Our research of over 85,000 personalized emails shows that the best time to send cold emails is between 6-9am PST on Monday, with Tuesday as a close second.
Our content marketing team sends more than 100,000 personalized cold emails (not bulk) every year, and that number continues to increase as our agency grows.
You could say we know how to siege the attention of a few people with emails sent at just the right time. And sometimes, one email simply isn’t enough — people are practically begging for a follow-up email.
We decided to analyze Buzzstream data from our team’s efforts to determine when is actually the best time to send an email — but wait, there’s more — we also analyzed the best day of the week to send an email and you can check out my colleague Sierra’s post for a bonus study on our subject lines.
Disclaimer: The data represented in this study is entirely based on personalized emails and not newsletters or bulk cold email blasts. You could call these “room-temperature emails” or “goldie-locks emails,” because they aren’t exactly warm emails but they’re not exactly cold.
Best Time to Send Cold Email
When analyzing email open and click event data from our outreach emails, we’ve discovered that the best time of day to send cold emails is between 6-9 am PST (9 am-12 pm EST).
![When is the Best Time to Send Cold Email? [2022 Study] (1)](https://i0.wp.com/www.siegemedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/best-time-to-send-an-email.graph_.1a-02.png "When is the Best Time to Send Cold Email? [2022 Study] (1)")
We found it interesting that some other studies determined 10 am was the best time to send emails. Strangely, however, 10 am in our data saw significant declines in open and click rates for both 10 am PST and 10 am EST. We had the thought that as people get into their workday, they start with the more important and personalized emails first, and then around 10 am clear out their newsletters and bulk emails.
If you want your email to be delivered at the optimal time, we recommend scheduling delivery between 7-8 am PST to take advantage of the two-hour spike in open and click rates experienced between 8-10 am.
What Is The Best Day to Send Email?
According to our data, the best day to send email is Monday with an open rate of just over 20 percent, a click rate of 4.3 percent and a reply rate of 2.8 percent.
Our study found that as the week goes on, recipients are less likely to open, click or reply to your email. This could be the nature of our email campaigns, most often a reporter, blogger or content manager, who may be more receptive to pitches earlier in the week. This is why our team largely front loads emails earlier in the week.
Wednesday is a great day to send emails if the reply-rate is your most important metric. Although the open rate is slightly lower than Monday, at 17.2 percent, the reply rate is 2.6 percent, only 0.3 percent less than Monday.
![When is the Best Time to Send Cold Email? [2022 Study] (2)](https://i0.wp.com/www.siegemedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/best-time-to-send-an-email.graph_.2a-02.png "When is the Best Time to Send Cold Email? [2022 Study] (2)")
Best Time and Day To Send Email
After analyzing the performance of our team’s highly personalized outreach emails, we’ve determined the best time to send is Monday between 6-9 am PST.
If you’re reading this post because it was featured in our newsletter, go back and check what day/time it was delivered, if it wasn’t Monday between 6-9 am PST, please don’t reply to that email to prove a point for me. 🙂
How Our Study Compares
To level the playing field and give you the most comprehensive answer possible, we decided to peek at the answers of our fellow students (ie. the other popular studies on the subject). We didn’t cheat, we just peeked!
Out of the nine other studies we looked at, 55% said Tuesday is the best day to send email with the remaining 45% equally distributed between Wednesday and Thursday.
So as you can see, not many people agree with our results, which is why we think the answer is more complicated than Monday between 6-9 am. This isn’t the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Email Galaxy and the answer is not 42.
Your results will depend heavily on what type of email you are sending (promotional, transactional, etc.) and how you’ve acquired your email addresses (purchased list, subscribers or discovered during outreach).
This is why we advocate you take a data-driven approach to your own outreach efforts and determine what works best for you and your team. We will provide a few tips for becoming more data-driven in your email efforts.
Analyzing Your Email Campaign Performance
1. Track Open, Click and Reply Rates
We mentioned our team uses Buzzstream, which is a tool heavily tailored to pitching journalists and other forms of PR/outreach. If you are sending marketing emails, there are a number of tools available to service this need, such as MailChimp, SendGrid or ConvertKit.
Gmail doesn’t let you do much in the way of analyzing your email data, however there are some extensions that can help to this end as well, most notably, EmailMeter and MixMax. One of our favorite email finder tools, Hunter, also recently launched an email tracking tool!
