Marketers are wasting sales opportunities by using gut instinct to decide when to send promotional emails according to email marketing provider Pure360.
Pure360 says its research showed that contrary to popular assumptions, the volume of marketing emails opened drops markedly during the lunch hour.
Only 9% of the emails sent were opened between noon and 2pm, with 62% of those opened being news or magazine alerts rather than promotions on goods or services.
However between 5pm-7pm recipients are most likely to open B2B promotions (26%), as well as offers on holidays.
Pure360 analysed over 660,000 emails sent by 34 companies and found recipients far more likely to open emails in their own time rather than at work, contradicting the assumption of employees who take advantage of work-based email and internet for personal use.
Almost half (48%) of all marketing emails were opened outside of office hours.
Marc Munier, commercial director of Pure360, said: “Over the course of the working day, there is a shift among consumers regarding what type of emails they are likely to open.
“After lunch, consumers are more open to âbigger picture’ promotions, whether that involves sorting out their finances, finding a new job or looking for a new property. 42.6% of all the financial services emails that were sent were opened in the afternoon.”
