Companies are attributing 23% of their total sales to email marketing. Connecting with your targeted audience with exclusive offers, product recommendations, and special discounts are ways to raise revenue. However, what you say in your subject line is as important as when you send your email. Use the following information to help you optimize your email campaigns.
Your Subject Line
People in general do a quick scan of the subject line of an email to decide which ones would be worth their time and attention. Obviously, it is of no use if your emails are not being read. Interestingly, both Hubspot and MailChimp have researched what words tend to increase open rates.
The more personalized attention you can present in your subject the line, the better your open rates will be, especially for those with highly specialized content. If you are B2B sales, use the name of a person within the company wherever possible. or the company name. Using first and last names provides the greatest open rate average, verses using only the last name which ranked higher than first names only.
Interestingly, using only the first name for the legal industry negatively impacted open rates.
Day and Time Matters
Several studies have shown that some days are better than others for sending emails. Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays are generally better than other days of the week. Tuesdays are when most emails are sent. However, similarly, HubSpot seems to have found that Mondays work too.
Timing is critical to open rates in the same way as days of the week. Some studies have also found varying results here. 53% of emails are opened during the workday between 9 am to 5 pm on a desktop. 47% of emails are opened outside of work hours on mobile devices, such as a smartphone.
Best Time | Optional Time | Possible Behavioral Reason | % Emails Opened |
Midnight – 8:00 am | Before Work | 16% | |
6:00 am | Checking email prior to getting out of bed in the morning | ||
10:00 am | 11:00 am | Mid-Morning Break | |
12:00 | Lunch Time – Peak open times are just before and after lunch. Lunchtime drops a little. | 7% | |
2:00 pm | 3:00 pm | Afternoon downtime | |
6:00 pm – 11:00 pm | After work | 24% | |
8:00 pm | Midnight | Checking email before going to bed. |
Long or Short Messages
Length of Email (Readability) | When to Send (Reading Time) | Device Optimization (Read on What?) |
3 Minutes | Send the email in the evening hours to early morning hours. | Make it scan-able. Easy to read, short and to the point with clear call-to-action (CTA). |
5 Minutes | Send in the evening hours to early morning hours, or on morning or afternoon break times. | Make it scan-able. Easy to read, relatively short and to the point with clear call-to-action (CTA). |
10 Minutes | Send in work time hours. (8:00 am to 6:00 pm) |

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