When Should You Send? The Psychology of Social Timing

Last month, we wrote a somewhat snarky story about when to send your email campaigns. The available research is largely based on aggregate campaign data analyzed by the various email service providers.

We had a little fun pointing out how all of the data is contradictory and yet presented quite definitively. Our take is this research is more about bragging rights regarding the number of campaigns delivered and less about doing any scholarly analysis in the area.

There was one approach, however, that we came across that make a lot of sense. Kissmetrics, a vendor in the marketing space, produced an infographic, "The Psychology of Social Timing, Part II," which appears below. It suggests two complementary strategies to use to determine when to send email: First, anticipate hour-by-hour state-of-mind when creating your email. Alternatively, at least evaluate your creative and match it to your audience's most receptive state- of-mind as individuals pass through their day. High-energy offers do best in the morning, for example, whereas last chance offers would fare better at the end of the recipient's day.

Rather than summarize the entire infographic, just scroll down and check it out yourself. Interesting.