Best time spreads a campaign over the next 24 hours, so each person gets it around the hour they usually open your emails. Someone who reads your emails on their lunch break gets it around lunchtime, and someone who reads them in the evening gets it in the evening.
How each person's time is chosen
Each person's time comes from when they opened or clicked your emails over the last 90 days: the hour that comes up most often. It takes at least three opens or clicks to work this out. Anyone with fewer, including people you've never emailed, gets it at a set time, usually 10am in your time zone. The When step shows the exact time.
Sending at the best time
- On the When step, choose Best time.
- On the last step, click Send at best time.
- Read the window that opens, then click Schedule sends.
Nothing goes out straight away. The first emails leave when the earliest person's usual hour next comes round, and the last within 24 hours.
While it's going out
The campaign shows Sending at the best time, and its page shows when the next email goes, when the last one is due and how many are still to send. You can close the page.
Each person is checked again shortly before their email goes. Anyone who has since unsubscribed, had their emails stopped, been put on a never-email list, turned off the campaign's topic or reached their how-often limit is skipped.
Things to know
- Best time can't be used with an A/B test. While a test is switched on, the Best time button is greyed out.
- To stop it part-way, open the campaign, click Stop sending under the progress bar, then click Stop sending again to confirm. Nobody else gets it, and the campaign shows Cancelled. The people it has already reached keep their copy.
- It works best on a list with some history. On a new list, most people get the set time.