$44.25
the average return onemail marketing investment for every $1 spent
40%
of B2B marketers rated the leads generated by email as high-quality
INSIDE
Welcome Letter Introduction Opens / DayBest Days for Opens Click-Throughs / Day
Best Days for Click-Throughs Opens / Time of Day
Best Times of Day for Opens Determinations
Best Practices Call to Action Sources
About RedBase Interactive About SalesStaff
4.3 billion
estimated email accounts by 2016. In 2013, there were 3.6 billion accounts 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 1 2 3W
elcome to the first whitepaper assembled by Red Base Interactive, The Best Days and Times for Email Marketing. This whitepaper represents a compilation of research that draws fromcredible sources who have answered the question:
What are the best days of the week and times of the day to send B2B email marketing campaigns to maximize results?
But answers to marketing questions like these are a moving target. Why? The answer is simple. Marketing, at its core, is governed by the behavioral responses of people, which are always in flux. So what we’ve done in this piece is cited trustworthy sources, amassed some fascinating statistics, and presented it to you here in an easily-digestible format.
B2B email marketing is always evolving. It has gone from an art to a science. The landscape is wrought with challenges – from deliverability to messaging to list development and beyond. But the one constant is recipients. In order to have a successful campaign, it starts with a great list of recipients – whether it’s a list of subscribers you’ve culled organically or a list of potential buyers that you’ve acquired from one of the myriad sources of contact
data.
Red Base Interactive has been one of the market leaders in providing high-quality, low-cost B2B contact data to marketers the world over. We know all too well that the list is critical but, as members of the sales and marketing community, we know of the subtle nuances that will make an email marketing campaign thrive or flop. We share some of that experience with you here and wish you the best on your way to email marketing success.
welcome > from DAVID BALZEN
Dear
Reader
,
B2B email marketing is always evolving.
It has gone from an art to a science.
Over the last decade, B2B email marketing – and the data used to fuel those campaigns – has become a cornerstone to any great marketing program. In fact, many companies have an entire position or department dedicated to deal with the complexity of today’s email marketing challenges.
Why has email marketing become a standard spoke in the B2B marketing wheel? What are the best days of the week and times of the day to send B2B email marketing campaigns to maximize results?
email marketing > introduction
10%
the amount email marketing spending grows every year13%
percentage of leads generated through email in 2013138%
increase in spending by people who buy products marketed through email19%
of all emails received in 2012 was spam64%
of decision-makers read their emailvia mobile devices
say too many emails is the reason they unsubscribe
69%
2 4 5 6 7 8The first goal of any B2B email marketing campaign is to get eyeballs on your carefully-crafted email. The worst thing that can happen is that you spend time and resources to choose your format and your words correctly. You draft and redraft trying to find the perfect formula that will hit home with your audience. Then you push send and … crickets.
Open rates by day can be such a volatile statistic but there are some reputable sources that have put together data on the best day of the week to send a B2B email marketing piece. On the next page you will find a table reporting from these sources what the best day of the week to send B2B email marketing is, compiled from data on billions of emails sent. You will also find a final ranking based on these statistics.
email marketing > opens > days
89
billion
business emails
are sent every day
by workers
world-wide
What is the best
day
for B2B
Email Marketing Opens?
So ...
Let’s do a little exercise. From your experience (or simply
guesstimating), rank the best days of the week for email marketing from 1 to 7, and see how you stack up on the next couple pages: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 9
email marketing > opens > days
We looked at statistics found around the web concerning the best day of the week to get prospects to open your B2B email marketing content. From our experience, open rates, in general, are primarily a function of:
(1) How attractive your subject line is
(2) Overall deliverability
If you find your emails are falling in to junk folders, naturally you will experience lower-than-normal open rates, no matter what day of the week it is. But all things equal, let’s take a look at what the data shows:
SOURCE EROI, Inc. Ignition Gather.com ecreativeim.com MailerMailer MarketingVox MONDAY 33% 25% X TUESDAY 36% 27% X X X WEDNESDAY 15% 26% X X X THURSDAY 5% 24% FRIDAY 7% 28% SATURDAY 1% SUNDAY 3% X
We took the data above and applied a ranking system that assigns points to the findings, with 1 representing the best days to send email and 5 representing one of the worst days to send B2B email marketing:
MONDAY 2 4 4 1 4 4 19 TUESDAY 1 2 1 1 4 1 10 WEDNESDAY 3 3 1 1 4 1 13 THURSDAY 5 5 1 4 4 1 20 FRIDAY 4 1 4 4 4 4 21 SATURDAY 5 4 4 4 4 4 25 SUNDAY 5 4 4 4 1 4 22 SOURCE EROI, Inc. Ignition Gather.com ecreativeim.com MailerMailer MarketingVox TOTAL
THE FINAL RANKING >
OPENS
> DAYS
1.
