Data-driven email marketing: How creators can adapt the best time to send newsletters for their business

You put a lot of effort into your newsletters.

You fret over the right design to use. You take your time picking the right headline. You stress over every word in the welcome email. You worry about the right time to send.

But email timing is all about knowing your audience.

And while there are some rules of thumb to help guide you, specifics are better. The more you know about who you’re targeting, where they live, and what they expect when they sign up, the more you’ll master the art of timing.

Strike while the inbox is hot: Why email timing is key

When you send your email matters because you need to maximize the chances your audience sees it without competing for their attention.

If you send your email when subscribers are away from their inboxes for a while, your message will be buried beneath their other messages.

But if you send your newsletter when everyone else is, you minimize the chance of standing out.

Unveiling the findings on the ideal timing to distribute email newsletters

How we arrived at our results on optimal newsletter timing

Original research is a great starting point, but that’s still limited to a single set of senders. So, to determine the best time to send an email, we analyzed data from eight different sources to get a good mix of email marketing representation.

Here are the data sources we considered to determine the best email send time:

1. Kit – 2023 email marketing stats (original research)
2. Litmus – email engagement trends (original research)
3. Omnisend – 2019-2021 email analysis (original research)
4. Klaviyo – email engagement throughout the year (original research)
5. Sendinblue – best time to send a newsletter (original research)
6. Brevo – best time to send an email by industry (original research)
7. Salesforce – best time to send an email (original research)
8. GetResponse – email marketing benchmarks (original research)

The best day to send your newsletter blast (based on open rates): Tuesday

Tuesday is the best day to send your newsletter blast for the highest open rates. Here’s what original research from different sources found:

• Kit: Tuesday is the most popular day to send emails, followed by Wednesday. Sunday and Monday are the least popular days.
• Omnisend: Tuesday newsletters have the highest open rates, while Friday email blasts have the highest conversions.
• Brevo: Emails sent on Tuesday or Thursday have the highest open rates.
• Salesforce: Open rates are the highest midweek from Tuesday to Thursday.
• GetResponse: Open rates peak on Tuesday, but Friday is a close second.

The best time to send your newsletters (based on open rates): 10 AM

The best time to send your newsletter blast for the highest open rates is around 10 AM local time. Here’s what original research from different sources found:

• Litmus: 10 AM emails have the highest open rates in the UK, Germany, Canada, and Spain. 11 AM is the most popular open time in the United States and Australia.
• Omnisend: Email open rates peak at 8 AM, 2 PM, and 5 PM.
• Klaviyo: Most emails are sent in the afternoon, which means morning is a popular but less crowded time slot.
• Sendinblue: Open rates are highest between 8 AM and 11 AM.
• Brevo: Open rates are highest between 10 AM and 3 PM.
• Salesforce: Open rates are highest between 8 AM and 10 AM.
• GetResponse: Open rates peak at 4 AM and 6 PM.

More questions you may have about the ideal sending time of your newsletters

There’s more to send time than day of the week and time of day, so let’s explore a few more variables.

Is it best to send newsletters at the top of the hour?

All the data points about the best send time were right on the hour, but you shouldn’t take that advice literally. Here’s what Alyssa Dulin, Kit’s Head of Deliverability, has to say on the topic:

It’s best not to send at the very top of the hour since that’s when most people send, and the receivers are very busy. Other than that, anytime is fine!”
Alyssa Dulin

Which days of the month are best to send email broadcasts?

Each week on the calendar has a Tuesday, but not every week is the same.

OmniSend found that some weeks are better than others, which should be a consideration for anyone who has to send out seasonal offerings with their newsletters. Here’s a summary of their research:

• The first two weeks of the month have 18% higher open rates and 5.59% higher click-through rates than the last two weeks.
• Later in the month, open rates and orders dip. By the last few weeks and days of the month, budgets may be spent, and customers don’t feel spendy.

Which days work better for seasonal or specific email campaigns?

It’s a good idea to plan your seasonal or event-specific email sequences at least a month before the occasion to make sure the timing of your emails makes sense. For example, you wouldn’t start a 4-part Black Friday promo sequence on Black Friday. By the time subscribers have emails, the deals are done.

In general, send your seasonal emails during the week in the days leading up to the event.

What about sending email newsletters on the weekends?

