Which Day of the Week Should Recruiters Send Out Their Emails?
(By Todd Bossler)
There’s a saying that with humor and comedy, timing is everything.
The same thing could be said about sending emails.
People are so inundated with emails these days that it’s difficult to stand out among the sea of emails that people have in their in-box every day. As a result, it’s important to identify when you believe it’s best to send out your emails.
Here’s the bad news: there’s really no set-in-stone practices for which day is the best for sending. (If that was the case, everybody would be sending on that day . . . which would then make it the worst day.) Believe it or not, there are pros and cons for just about every day of the week. However, it still appears that there are some days that are better than others.
The bottom line, though, is that you have to decide which day works best for you. That starts with figuring out which day gets you the better response rate. This may take some trial and error and some tracking, but if you’re able to track response rates, that will help you determine which days works the best for you. While only you can decide which day will work the best, below are some comments regarding each of the days of the week.
Monday
Monday morning is when people’s inboxes are the most full. Not only that, but they just arrived at work after two days of not being there. Their minds might not be totally devoted to their work tasks just yet, and the earlier in the day, the more that might be the case. With that in mind, if you’re going to send out email on this day, make sure it’s in the afternoon, preferably mid-afternoon.
Tuesday
Okay, this day has traditionally been viewed as one of the better days to send email. For one reason, it’s not Monday. Theoretically, people have slugged their way through the build-up of email from over the weekend, and their inbox has been trimmed down. As a result, your email has a better chance of standing out. This is a good day to send an email if you want to include a call to action. After all, they have the rest of the week in order to take said action.
Wednesday and Thursday
These days are slightly behind Tuesday as far as popularity goes (especially Thursday). People are already beginning to think of the weekend (humans are predictable), so you’d be less inclined to include calls to action in your email. Instead, you might want to think about using emails that have a leisure theme. After all, chances are that your recipients are already thinking about leisure time. Catch them in the moment.
Friday
If you think that people are thinking about the weekend on Wednesday and Thursday, wait until Friday. Not only that, but Friday is a day that many use to extend their weekends. As such, they’d be just as likely to check—and read—email on this day as they would on Saturday or Sunday. However, there’s one bright spot here. If you choose to send an email out on Friday, you’re up against less competition.
Saturday/Sunday
Okay, it’s true that more people check their email on the weekend than ever before, due to the advent of technology. However, it’s still the weekend, and many people are busy doing other things. As you might imagine, if you’re dead-set on sending an email over the weekend, focus on Saturday as opposed to Sunday.
Remember, it’s up to you which day to send out your emails. The key is to find a system that works the best for you and to stick to it.
(Internet Strategies Manager Todd Bossler is a writer for the Top Echelon Recruiter Training Blog.)
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