TUESDAY
2. WEDNESDAY 3. MONDAY 4. THURSDAY 5. FRIDAY 6. SUNDAY 7. SATURDAYThe second goal of your email marketing campaign is to inspire action in the form of prospects clicking through to your website or landing page. A high open-rate and low click-through open-rate indicates that you a master at constructing subject lines but your content is somewhat lackluster.
Think about it. Business people receive hundreds of emails every day and the emails are all competing for their attention. What can cause your carefully crafted email to rise above the rest of the smog and incite action? There are a number of studies that cite contributing factors to improving click-through rates, with the most powerful being:
Personalization of the email content Relevance of the offer to the recipient Clear call-to-action
Compelling call-to-action
All of these are indeed important and just as important is the timing of your email. Are you sending email marketing campaigns on traditionally busy days? What are the best days for email marketing click-throughs? Is there a pattern?
email marketing > click-throughs > days
158%
increase in
click-through
rate in emails
with social
sharing
buttons
What is the best
day
for B2B
Email Marketing Click-Throughs?
So ...
Millions of emails are sent every day, and a few firms compiled information specific to B2B email marketing campaigns on the correlation between which days of the week the email was sent and the corresponding click-through rate. Of course there are a number of factors that contribute to click-through rate, like the quality of content or offer contained in the email, but holding all other things equal, this is what the data shows from reputable companies Ignition, MarketingSherpa, and eCreative:
email marketing > click-throughs > days
MONDAY 5% 4% TUESDAY 15% 3% WEDNESDAY 8% 5% THURSDAY 19% 5% X FRIDAY 10% 4% X SATURDAY x 2% X SUNDAY x 2% X SOURCE Ignition MarketingSherpa ecreativeim.com
When we apply a ranking scheme to the data above which assigns points to the findings, with 1 representing the best days to send email for click-through rate and 5 representing one of the worst days for click-through rates, we get the following: MONDAY 4 2 4 10 TUESDAY 2 3 4 9 WEDNESDAY 4 1 4 9 THURSDAY 1 1 1 3 FRIDAY 3 2 1 6 SATURDAY 4 4 1 9 SUNDAY 4 4 1 9 SOURCE Ignition MarketingSherpa ecreativeim.com TOTAL
THE FINAL RANKING >
CLICK-THROUGHS
> DAYS
1.
THURSDAY
2. FRIDAY 3. TUESDAY 3. WEDNESDAY 3. SATURDAY 6. SUNDAY 7. MONDAYTiming is so fickle in the context of which time of the day to send your email marketing campaign.
Obviously, you want to give your email the best chance to succeed. You’ve crafted an awesome email, culled a database to send it to, and now the last remaining mechanics are which day and what time. We’ve given you some insight on the previous pages of which days might be best for success, but is there data to support which time of the day might be best? Indeed there is. The best time of the day to send email marketing campaigns can be so volatile. People are busy … but when are they least busy, on the average? When are they most likely to open your email and give it a look?
email marketing > opens > time of day
64%
of recipients
open emails on
subject line
alone
What is the best
time of day
for
B2B Email Marketing Opens?
So ...