2. Track Email Traffic in Google Analytics
One of the unfortunate things about the traffic you drive from newsletters and outreach emails is that Google Analytics will classify this traffic as medium “(none)” and source “(direct),” which aren’t very descriptive or informative.
If you want to more clearly measure how the traffic from your emails navigate your site, you can create a UTM tracking URL to use within the CTAs of your emails. Use this campaign URL builder tool to create and track your attribution funnels more closely from email.
3. Always A/B/C Test Your Campaigns
You’re probably aware of A/B testing, or splitting your list into two segments that receive different emails to test which performs better, but you’ve probably never heard of A/B/C testing.
Traditional split testing lacks a control group (the “C” is for control) to truly measure improved performance. This is why you should have a very standard email template that is used consistently and has established a baseline performance in regards to open, click and reply rate. That will be your control group. From there, you can introduce slight modifications in the form of your A and B templates.
Emphasis on slight. You should look to introduce minor changes slowly to avoid erratic moves away from the benchmark email which won’t help you determine what modifications led to any improvements or declines in performance.
4. Open vs. Click-Through vs. Reply Rate
Want to know if your subject lines are intriguing your recipients? Open rate is the proxy you should use for this statistic. When someone opens your email, there are only a few things that could have caused them to open: the subject line, excerpt and sender’s name. This is why your open rates can be a lagging indicator of subject line performance to help refine your strategy.
Click-through rate is a good indicator for how engaging your actual email copy was, leading the recipient to click on the link. Reply rate is not as relevant among bulk email and newsletter marketers but it’s the high-and-almighty-metric for sales and PR teams. Reply rates are great for determining how clear your call to actions are and how receptive your audience is to your pitches.
5. Analyze Monthly, Quarterly and Annually
Perhaps your team has analyzed the performance of your email campaigns in the past, but are you measuring performance on a regular basis? Once is better than never, but it’s hard to truly understand how your emails are performing and improving without a regular analytics cadence.
We are definitely guilty of resting on our laurels as a team of outreach specialists. We are confident in our ability to send personalized emails that result in links, but after conducting this study, we plan to continue this analysis at least once per quarter, run our A/B/C tests and recalibrate the following quarter.
Methodology
We analyzed 85,082 outreach emails our team sent over a 12-month period. We looked at the number of emails sent, opened, clicked and replied for each day and then combined results for each corresponding day of the week.
We normalized the data by looking at open, click and reply rates for each day of the week compared to the total number for the entire year. Otherwise, Saturday and Sunday would appear to be the best day to send emails, but we all know that is farcical at best.
For the best time to send an email, we looked at the time stamp when emails were opened and clicked based on data provided by Buzzstream, a tool our team uses to track outreach campaigns.
FAQs
What time is best to send cold emails? ›
Key takeaways
So, to recap, the best time to send cold emails is between 8.00 am, and 11.00 am in the recipient's time zone. And the best days of the week to send a cold email are Tuesday and Thursday.
Data show that the best time to send your email is during the morning, and more specifically, between 9-11 am. Moreover, data also indicate that sending emails from 1 pm to 2 pm is also a great alternative if you don't want to target your audience during the morning hours. 2.
What 14 studies say about the best time to send email? ›When Is The Best Time To Send Email? While many of the studies found varying results, here is how you can prioritize your send times based on data: 10 a.m.: While late-morning send times were the most popular in general, several concluded that the best time to send emails is at 10 a.m. Another notable time is 11 a.m.
Should I send cold emails on the weekend? ›Typically it is advised to send an email just before the weekend start e.g. on Thursday evening or Friday afternoon. The most important thing is getting your email read, which can be tricky in weekends.
What is a good cold email open rate? ›25% or more is a good open rate for your cold email outreach campaign and if you hit over 37%, consider your campaign very successful. Your email open rates can help you set more precise and realistic goals for your future cold email outreach campaigns based on your particular industry average stats.
Is 7am a good time to send an email? ›It's better to send emails around office hours, between 7am and 7pm. This will ensure that your audience has time to take your message on board. It may also seem inappropriate, unprofessional or antisocial to send marketing emails late at night.
What is the best time to send an email to Professor? ›Most professors have a daily routine of e-mail checking, often relatively early in the morning. Friday is usually the lightest day for teaching obligations. If for some reason they don't reply on Friday, weekends are often used for e-mail catchup.
Is it better to send email on Friday or Monday? ›The best time is to send during work hours. Try to avoid sending emails on weekends. The best days to send emails are on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Avoid sending emails during rush hour (8 AM or 5 PM).
