Believe it or not, there is an art to sending emails. Not just the actual creation of the email but also in determining the right time to send the email.
Timing plays a part in who reads your marketing email. If you're taking advantage of Agent Studio's Automated Email Marketing feature, a complimentary feature of your Agent Studio travel agent website, we send those emails at the optimal time for higher engagement. This is something you should take into consideration when sending emails on your own.
Twenty-five percent of emails are opened within an hour of when they were received. The key is finding the time that your customer is most likely to be using their email. Here are 4 tips we use to select the best email send times.
1. It's OK to Be Different
Most marketing emails are sent between the hours of 6 am and noon. The second most popular send time is 6 pm to midnight. This means that if you are also sending an email around these times you will be buried in customer's inbox under a hundred other marketing emails.
Test out unconventional time slots, like early evening as customers settle in for the evening. The early afternoon may be another good time to try, as customers return to their desks after lunch. Using your Marketing Center's email scheduler and analytics tools, you can gauge which time slots lead to more bookings.
2. Consider Where Your Customers Are
Working the time zones can help you send out more emails that reach your customers. Another reason why segmenting your email list is useful. Taking each customers time zone into consideration can increase email engagement.
This is something that is overlooked a lot of times when sending emails. Simply use your customers state or city to locate their time zone. Then adjust their send times to ensure all of your customers are receiving their email at the same time of day no matter where they are located. You should create segments based on time zones to make this process easier.
3. Sending Emails During Work Hours Work
Your customer is most likely an employee. Not only do employees check their work-related email accounts all day, they are also keeping an eye on their personal accounts. Even though the most popular time to send emails is 6 am to noon, there are other times throughout the day that can work.
Give 3 pm to 4 pm a try for your customers that work in an office. As employees start to wind down and head home, studies show they often check their personal email as they plan to leave for the day. You may see higher email open rates in this time slot.
4. Don't Fear The Weekend
You've probably heard that the weekend is not a good time to send marketing emails. I'm here to tell you the exact opposite. You could find better email open rates over the weekend. You may wonder, "Why is that?" The answer is simple. Most companies still consider the weekends a bad time to send emails. Less marketing emails sent over the weekend means a higher chance your email gets noticed.
Testing various send times is a worthwhile endeavor. Your Marketing Center makes it easy to segment, schedule and analyze your email campaigns. Take advantage of these tools. Sending your emails at the same time everyday won't increase engagement. Use some of our tips and try an unconventional time slot.
Agent Studio website builder offers features like the Marketing Center to make managing your travel agency a cinch. So, whether you're a one-person agency, or a multi agent agency, you're able to devote more time to other aspects of your travel business.
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