We understand that there are a lot of variables when we talk about time of the day to send email marketing. Firstly, are we talking about the recipients’ time zones or the sender’s time zone? The statistics below pertain to the sending time zone from companies in the United States. So it’s a mix of data from all four mainland time zones, but a pattern emerges from the four sources that reported best times of the day to send email marketing campaigns:
email marketing > opens > time of day
THE FINAL RANKING >
TIME OF DAY
1.
8 a.m.
12:00 X 1 SOURCE ProfitWorks EROI, Inc. ecreativeim.com MailerMailer SmartFocus Digital B2B Marketing Mag SalesStaff LLC TOTAL 1:00 X X 2 2:00 X X 2 3:00 X X 2 4:00 X X 2 5:00 X X 2 6:00 X 1 7:00 X X 2 8:00 X X X X 4 9:00 X X X X 4 10:00 X X X X 4 11:00 X X X X 4 SOURCE ProfitWorks EROI, Inc. ecreativeim.com MailerMailer SmartFocus Digital B2B Marketing Mag SalesStaff LLC TOTAL 12:00 X X 2 1:00 X X 2 2:00 X 1 3:00 X 1 4:00 X 1 5:00 X 1 6:00 X 1 7:00 X 1 8:00 X 1 9:00 X 1 10:00 0 11:00 01.
9 a.m.
10 a.m.
1.
It’s a tie! The data unequivivocally supports that the
morning hours tend to be best for email marketing opens.
1.
As email marketing becomes a critical leg of Marketing departments at B2B companies, it is increasingly important to maximize the results marketers may realize from their efforts. It’s an interesting irony.
Marketers spend so much effort on the details of email marketing – the subject line, the content, the day and time to send – yet they want their final piece to flow and seem effortless.
There are numerous factors to consider:
Fancy HTML email vs. conversational text email
Heavily personalized with mail merge vs. one-size-fits-all general email format
Here, we’ve touched on just one of the key components of successful email marketing – timing – and here’s what we’ve determined.
email marketing > determinations
Mid-week days tend to be better for email marketing opens, most specifically
Tuesday and Wednesday.
In an interesting dichotomy, though Tuesday and Wednesday may be best for email marketing opens, Thursday and Friday are best for click-throughs.
The morning hours tend to be best for email marketing opens.
There are definitive conclusions brought about by the data but ultimately, you have to determine the success formula for your
Email marketing is evolving and innovating at breakneck
speed. There are a number of best practices we’ve
uncovered to increase email marketing success.
Procure the best possible database for your prospect universe. Ultimately
you want to embody your entire prospect universe in a database and be diligent about keeping it up to date. You may build a database organically, but in today’s competitive environment, you may be best served purchasing a database from a reputable vendor.
Always be experimenting with unique subsets of your segmented database. There may be pockets of certain titles or industries with which a
message resonates more than another. Hone in on these nuances and chop up your database as you see fit.
Use less than 3 typefaces. Too many fonts in the body of your email make it
appear cluttered and present a certain cacophony to the eyes.
Keep the Call-to-Action at the Top of the Email Body. If you use a fancy HTML
version of your email, keep the primary call-to-action above the fold. Research shows that if the main call-to-action falls below the fold, up to 70% of recipients won’t see it. Any call-to-action should be restated at least three instances throughout the email.
If You Use HTML Formatting, Keep Your Email 500-650 Pixels Wide.
Quite simply, if your email is wider than 650 pixels, then you’re expecting users to scroll horizontally to read your entire message. Don’t do that.
Write Compelling Subject Lines. A decent subject line should contain
less than 50 characters. It should also create a sense of urgency, whether with ambiguity or by sheer force.
Closely Tie Emails to Landing Pages. In terms of headline, copy, and
content, your landing page should mirror the body of your email. Make certain you’re employing tracking tools to see which emails and landing pages performed better.
The Old 5-Second Test. Send a copy of the email to a friend or colleague
to ascertain: Can they quickly tell what your call-to-action is? If so, you’re in good shape. If not, keep at it. Also, ask them for feedback on the format, look and feel, and be prepared to adjust.
