardless of the time you choose to send your cold email, the subject line is the first thing your prospect will see. If it doesn’t catch their attention, they won’t open your email. Redefine your subject lines and don’t be afraid to get creative. A little alliteration or humor can go a long way in making your cold email stand out. Think of it as a decoding game—entice your reader to unlock your message.
Dodge Spam Filters: Maintain High Deliverability Rates
Avoid over-sensationalizing and over-promising in your cold email outreach efforts. Refrain from using strange fonts or formatting to stand out. Spam filters are sophisticated and can identify spammy emails. By dodging spam filters, you can maintain high deliverability rates for your cold email campaigns.
Always Add Value: Stand Out by Providing Value
When considering opening your cold email, prospects will ask themselves, “What’s in it for me?” Your subject line and the content within your email should communicate value to your prospects. By always adding value to your cold emails, you can stand out from other emails that focus on the sender rather than the recipient. Choose a clear, actionable, and concise value proposition to highlight in your cold emails.
AI Workflows: Supercharge Your Cold Email Strategy
Leap helps you to automate your work with the power of AI. Partnered with Zapier, Vercel, and more, Leap enables you to supercharge your work by allowing you to create custom AI automations. Create sophisticated AI automations with no-code. Connect the tools you love with best-in-class AI text, image, and audio models.
Supercharge your existing tools with seamless AI integrations to OpenAI, Microsoft, and more. From summarizing documents, to voice translation, to AI call transcription, to AI avatar and asset generation, to SEO automation, to even automating the cold email creation and sending process, automate anything with Leap Workflows. The opportunities for automation are endless with Leap workflows.
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- Cold Email Tips
- Cold Email Follow Up
- Best Subject Line For Cold Emails
- Cold Email To Potential Client
- How Long Should A Cold Email Be
- Cold Email Conversion Rate
- How Many Cold Emails To Send Per Day
- Cold Email Sequence
- Cold Email Best Practices
- Cold Email Lead Generation
- Personalized Cold Email Examples
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Is There a Universal Best Time to Send Cold Emails?
The notion of a universal "best time" to send cold emails is a myth. What works for one audience, region, or industry may not work for another. It's essential to remember that email timing best practices are not static; they constantly evolve as user habits change. As a result, what worked yesterday may not work today. Therefore, it's crucial to engage in continuous testing, learning, and iteration to optimize your cold email strategy.
The Importance of Continuous Testing and Learning
The key to success in email marketing lies in continuous testing and learning. By experimenting with different send times, subject lines, and email content, you can gather valuable data about what resonates best with your audience. This information allows you to refine your approach and improve the effectiveness of your cold email campaigns.
Email marketing is not a one-size-fits-all endeavor. What works for one company may not work for another. By continuously testing and learning, you can identify the best strategies for your particular audience and industry.
Parting Actionable Advice: Test, Learn, and Iterate
To optimize your cold email campaigns, adopt a mindset of constant experimentation. Test different send times, subject lines, and email content to gauge what resonates best with your audience. Keep track of your results, analyze the data, and use your findings to refine your approach.
By embracing a culture of continuous testing, learning, and iteration, you can unlock the full potential of your email marketing efforts. What works today may not work tomorrow. Stay nimble, be open to change, and always be ready to adapt your strategy based on new insights.
Leap helps you to automate your work with the power of AI
Partnered with Zapier, Vercel, and more, Leap enables you to supercharge your work by allowing you to create custom AI automations. Create sophisticated AI automations with no-code. Connect the tools you love with best-in-class AI text, image, and audio models.
Supercharge your existing tools with seamless AI integrations to OpenAI, Microsoft, and more. From summarizing documents, to voice translation, to AI call transcription, to AI avatar and asset generation, to SEO automation, to even automating the cold email creation and sending process, automate anything with Leap Workflows. The opportunities for automation are endless with Leap workflows.
Try Leap’s AI Workflows tool for free today.
Create and Send Perfect Cold Emails With Leap's AI Workflows Tool
When it comes to sending cold emails, timing is everything. Knowing when to send your emails can greatly impact your response rate.
Morning Hours Are Ideal
Sending cold emails during the morning hours is generally considered the best time. This is when people are most likely to open their emails, as they are just starting their workday. By sending your emails early in the morning, you increase the chances of them being seen and responded to.
Mondays are Not the Best
Although Mondays are typically busy days for most people, they are not the best days to send cold emails. People are usually catching up on emails from the weekend and getting organized for the week ahead. Sending cold emails on Mondays may not yield the desired results.
Mid-Week is Optimal
Sending cold emails on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, or Thursdays tend to be the most effective. These days are right in the middle of the workweek and not as chaotic as Mondays or Fridays. People are settled into their routines and more likely to respond to emails during these days.
Afternoons Are Also Good
While mornings are generally considered the best time to send cold emails, afternoons are also a good alternative. Afternoons are when people are usually more relaxed and have some time to dedicate to reading and responding to emails. So, sending cold emails in the afternoons can also lead to positive outcomes.
Fridays Should Be Avoided
Fridays are usually not the best day to send cold emails. People tend to wind down towards the end of the workweek, and your email might get lost in the shuffle. Many people leave work earlier on Fridays or take time off, so your email might go unnoticed.
Weekends Are a No-Go
Weekends are generally not ideal for sending cold emails. People are usually away from their work email and focused on personal activities. Sending cold emails on weekends may not receive the attention you desire. The best time to send cold emails is during the morning hours on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, or Thursdays. These days and times have shown to have the highest response rates and are likely to yield positive results.
