COVID-19 and lockdowns have changed how we live and work. Usual office hours are no longer the primary consideration when timing your campaigns.
To help you understand the changes in recipient behavior, we decided to take stock of current email marketing statistics during COVID-19.
Our latest data shows that, although life has changed during the pandemic, email marketing remains a strong channel for engaging with your subscribers. As a marketer, you’ll need to note the changes in subscriber behavior and adjust your campaign strategies accordingly.
What’s the best time to send email during COVID-19?
The coronavirus pandemic affected everyone differently. While some countries went into lockdown early, most only enforced changes from March this year. We focused our analysis on these months, comparing this year’s benchmarks with our previous benchmarks. What we found shows that email remains a preferred form of communication for most consumers.
The best time to send out your campaigns remains non-peak days, but you should still consider your audience.
Source: Campaign Monitor
Every list’s subscribers are subtly different. You should understand what it took to develop and curate your lists and use that information when you’re scheduling a campaign. We noted a 16% increase in opens from February to March this year. This means that subscribers wanted to hear from the brands they trust during this time.
For most industries during the COVID-19 response, open rates increased exponentially. For others, consumption remained consistent. We also didn’t find drastic changes in unsubscribe rates, showing that subscribers remained committed to the brands they follow. Although changes were subtle in most metrics, send rates showed that more people were relying on email communications from February onwards.
The best times to send email campaigns in COVID-19
When considering what the best sending time is for your campaign, you’ll need to consider two factors. First, you’ll want to view open rates on the day you’re sending and, second, the biggest unsubscribe rates per day. Both these metrics can help you devise a strategy that works for you and your subscribers.
Email fatigue is up during this time. To make sure you don’t overwhelm your subscribers with your communications, you need to accommodate this in your campaign strategies. Sending out multiple updates about your brand’s COVID-19 response won’t necessarily add value to your list members. Make sure you still follow the best timing guidelines for scheduling your campaigns.
How to determine the best time to send emails during COVID-19
It’s crucial that you study your metrics and know how recipients responded to your send times. You can do this using A/B testing with different segments on your lists to find the best day to send your campaign emails.
In Campaign Monitor, you can use our reporting tools to get real-time information about your campaign’s success. For the period spanning COVID-19, we noted the best days to send campaigns are still Mondays or Fridays, as they maintained the best open rates.
Source: Campaign Monitor
Does it really matter?
The timing of your campaigns can have a drastic impact on your open rates. It could also affect other signals that determine your content’s rating in spam filters. To get the most significant return on your campaigns, you’ll need to know what times you get the best response and adjust your strategy accordingly. With more people now depending on emails for most of their communication, this can be valuable information for future campaigns.
What now?
The best time to send your campaigns during the COVID-19 pandemic remains Mondays and Fridays. You’ll also need to consider other factors, but these two days still have the highest open rates. With new ways of working, you may also find subtle changes to how your recipients engage with your content. Use Campaign Monitor tools to ensure you stay up to date with developments in recipient behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Now that you have an idea of when it’s best to send emails during COVID-19, you may also want to read this guide on the best practices for transactional emails.