Determine the Best Practices Specific to Your Business. The timing,
content, subject and frequency of your emails are all variables that
contribute to your email marketing success and they may be unique to your business. Initiate A/B testing on all facets of your email – subject, body, call-to-action, database.
email marketing > best practices
For B2B
companies,
subject
lines that
contained
“
money
,”
“
revenue
,”
and “
profit
”
performed
the best.
The increased likelihood emails with personalized
subject lines will be opened.
22.2%
The open rate for emails with Subject lines
fewer than 10 characters long.
58%
11 12 11email marketing > call to action
www.
redbase-solutions
.com/freesample
Has this report inspired you to maximize the results you realize from your email marketing efforts?
REDBASE INTERACTIVE can provide your organization with an accurate database of contacts complete with email addresses to fuel any email marketing campaign.
for a complimentary
database sample
visit
more
info
more
info
info@ redbase-solutions.com877-469-1503
email marketing > sources
1 > Experian
2 > The Radicati Group 3 > Software Advice Survey 4 > Forrester Research 5 > TopRankBlog 6 > Hubspot
7 > Chadwick Martin Bailey 8 > Convince and Convert 9 > Mashable
10 > GetResponse 11 > Adestra 12 > SalesStaff LLC
Our Company has quickly earned a reputation as a trustworthy partner that always demonstrates its value in practice. As the Company has grown, we have focused on maintaining our reputation as one of the industry’s leading providers of accurate Decision Maker Data, while at the same time providing excellent customer service. For many years, Red Base Interactive has provided a comprehensive solution to marketing executives that allows them
to connect with a relevant audience.
Red Base Interactive has been subsequently advanced and expanded as
we continue to have presence in many new markets. Our proprietary technology has allowed us to stay current, as well as competitive, by providing well-kept accurate data contacts. It is this proprietary technology as well our commitment to continual improvement that has enabled us to stay competitive with pricing, while providing a well-rounded customer experience.
Our customer base has aggressively grown since our inception and includes some of the world’s largest companies. We also remain strong in today’s startups and continue to have a big presence in helping small to medium-sized companies. We have focused on listening to our customers’ needs and responding by providing additional products and services. It is this sensitive ear to the customer’s voice that has enabled us to develop market focused
databases, like our University and Technology Decision Maker list.
Connect with one of our industry leading Decision-Maker databases. Get your message in front of the most senior level contacts of an organization and generate new
email marketing > about us
ABOUT
RedBase Interactive
Our customer base has aggressively
grown since our inception and includes
Our company evolved from a 1990’s consulting practice that guided hundreds of CEOs and Entrepreneurs on the implementation of sales training, systems and processes; staffed thousands of sales people; and created branding, messaging and go-to-market plans for hundreds of hi-tech and B2B clients. Today, that experience is the foundation for a hybrid demand generation operation piloted by a highly experienced and talented team of sales leaders at SalesStaff LLC. More than 10,000 sales appointments and leads are generated annually for our clients. We are changing our industry in a better direction that leverages outbound prospecting, business intelligence, and a performance-based production model. The collective impact to client sales pipelines is more than a billion dollars of new sales opportunities entering funnels every year.
Our Services
SalesStaff provides high-level appointment setting and demand generation services for business-to-business technology companies through the deployment and management of quota-based marketing programs. We research opportunities and successfully secure meetings with key executives and generate leads on behalf of our clients’ B2B sales teams to expand their sales pipelines and accelerate sales cycles.
What Our Clients Are Saying
An IT Security Client | ”In evaluating Demand Generation vendors, we
found the pay-for-performance model offered by SalesStaff to be extremely attractive. Other per-month or per-rep models we evaluated didn’t provide a firm guarantee of results. So we were eager to work with SalesStaff, and have been more than pleased with the results.”
A Managed Services Client | “What we liked most about working with the
team at SalesStaff was the open communication we had throughout the course of the campaign. They were always available to discuss critical aspects of the campaign. In addition, they successfully developed a structured process to follow-up with key prospects.”
A Workforce Management Client | “What I like most about working with
the SalesStaff team is that they do what they say they’ll do.”
sales staff > about