What day is best for email marketing? ›Tuesday and Thursdays are the best days to send emails to send business emails. As for the exact hour of the day, these are key transition times that tend work best: 8 am is a great way to capture the ones who check emails first thing in the morning.
Is 8am a good time to send emails? ›50%, however, said that there is no perfect time for sending emails as every subscriber is unique and they would need more information to define a perfect time. Verdict: All studies place the perfect point at 10-11am, with the optimal emailing time between 8am and 4pm.
What time should you not send an email? ›
Don't go any later than 8 pm. Sending emails at 10 pm or later is invasive. Plus, most people are sleeping by then, so they can wake up the following day and do the same thing all over again.
What time of day do people check emails? ›In general, people tend to open emails in the morning, peaking around 10am and 11am local time. In the United States and Canada, most people tend to open emails in the mornings and as the day goes on, opens trail progressively.
Is Monday a bad day to send an email? ›The Monday Blues
For this reason, Mondays are generally considered to be the worst day you can send your marketing emails or newsletters. This is because people are often more likely to arrive at work, open their inboxes, and delete whatever seems like spam or unimportant emails.
Berger agrees that it is best to avoid sending emails over the weekend. “It's not when to send it's when not to send,” she says. “I'm not crazy about sending emails over the weekend. If I have something that I am thinking about, I use draft folders, and then Sunday night or first thing Monday morning I'll send.”
Is it bad to email on Friday afternoon? ›However, we have found that Friday afternoons can be a good time, especially right after lunch. People are usually winding down for the weekend and are less likely to start new tasks, giving them more time to check their inboxes.
Is it unprofessional to send emails late at night? ›It's not rude to send late-night emails. The whole point of email is that you can send it when it's convenient for you and people can respond when it's convenient for them. It's not disrespectful of their time because if they don't want to deal with email at 2 am, they won't be in their email then.
How many cold emails should you send per day? ›The rule is no more than 200 cold emails per day should be sent if you want to avoid getting your email account shut down. Even less, if it's a newer account that doesn't get much inbound email. Remember, you have to account for follow-ups.
Does cold emailing still work? ›The average conversion rate for a cold emailing campaign was about 15% in 2021. Don't assume that low response rates from prospects mean they aren't interested in your product. Carefully crafted follow-up emails and persistence can help urge prospects to respond to your ask.
Is 6am too early to send an email? ›According to a study done by Boomerang for Gmail on over 100 million messages, most people like to read emails early in the morning. Therefore, they recommend sending them at 6 AM.
Is it better to send emails in morning or evening? ›We surveyed over 300 U.S. email marketers and found the majority reported the highest engagement for their marketing emails occurred between 9 AM to 12 PM and 12 PM to 3 PM. The data reflects when most audiences begin their day and throughout the afternoon.
Is it okay to email a professor at midnight? ›
Students (and whoever else) can send emails 24/7 with no problem. The messages are stored in mailbox, so the professor can read and reply immediately or at any other time. Most people even do not check at what exact time of day the message was sent.
Can I send email to professor at weekend? ›There is no harm in e-mailling your tutor on a weekend. It is their choice whether or not to check their e-mails over the weekend or not and whether or not to respond. Just make sure your e-mail is polite and coherent, rude and incherent e-mails can annoy a lecturer.
Does email timing matter? ›Effective emails rely not just on excellent content, but also on ideal timing. Sending your email at the best time can help: Improve open rates: Depending on the time you send your email, your recipients may open your email or automatically delete it.
Is it rude to send an email at 8pm? ›It really depends who you are dealing with. In business, it's not usually an issue as people who are ok with it typically check their mail at night and those who aren't will get it in the morning. Email is not like a phone call where you're doing something that may wake someone.
What is the best hour to send an email? ›According to WordStream, 8-9 a.m. is the best time to send emails. So it suffices to say that the best time to send emails might vary between 9 and 11 a.m. But after 1 p.m. a decrease in the open rate is observed because it's lunch hour in most workplaces.
Is it professional to email on weekends? ›So what is the etiquette? You should never call or email outside normal business hours — before 8am or after 6pm. However, if you know that a person's work hours are different you can assume they are also working.
Is it better to email Sunday night or Monday morning? ›Counting on the majority following the general rule of not sending emails on a Sunday, yours might end up on the top of the Monday morning pile. The best time to send email on Monday is just after midnight, just as Sunday turns to Monday, and at dawn, around 5 am. Other morning hours also work well.
