The Best Time to Broadcast: 3 A.M. Monday

Here’s some hot news from ExactTarget that may change the way you send your e-zines. A new study shows the highest average open rate in 2005 was on Fridays.

Of course, that flies in the face of accepted wisdom. For years, we were told that nobody opens e-mails on Friday because they are too busy planning their weekends or parading around the office in Bermuda shorts.

Now we have to rethink all that, along with old shibboleths about click-through rates. These, too, go up on Friday.

The highest click-through rates occur on Sunday, at least for consumer e-mails. Even B2B clickthroughs go up on that day, which makes sense, for Sunday is the only day of the week that many of us have time to read.

This report has not yet been digested by our New Media staff here, but I expect it will and that we will be pressured to move some of our e-zines to Friday.

Our New Media guys are usually right. But their childlike belief in surveys and studies can get in the way of creative thinking.

Take the debate over which hour to broadcast.

Last year, a report came out showing that the best time to send a marketing message (or newsletter) was in the early afternoon. We were told to adhere to that timing.

Who cares if we had two or three newsletters hitting within minutes of each other? Research had spoken its hard word.

But nobody considered the relationship between cause and effect. Obviously, many other e-mail senders read the same survey, and they rescheduled their mailings accordingly. The result was inbox glut.

Predictably, there is now a study showing that the best time to ship is at 9 a.m. And we, like lemmings, will probably send some of our new e-zines at that hour.

But where will it end? Next year, we will be told that the best time is 5 p.m. because people are fed up with the 9 a.m. deluge. And the year after that it will be 3 a.m.

Yes, marketing should be based on metrics. But doesn’t anyone ever think for themselves?

Even ExactTarget acknowledges that Friday is a good day for open rates because “the number of e-mails sent on Friday is relatively low compared to other weekdays.”

It adds that companies should conduct “their own tests to determine which day of the week works best for them.”

Here’s one more piece of advice on how to get your e-mail opened.

Provide compelling content.