Best Time to Send Email Blast: A Complete Guide to Optimizing Engagement

Why Timing Matters in Email Marketing

The timing of your email blast impacts whether your audience opens your email or ignores it. 

Factors like your audience’s behavior, time zone, and the nature of your content all play crucial roles. For example, a busy manager might prefer receiving emails during work hours, while a student might check their inbox late at night. Finding the best time to send out email blast involves understanding these nuances and testing your campaigns.

Best Days to Send an Email Blast: When Your Message Gets Noticed

Let’s talk about the days of the week and how they affect email performance. 

The Midweek Magic: Why Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday Win

Most research agrees that Tuesdays and Wednesdays are the best for marketing emails across nearly every industry. Why? By Tuesday, most people have settled into their workweek and are in a rhythm, making it a prime time to grab their attention. Studies show that emails sent on Tuesdays often achieve the highest open rates of the week.

Wednesday is another strong contender. In the midweek, recipients are more focused, and fewer distractions make it easier for your email to stand out.

Handpicked related content: What is Email Deliverability?

Thursday is a "last chance" to reach your audience before the weekend begins. Studies show that campaigns on Thursdays often have high engagement rates, especially for B2B audiences planning their end-of-week tasks.

Mondays and Fridays: Tricky Territory

Have you ever opened your inbox on a Monday morning and been overwhelmed by the sheer number of messages? People are busy catching up from the weekend, and your email might get buried under a mountain of unread messages. That’s precisely why Monday isn’t typically a great day to send an email blast. 

Friday isn’t much better for most industries. Many people are mentally checking out or wrapping up their workweek by Friday. For B2B email campaigns, this often means your message goes unopened as people shift their focus to the weekend. However, certain B2C emails—like last-minute sales or weekend event promotions—can perform well if sent earlier in the day.

The Weekends: Unpredictable

Weekends can be surprisingly effective for B2C campaigns targeting consumers in their downtime. E-commerce brands running flash sales or event invitations often see spikes in engagement on Saturday mornings or Sunday evenings when people are relaxing and casually checking their emails.

On the other hand, B2B campaigns tend to struggle on weekends. Business professionals are typically unplugged, and your carefully crafted message may sit unopened until Monday morning—or worse, get overlooked entirely.

Testing and Flexibility

Your audience is unique. Studies give average performance results for email lists that might differ from yours. Test, test, and test campaign data to find the ideal time for your industry and audience. Whether it’s a Tuesday morning or a Saturday sale push, the key is experimenting, learning, and adapting.

Handpicked Related Content: 5 Examples of Email Workflow Automation: Practical Tips and Best Practices

Best Times to Send an Email Blast: Timing Your Message for Maximum Impact

What is the best time of day to send email blast​? While the perfect timing depends on your audience and industry, there are some general trends to know:

The Prime Time: Late Morning

By 10 am, most people have completed tasks of their early morning priorities and are settling into work. It’s typically a calm period in a daily routine. This email timing works best for the B2B sector, where professionals are likely at their desks. 

Early Morning

People usually check their first emails between 6 and 8 a.m. Provide them with some leisurely content, as they might check emails on their way to work or while having their morning coffee. 

Handpicked related content: Mastering Email Blasts: When to Use Them and How to Get Results

Evenings

It might work better for B2C campaigns. 8-11 p.m. could be a good time, as people might check their emails while relaxing. The best-performing topics could be leisure, lifestyle, music, events, and self-care.

Overnight

2-6 am. Is this an option to consider? Yes, if we are talking about global audiences or high-volume campaigns such as a flash sale of an e-commerce brand. Sending emails during off-peak hours can also help reduce spam complaints by staggering daily attention. 

Best Practices for Optimizing Email Send Times

1. Tailor timing to your audience. Consider how B2B audiences differ from B2C in their habits. For instance, B2B audiences are more active during traditional work hours, while B2C consumers might engage more in the evenings or weekends.
2. Leverage data and benchmarks. Studies show that the average email open rate across industries is 20.94%. Use this benchmark to evaluate your campaigns. Plus, examine your email marketing platform's analytics to spot trends.
3. Test, test, and test again. A/B testing is your best friend when optimizing the best day time to send email blast. Test variations like morning versus evening send, weekdays versus weekends, and specific time blocks (e.g., the start of the workday vs. after lunch). Automate testing with tools that adjust send times and days based on real-time engagement metrics.
4. Consider the time zones—send your email according to the recipient’s local time zone. Use tools like Marcom Robot Automation Platform to automatically schedule emails based on the recipient's local time zone. 
5. Send at "odd" times. Avoid typical schedule at the top or the bottom of the hour, like 10:00 a.m. Aim for offbeat times to send emails like 10:07 a.m. to stand out in crowded inboxes. 

With Marcom Robot marketing automation software, small businesses can leverage the same powerful marketing tools as larger enterprises without breaking the budget. ‍Activate Your Free Plan

Tailoring Timing to Your Industry

Different industries have unique patterns when it comes to email engagement. Here are some examples:

• E-commerce: shopping when it’s convenient. If you’re in e-commerce, weekends are often your golden window. Most consumers finally have some downtime, making it the perfect moment to browse and buy. Studies show that shopping spikes on Saturday mornings and Sunday evenings. Consider scheduling promotional emails early on Saturday mornings, say 9:00 a.m., to catch those eager shoppers before their day begins. For flash sales, Sunday evenings (around 7:00 p.m.) can be a winner as people wind down and prep for the week ahead.
• SaaS and B2B: workweek warriors. SaaS and B2B professionals tend to open and engage with emails during typical office hours when they’re already in work mode. Mid-morning on a Tuesday or Wednesday, around 10:00 a.m., is prime time. Mondays are often chaotic as people catch up after the weekend, and Fridays can be a wash as minds drift toward the weekend. Decision-makers like managers or executives might prefer earlier sends (e.g., 9:00 a.m.), while IT professionals might engage better later in the day (e.g., 2:00 p.m.).
• ‍Education: late-night learners. Students are a different audience—and their email habits reflect their busy, often unconventional schedules. Late at night is when many students finally get a breather from classes, work, or extracurriculars. Emails sent between 8:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m. are more likely to grab their attention. If you’re targeting students, ensure your emails are mobile-friendly, as most students check their inboxes on their phones.
• Healthcare and wellness: early birds. Healthcare providers, fitness centers, and wellness brands often benefit from early morning sends. This is when people are focused on planning their day or making healthier choices. Sending times at 6 or 7 a.m. ensures your email is one of the first things they see.
• Media and entertainment: weekend or primetime. For media outlets, entertainment companies, or streaming services, evening sends often work best. This is when people are unwinding.

Handpicked related content: Top Email Personalization Strategies: Boost Engagement & ROI

Monitoring Results and Adapting

Once you’ve determined an initial email strategy, continuously analyze the results to refine your timing. Key metrics to monitor include:

• Open rates: Indicates how well your timing resonates with your audience.
• Click-through rates: Measures the effectiveness of your content and timing.
• Conversion rates: Tracks how well recipients are following through on your calls-to-action.

For long-term success, revisit historical data, take an A/B test frequently, and adapt as audience behaviors evolve.

Automate Your Email Marketing with Marcom Robot

Services like the Marcom Robot Automation Platform allow you to implement email marketing strategies quickly while tracking the performance of each campaign. Start with its Free Plan to get access to all Marcom Robot features and use it for as long as you want.