When it comes to timing your email sends, are there any general best practices? Or do you just try to see what works and adjust accordingly?
Vicky: It depends, but if you’re stuck and have no idea, then start with weekdays, then get more specific depending on your audience. If your audience is parents, for example, then they’ll probably be dropping off their kids at 9 am and picking them up at 2 or 3 pm, so you want to avoid those times. Or maybe your audience is corporate workers who eat breakfast at 6 am while reading the news—then you might want to send it at 6 am. I’ve even been successful sending on the weekend. But it really depends on your audience. If you’re stuck, then try weekdays between working hours and you should be alright.
You can also tailor your schedule to someone who bought something from you, and automate another when they’re likely to buy again.
I also love Mailchimp’s Send Time Optimization, which identifies the best time to send your email. Sometimes I’ll tweak it, but very rarely. I also really love Timewarp. The email arrives based on your audience contacts’ time zones, so when you send for 10 am, it arrives at 10 am everywhere, not just in your time zone.