Is it okay to email outside of business hours? ›As much as possible, try to avoid sending emails outside work hours. This reduces the pressure employees or colleagues may feel that they should also be online outside work hours.
Why do people send emails at night? ›Reasons for sending an email at night
Someone may also email in the evening if they want to communicate something important to their coworkers or manager and are afraid of forgetting to do so the next day or are trying to meet a deadline.
Not as long as you aren't taking time and attention away from other people. If you have a quiet weekend to yourself and want to get some work done, go for it. If you are spending the weekend with your kids, leave the work for the work week.
What after hours emails really do to your employees? ›
By encouraging employees to be less available by email during their off hours, employers not only promote a healthier work-life balance for their employees, but also help them reduce stress, which can ultimately increase job satisfaction and performance.
Should you respond to emails on your day off? ›Making sure you're available to respond to emails, even when on vacation, is a sign that you're needed. It means that you can't be away for too long or things will fall apart.
What day is the best day to send an email blast? ›The three best days to send out emails are Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Data analysed from 10 different studies indicated that Tuesday reigns supreme for shooting out marketing emails. Emails sent on Tuesday have the maximum number of open rates, resulting in a better CTR and higher site traffic.
What is the best time to send a sales email? ›We surveyed over 300 U.S. email marketers and found the majority reported the highest engagement for their marketing emails occurred between 9 AM to 12 PM and 12 PM to 3 PM. The data reflects when most audiences begin their day and throughout the afternoon.
Does the time you send an email matter? ›Turns out that when you send your message matters just as much as its content. Because the bulk of emails are sent during the workday, it's easier for someone to reply to you in the early hours of the morning (like 6 or 7 AM) or after work hours (around 8 PM), regardless of the day of the week.
What is the best time to send a B2B email? ›The Best Days and Times for B2B Email
Still, research suggests that B2B emails are best sent around 10:00 a.m. Most professionals (whether early birds or later starters) are online and checking their inboxes. It's also well before the lunch hour and the afternoon slump.
It's not rude to send late-night emails. The whole point of email is that you can send it when it's convenient for you and people can respond when it's convenient for them. It's not disrespectful of their time because if they don't want to deal with email at 2 am, they won't be in their email then.
Is Friday a bad day to send emails? ›However, we have found that Friday afternoons can be a good time, especially right after lunch. People are usually winding down for the weekend and are less likely to start new tasks, giving them more time to check their inboxes.
Is Monday a good day to send emails? ›HubSpot pulled data from 20 million emails sent over a 10-month period and found that Tuesday was the best day to send an email in terms of open rate. This was followed closely by Wednesday with Monday coming up fast in third.
What time are most emails read? ›In the United States, the most popular reading time for email is the morning. Opens start to pick up around 6am and continue to rise until the 10am peak. About 7.4% of all opens happen between 10am and 11am, and 21.2% of all opens happen between 9am and noon local time.
Is it rude to send emails after work hours? ›
So what is the etiquette? You should never call or email outside normal business hours — before 8am or after 6pm. However, if you know that a person's work hours are different you can assume they are also working.
Is it okay to email a professor at midnight? ›Students (and whoever else) can send emails 24/7 with no problem. The messages are stored in mailbox, so the professor can read and reply immediately or at any other time. Most people even do not check at what exact time of day the message was sent.
Is 6am too early to send an email? ›According to a study done by Boomerang for Gmail on over 100 million messages, most people like to read emails early in the morning. Therefore, they recommend sending them at 6 AM.
What time should you not send emails? ›Don't go any later than 8 pm. Sending emails at 10 pm or later is invasive. Plus, most people are sleeping by then, so they can wake up the following day and do the same thing all over again.
Should you send B2B emails on Friday? ›The service or product you offer will affect the time to send emails. For instance, if providing B2B products or services, you may consider sending emails on Tuesdays. But if your products and services are entertainment industry-based, Friday or weekends are better options to send the emails.
Is Friday a bad day to send a newsletter? ›Traditionally, both Fridays and Mondays have been perceived as bad days to send emails. However, our research shows that Friday outperforms Monday significantly on open and click through rates.
Is it OK to send email on weekend? ›Not as long as you aren't taking time and attention away from other people. If you have a quiet weekend to yourself and want to get some work done, go for it. If you are spending the weekend with your kids, leave the work for the work week.