I don’t cook much, but every now and then my appetite convinces me that it is worth the time and effort. Recently, I thought that it would be a good idea to do some baking with my daughters. We decided on cookies, unanimously.
I pulled the tried and tested Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook off the shelf and we rummaged through for something that met the approval of our mutual taste buds. Thirty minutes later, there were crumbs on the floor and a sink-full of dishes. Mission accomplished!
Recipe for Peanut Butter Cookies
1/2 cup margarine or butter
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar 1/2 cup packed brown sugar or 1/4 cup honey
1 egg 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
* bake at 375 degrees for 7 to 9 minutes or till bottoms are lightly browned. Cool cookies on wire rack. Makes about 36.
Some email marketers use a similar approach when determining the best day to send their email campaign. They decide what to send and then look for an available recipe for good send dates. There are some good email marketing metrics available, like eROI’s Quarterly Email Statistics Report.
When betting on horses, a conservative bettor will play the odds. He might not get a huge payoff, but it is the safest way to play the game. Conservative email marketers are no different. They will play the odds and use benchmark data to guide their campaigns.
Recipe for best day to send email:
Here’s the rub.
It costs the same whether you send your message out on Tuesday or Saturday. So the horse analogy doesn’t quite fit this scenario. Also, not all recipes are created equal. We enjoyed our cookies this weekend, but I’ve had much better in local bakeries where they created their own custom recipe rather than using the Betty Crocker benchmark. The same it true with email marketing benchmarks. Industry averages can be telling. But they are not necessarily the best fit for your own particular audience.
The only way to really know the best day to send email is to create your own recipe by running tests on your own, unique audience until you find the best response. Keep your own metrics while varying days of the week over a predetermined time period. But always keep in mind that an old recipe can get stale after a while. Your audience can change and the best day to send email can too.
