E-mail open and read rates peak on Sunday and Friday, according to a recent study released by eROI on e-mail marketing. Wednesday had the lowest read and click-through rate. "From this quarter," the
study states, "we reaffirm again that sending volume is inversely related to how reads and clicks are going to react, with the one exception of Saturday." Saturday was the only day of the week which
shows both low-volume and low click- and read-rates. Firms with the largest e-mail lists, however--those with more than 100,000 recipients--see a reverse effect: Monday through Wednesday, the
high-volume days, show a 32 percent increase in reads and slightly more than twice as many clicks compared to the other, lower-volume days of the week. And the very largest senders--those with more
than 200,000 recipients on their lists--see another anomaly on Saturdays, with a large spike in read rates. The study attributes this to the fact that most very large senders are business-to-consumer
sellers, and target consumers who make their buying decisions on Saturdays.
--Shankar Gupta
