Timing – It’s just as important as the offer

Right message, right person, right time. Obviously with every campaign we aim to connect with the right person - that person who actually wants to know about our offering (even if they don’t yet know they want to know!). And we always endeavour to use the right message - with a clarity and authenticity that breaks through a crowded marketplace. But how often do marketers get the timing right for email and mobile sends? A lot miss shoot and have the poor click through rates to prove it. 

Why is timing so important?

Appropriate message timing can help build relationships with consumers. Sending your email or text at a convenient time (to your audience, that is) establishes empathy from your side. You’re saying: ‘I understand you have a life with responsibilities and a schedule and I’m happy to work around these’. You’re actively showing your audience that you get that their time is valuable. Naturally, catching them at the right time is also more likely to spark interest and activate engagement.

Conversely, a poorly timed message can destroy relationships...try selling me something whilst I’m trying to shepherd the kids to bed. It might be exactly what I need and at the right price but it’s definitely not the right time! At worst, I ignored the call or email. At best I answered or scanned it, got annoyed at the intrusion and went back to what matters most at that time of day.   

Consider the normal weekday morning in the modern Australian family. Let’s visit the Malloy household just for fun…

7am… time for me to go to work. Where are my keys? Where did I put my wallet? Got my mobile but forgot to charge it. Bugger. See ya kids, bye darling… GOOD LUCK!

In the living room, our three children are milling about waiting for the breakfast call from mum. The TV is switched on. Two iPads are being negotiated/fought over by two of three said children.

In the kitchen, my wife is using her Jedi-like multi-tasking skills to sort breakfast and prepare school lunch. Toast is on, butter and vegemite are open. The Nespresso is switched on, the milk is in the frother heating. A school uniform is in the dryer and still needs to be ironed.

Back in the living room, Scooby-Doo has finished and a major power struggle for control of the TV has ensued. Our eldest daughter, in possession of iPad number one, knows that with 5% battery life left her app-based entertainment is on borrowed time. She knows her younger brother (who’s in possession of the TV remote) is not likely to notice the dwindling battery icon so she performs a cunning heist to switch devices. The TV is promptly switched to something involving Elsa (or some other princess) whilst her brother climbs back onto the couch blissfully unaware that in less that 10 minutes his world will completely fall apart when the IPad battery dies.

My wife notices the smart con-job that has gone down and prepares herself for a major three-year old meltdown when he realizes that, yet again, his big sister has outwitted him.

Breakfast is now ready and a there is a procession of little people to the dining table. Whilst they eat breakfast/argue/create a mess, my wife jumps in the shower and hopes that uniform will be dry by the time she has finished her shower.

Halfway through the shower, the bathroom door is knocked open where my wife is confronted by the accused and her much junior accuser attempting to explain his extreme dissatisfaction at the iPad/TV remote deal. Things quickly escalate and we now have two children crying. Meanwhile our placid middle daughter, who is sat at the dining table, now has three breakfasts to choose from, an iPad and the TV remote… heaven.

Did I mention the laptop? It’s sat on the kitchen bench. The screen is always on and more often than not both Facebook and Outlook are open. But is it used between the hours of 6 and 9am? It’s not even looked at in our family and I’m guessing in most families with kids still in the nest. This is the worst time ever to contact my wife about anything. Even a 99% off sale at Witchery or a best selling book like ‘Top 10 Tips to Negotiating with Kids’ would promptly be discarded. 

The optimum time to engage

There are hundreds of studies claiming the right time to communicate with your customers. So, when is the best time to send your messages? It depends on your audience and what you’re offering as well as the deployment times of other marketers.[1]

Of course the best indicator of optimum send times for your specific brand is to invest in testing your campaigns.  Saying that, it still pays to do a little free research on what has worked for others. Here are some findings that might help you decide when to tap the send button.

For email:

• Top click rate times for email are 8am, 9am, 3pm, 8pm[2]
• 38.7% of email messages are sent between 6am and 12 noon. Even though 29.6% are sent between 6pm and midnight there is still roughly 10% less competition[3]

For mobile:

• Best times for retail: Payday, Saturday morning between 10am-1pm, Sunday 5-8pm when customers are browsing
• Best times for food outlets: 11am for lunch or 3-5pm for when thoughts are turning to dinner
• Best times for pubs/clubs: 7-9pm when people are deciding where to go[4]
• Special occasions – think birthdays, global events, mother’s day

Another thing to consider is what time zone you are sending to – if you’re targeting people in various locations consider breaking your list up and timing your send accordingly. 

Remember, these times are for email and mobile only – social media is a whole other kettle of fish. 

7 steps to get timing right

1. Use data and insights to build a clear picture of your customers and prospects.
2. Segregate your customers and prospects into clear demographic groups.
3. Live a day in the life of your existing customers shoes to get to know them more intimately.
4. Translate these insights into a schedule for each customer group showing likely times for messaging receptiveness i.e. High, Medium or Low.
5. Find a time that is both convenient and unique (on average, my wife’s Hotmail receives 50 emails between 6 and 10am. If you send to her – and most other mothers of small children – at 6.30am, your email would be both unopened and on the second page by around 9am). Ask is my intended audience likely to be receptive to my message/product/service at this specific time?
6. Go direct to the source - ask your customers: ‘When is the best time to send you a message?’ and How often would you like us to send?’. Some marketers are afraid to ask at the risk of the dooming unsubscribe! Personally, I’d find it refreshing if a brand asked me when I would like to receive their messaging.
7. Test, test, test. Take what you’ve learnt from past campaigns and optimise accordingly.

For mobile and email messaging timing is critical - in some cases it’s THE most important part of a marketing strategy as highlighted in our Malloy example. So, the morale of the story: if you truly want to engage your audience put some time into your timings!

By: Alistair Malloy, Account Director, ContactAbility