There’s one thing nearly every data source agrees on—open rates drop on the weekends. Generally, limiting your weekend emails is best since people may be enjoying their time off and not checking emails.

However, the exception makes the rule. Your audience might welcome emails on the weekend, so we’ll further explore customizing your send time to your business.

Now ditch the data and reshape your newsletter timing strategy to match your business

Comparing datasets across sources gives you a general sense of the best time and day to send emails, but as you’ll notice, email optimization isn’t one-size-fits-all.

Every creator has a unique business and audience, which means you need to create a custom strategy. 66% of professional creators with an email list send messages on a schedule, and you have to decide on yours.

Let’s explore details that might make you want to veer away from the standard advice on the best time to send an email.

What’s the end goal of your newsletter?

Each email you send has a purpose; you can match your send time to that goal.

• If you want to boost engagement, like getting subscribers to click through to your new sales page, choose a time with less competition—like later in the afternoon when people are wrapping up the workday.
• If you’re sharing a quick message, choose a morning time slot with high open rates.
• If your email is time-sensitive, like a final call before a webinar starts, send it less than an hour before the event.
• If you want your audience to watch or listen to a new piece of content, try sending your email during leisure time, like in the evening or night or before a commute.

The type of newsletter content also plays a role

It doesn’t matter if a subscriber sees your message at a popular email time. If they’re not ready for that information, they won’t likely engage.

For example, a subscriber probably doesn’t want to read about a work topic on the weekends unless the newsletter is related to building a side hustle. Generally:

• Keep business topics to working hours
• Experiment with sending leisure-topic emails on evenings and weekends

Zooming in on your target audience

Your newsletter is for subscribers, so you need to keep them in mind when you plan your send time.

Factor in your email subscribers’ geographical locations and time zones

Email is a global business, and you need to consider the time zone of your target demographics.

As your audience grows, you may build a subscriber list across many time zones, but it’s simplest to find your most common time zone and send it at an ideal time for that audience segment.

Check where your audience lives in Google Analytics, or start by setting your email time zone to your own.

Consider the device most frequently used by your recipients

The device subscribers view your emails on can hint at when they like to read your content. For example, people may open emails on their phone first thing in the morning or in the evening. While desktop opens may happen at work or school.

Check your Google Analytics to learn what device your website visitors use to learn how and when they interact with your business.

Account for the age distribution of your newsletter audience

Age is another audience attribute that helps you determine when to send an email. Students likely can’t open their emails during school, while retired folks may have a more open schedule.

Acknowledge if subscribers use your content for income or fun

Selling to businesses (B2B) vs. individuals (B2C) affects your email strategy. If you’re a B2B content creator, like an accounting coach for startups, stick to working hours for email sends. However, individuals who use your content for leisure or entertainment might want to see your newsletter on the weekends.

The tools to help you fine-tune the perfect time to send your newsletter

Is your head swirling with variables about the best time to send an email? You don’t have to figure it out alone—there are tools to test and perfect your email newsletter broadcasts for better performance. While the day and time you send your email is only one factor that impacts your open rate, it’s an easy strategy to experiment with.

Resend unopened emails

Imagine you send your newsletter on a Tuesday at 10 AM, and 29% of your audience opens it. With Kit, you can return later and resend the email to everyone who didn’t open it.

This resend function lets you boost your open rate and connect with more subscribers without annoying those who opened the message on the first send.

Send the first and second batches of emails at different times or days to see which has better results.

Make use of link triggers

If you want to learn when to send emails to boost engagement and not just opens, consider email segmentation with link triggers.

To do this, split your audience into groups and send the same message at different times. Then, track what percentage of each group clicked on the link in the message. If one group had a higher CTR, the time you sent their message may work best for your audience.

A/B test your newsletter subject line

A great newsletter subject line boosts your open rate, but you need to A/B test options to learn what your audience likes. Since manually sending the same email with one of two subject lines is tedious, Kit has an automatic A/B testing tool.

All you have to do is write two subject line options, and Kit automatically tests each option with a small audience segment and then delivers the bulk of the messages with the winning subject line.

Create an engaging newsletter with Kit

A successful and engaging newsletter requires a positive subscriber and creator experience at every step of the way—not just the hour you choose to send your message.

Kit makes it easy for creators to grow and manage their emails from a single platform. Start your free trial to get hands-on with landing pages, email templates, automation, analytics, and monetization.