Recently I was re-reading a “popular discussion” from thinkLA regarding the 18 must-know stats for modern email marketers; one of the stats got me thinking. You know the saying, “Timing is everything?” Well, number 7 of the must-knows indicated “58% of adults check their email first thing in the morning.” I absolutely agree. In fact, I would have guessed that percentage to be even higher. That aside, I wondered, “Yes, but how many are seriously checking their email?”
Consider my well-honed practice when routinely greeted with a well-stocked inbox of new, unread email first thing in the morning. I hurriedly delete a lot of email from “unknown” sources right away in an effort to get down to what I think is really important and what I need to read and tend to that day. Time is precious, and most people need to get through the minutia quickly. One would naturally suspect this practice deletes plenty of unread “marketing” messages. So what is the most opportune time to have your email pop up in your target’s inbox?
Like most effective strategies, there are lots of factors other than the right time to consider. First is your target – client or prospect, Is this your first timing reaching out or have you already established a relationship? And what about the message? Is it relevant and to the point? Have you offered more than one way to respond?
Let’s assume your target is accessing their email during their workday. If it’s your first reach, you might want to try having your message arrive early afternoon, during the lunch hour. This way if your target is at lunch or returning to work from lunch, they likely will take a quick peek at their email before diving in for the rest of the day, or the next meeting. Their inbox will have less new email collected than first thing in the morning and they will be more likely to read the handful of emails just arrived in their inbox.
Once you’ve established an “email” relationship with your client/prospect, you may want to switch to having your email arrive first thing in the morning. By then they should recognize you and either open and read your email then or at least save it for later. Hopefully, your emails are relevant enough for them to read and not just delete unread!
In addition to timing, be sure to take note of a few more “Must Know” facts.
• Number 9 states people check their mobile phone 150 times per day. Make sure your email is designed for the smallest screen.
• Keep your subject line short and sweet. Capture their attention in a few words – must-know fact number 10 says iPhones cutoff subject text after 32 characters.
When it comes to email marketing, testing, monitoring and analyzing the data are critical!Check out the “Must Knows” here.
So, do you check your email first thing in the morning? And if so, would you agree or disagree that this is the best time to reach you with a marketing message? Let us know by emailing us at info@rmkdirect.com. We’ll be sure to check it, first thing in the morning!