This is the second part of my series on e-mail marketing. Check out the last installment, Email Marketing - The Legal Stuff.

When trying to schedule an email campaign, think about when you check your own inbox and actually click through to things. There’s not really a “magic time” where people are opening all their emails, but it does vary over the course of the day.

A lot of companies try the “first thing in the morning” approach, and when you look at research from MailChimp, this might not really be helping. Email open rates peak between 12PM and 4PM Eastern time. It’s probably because this is when the largest possible population in the US and Canada are awake and at their desks.  Emails will be fresh in their inboxes when sent around this time of day. People on the East Coast are taking afternoon breaks, customers in Texas are eating lunch at their desks, and those on the west coast might be in their late morning lull. (more…)