What’s The Best Time To Send Cold Emails? The Complete Guide
For a B2B seller, cold emailing is crucial for attracting new prospects. Let’s say you’ve prepared a great script that’s sure to win them over, but that’s not all you need. Your prospects expect to receive cold emails on a daily basis, but when is the best chance they’ll read them? And does it even matter?
It does matter! Data by Yesware shows that 75 percent of all cold emails, when sent at the right time, are opened within an hour of sending them. And for most B2B prospects, it’s pretty clear that the best time to send cold emails is during typical working hours between 9 AM and 5 PM. Narrowing down a window can help you personalize cold email campaigns with a platform like Mailgo.
We’ll discuss why timing matters, best days of the week to send cold emails, differences between industries, and how to determine the best time for your audience.
What is Cold Emailing for B2B?
It’s when you send a message to a potential customer you haven’t engaged with before – to pitch a service, product, or business opportunity. It’s different from sending warm emails, which go to people familiar with your brand. These are unsolicited messages going to new contacts who don’t know you.
When done right, cold emails give your business extensive reach, allowing you to reach markets you can’t access with conventional marketing. Although they don’t guarantee lead conversions, they give you a head start.
But without a carefully curated approach, cold emails can land in the spam or junk folder and only about 23.9 percent of them get opened. And the rate of responses is even lower, with only about 8.5 percent of cold emails getting responses. To land among the 8.5 percent, you need to tick several boxes:
- Have an effective ‘from line’ that proves you’re a credible business.
- Write a convincing subject line that draws your prospect to open the email.
- Keep things short and concise, ensuring that it reflects what you talked about in the subject line, while avoiding spam words.
- Personalize your cold emails to win over your prospects, since generic messaging will sound insincere.
- Send follow-up emails, because recipients are more likely to reply to emails when they’ve received multiple emails from the same email address.
For the average marketer, that’s about it, but to stand out, you need to get the timing right.
Why Timing is Important in Cold Email Outreach
In 2024, 361.6 billion emails were sent and received daily, showing a sharp increase from 347.3 billion emails in 2023. This number is only going to grow in the coming years, so your B2B sales prospect will have to deal with a busy inbox just about everyday.
You may not like it, but your business is up against several competitors vying for the customer’s attention, so timing can make or break your outreach campaign. As mentioned earlier, most emails that do get opened, are opened in the first hour after sending. As time passes by, open rates fall and you risk having thousands of emails unopened.
Timing matters because you’re a new contact reaching out to a company that has never heard of you. Send an email at the right time and they’re more likely to respond – miss the mark (like emailing them on a weekend) and they’ll never want to reply.
Best Days of the Week to Send Cold Emails
You’re probably wondering if some days are better for B2B cold emailing than others, or if you should pick specific days for cold email outreach. For starters, it’s recommended that you focus on weekdays for the most obvious reason: no one wants to receive work-related emails over the weekend.
You don’t want to get blocked by prospects, so what are the best days to send cold emails? Experts recommend Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, and here’s why those days are best.
Don’t Send Emails on Weekends
No prospect is going to see your email if you send it on the weekend because they’re off the clock. Even if they see it, they’ll think you’re a bother and won’t open it. Let’s say they do remember to open it on Monday, they’re not likely to respond. After all, their first impression of you is that you don’t respect their time off.
So if you’re wondering what’s the best time to send a cold email on Sunday, we advise that you avoid it if possible. But if this is the only time you can send it, you should schedule it to send on Monday. This applies to public holidays, too.
Is Friday Okay?
Everyone loves Friday! How about sending your prospect a cold email on Friday, when they’re feeling happy for the weekend? Don’t be mistaken – Fridays can be bad for cold outreach. This is when employees are rushing to finish the workday so they can welcome the weekend. Chances are that they’ll miss your email and even if they do see and open it, they’ll think ‘I’ll reply on Monday.’ Come Monday, and they may forget to reply.
Start of the Week: Monday
Let’s say you choose Monday to start a cold outreach campaign and send emails. Is this the best time? It’s better than emailing them on Sunday, but there are varying opinions on how effective it is. The first is that your prospect just got back to work from a great weekend, so the thought of going back to their daily routine is depressing.
Besides that, they may have leftover work from Friday to finish, so there’s too much on their plate already. Monday is when employees get back to work, so sending unsolicited cold emails runs the risk of not getting a reply. Data from Marigold and Brevo support the idea of sending cold emails on Tuesday, as it leads to higher open rates.
In contrast, data by Lemlist shows that Monday is the better choice to get more replies, followed by Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. There are a few reasons Monday can prove effective, like how sending an email at the start of the week keeps you at the top of prospects’ minds. Moreover, prospects also have more time to reply to your email, so they won’t lose track of it over the weekend.
Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays
How about Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday? The general consensus is that these days are effective. A survey by Yesware shows that cold emails sent on Mondays and Tuesdays see a high reply rate. There’s no particular reason this is the best time to send a cold email – just that your prospects are feeling more productive. Because of this, they don’t mind hearing out what you, an anonymous sender, have to say.
That being said, Monday to Thursday are generally effective, so you shouldn’t settle on a specific day of the week. Instead, focus on getting everything else right and you have the best chance to get a reply.
Best Time of the Day to Send Cold Emails
Sure, some days are better than others to send a cold email, but what about timings? Just to clear things up, there’s no specific time when sending an email will guarantee a reply. Still, there are certain times of the day when your prospects are likely to engage with email notifications – and others when you won’t get any conversions.
The most important thing is to know who you’re talking to, then decide whether you’ll reach out in the morning, afternoon, or evening.
Mornings
For most B2B cold emails, employees are freshest in the morning. Sending it at the start of their workday will catch their attention, and many surveys show similar results. Most prospects are either getting ready to start the day or are settling into work between 8 AM to 10 AM. Data shows that the timing with the best reply rate is around 5 to 8 AM, before the workday begins, since it’s the first thing potential clients see when checking the inbox. Just remember to keep things short, since few prospects have the energy to read long paragraphs so early in the day.
But even if you’re likely to get more replies by sending cold emails early during the day, you may not want to start the day so early. If that’s the case, you can draft emails and schedule them in advance using a platform like Mailgo.
Afternoon
Generally, the chances of getting replies reduces as time passes, so early afternoon is the next best time to send cold emails. Any later than that and you risk sending an email during the lunch break. While you can send emails during the last leg of the day, it’s usually when employees are wrapping the work they got at the start of the day.
Evenings
The general consensus is that sending cold emails past 6 PM yields fewer replies. But for prospects who are night owls, it could work. That’s where it helps to use an advanced emailing platform that shows how our cold outreach campaigns are performing. For instance, Mailgo has real-time analytics that track marketing metrics. You can track and compare open rates, clicks, and replies for different sending times, improving results during the campaign.
Determining the Best Time For Your Audience
As mentioned earlier, the best time to send a cold email can vary depending on your buyer persona.
- Analyze current email open/click data: Review previous cold outreach campaigns using analytics. A good example is Mailgo’s reporting feature, which shows opens and replies. Break down the results based on industry, persona, and timezone.
- Segment the email list: Because prospects can respond differently, segment your audience based on their role, industry, and location. Each segment can have ideal send times, like how some business owners check emails late at night, while corporate executives check their inbox early in the morning.
- Run A/B Testing: A/B testing is an effective way to determine your audience’s timing preferences. You can do this by sending the same email to similar audience segments, but at different times. Then, measure their open rates, reply rates, and conversion outcomes.
- Use Mailgo’s Smart Sequencing: This allows you to set up email sequences that adapt based on the recipient’s behavior. You can schedule follow-up emails to send if they don’t reply to your first one.
FAQs
Should you cold email on weekends?
Data shows that cold emails sent on weekends have the lowest rate of replies compared to weekdays. This is generally because prospects are busy taking time off and aren’t focused on work.
Is 7 AM too early to send a cold email?
No, it’s not too early. Data shows that emails sent before the workday starts receive the highest number of replies – followed by emails sent at the start of the work day. Most prospects are freshest at the start of the day, and emails sent at that time are more likely to get their attention.
Do people reply to cold emails?
Yes, although the rate of replies to cold emails is low – about 8.5 percent. Of course, not getting a reply doesn’t mean that it’s a ‘no.’ Your prospects may be busy or your offer may not apply to them at the moment, so you should send a follow up.
Should I cold email on Friday?
Data shows that out of all weekdays, Fridays have the lowest rate of replies for cold emails. This could be because prospects are looking forward to the weekend and may overlook emails from anonymous senders.
How long to wait between cold emails?
Cold email outreach requires more patience, so it’s best to wait 3 to 5 days before following up. This gives the recipient more time to consider your offer before you send a follow up.
Conclusion: What’s The Best Time to Send Cold Emails?
When you’re trying to reach thousands of new prospects, you can’t email them at random – you need a strategy. Weekdays are the best time for B2B cold email outreach, out of which Monday to Thursday show the highest rate of replies. Out of these four days, emails sent before and during the start of the work day are most likely to get replies.
But for quality results, it’s best to understand your audience and create a personalized cold outreach campaign based on buyer persona. That’s where Mailgo comes in.
With features like AI-Powered Lead Finder, Smart Scheduling, and Real Time Analytics, Mailgo is your go-to platform for personalized cold email campaigns.
If you’re tired of dealing with low-yield cold outreach campaigns, switch to Mailgo!