Episode 98: The Best Time to Send Emails - The Email Sound Booth with Liz Wilcox

Summary4 min read

Episode Summary: "The Best Time to Send Emails" (Episode 98)

Podcast Information

Title: The Email Sound Booth with Liz Wilcox
Host: Liz Wilcox
Description: For online businesses that need to remix their email marketing efforts, and finally build an email list that makes them money and feels good to do it.
Episode: 98: The Best Time to Send Emails
Release Date: February 19, 2025

Introduction

In Episode 98 of "The Email Sound Booth with Liz Wilcox," Liz tackles a perennial question in email marketing: When is the best time to send emails? While the digital landscape is flooded with data-driven suggestions and segmented strategies, Liz offers a refreshing take that emphasizes personal consistency and strategic timing based on individual workflows.

Challenging Conventional Wisdom

Liz opens the episode by acknowledging the multitude of opinions and tools available for determining optimal email send times. She humorously points out the complexity and sometimes conflicting advice marketers receive:

“I'm putting Chapstick on. Taking a sip of Wawa. Go ahead and Google it... It's going to tell you all this stuff about segmenting and... we're going to send this to her Wednesday at 9 or something like that.”
— Liz Wilcox [00:54]

Despite the advanced features of email service providers that can predict the best send times based on subscriber behavior, Liz suggests that these conventional methods might not be the ultimate solution for everyone.

Consistency Over Timing

Central to Liz's philosophy is the idea that consistency trumps the exact timing of emails. She emphasizes that the best time to send emails is when you can commit to doing so regularly:

“The best time to send emails is when you're going to get your butt in the seat each week.”
— Liz Wilcox [02:10]

By consistently sending emails at a set time, marketers can build a reliable pattern that their audience comes to expect and look forward to, fostering a sense of trust and anticipation.

Training Your Audience

Liz introduces the concept of "training" your audience to recognize and engage with your emails at specific times:

“You can quote, unquote, train your audience to open your emails at Tuesday at 5pm if that's what you've been doing consistently.”
— Liz Wilcox [03:15]

This strategy leverages the power of routine, making your emails a predictable part of your subscribers' schedules, which can enhance open rates and engagement over time.

Personal Experiences with Email Timing

Sunday Evenings with the RV Travel Blog

Reflecting on her past experience managing an RV travel blog, Liz recounts how she found success by aligning her email sends with her subscribers' lifestyles:

“I used to send on Sunday evenings. That's when I knew my subscribers... were sitting down... They would sit, watch TV, watch YouTube, check their email.”
— Liz Wilcox [04:20]

Sending emails during this time capitalized on subscribers winding down from weekend activities, making them more receptive to engaging with her content.

Transition to Tuesdays

In her current ventures, Liz opts for Tuesdays as her primary email send day. She explains the reasoning behind this choice based on her own workflow and observations about her audience's behavior:

“On Tuesday, I feel like I can slack off again, right? And so I started sending my newsletter on Tuesday for that reason.”
— Liz Wilcox [05:45]

By choosing a day that aligns with a stable work rhythm, Liz ensures that she remains consistent without overextending herself, which in turn sustains her email marketing efforts effectively.

Analyzing and Adjusting After Consistency

Liz advises that once a consistent schedule is established, marketers should analyze performance metrics to determine if adjustments are necessary:

“After consistency, you can start to analyze. Is my open rate good? Would I like it to be higher? Maybe I could try a different day and see what happens.”
— Liz Wilcox [07:10]

This approach balances steadfast routine with the flexibility to optimize based on real-world results, ensuring that email strategies remain both reliable and effective.

Conclusion

Liz wraps up the episode by reaffirming the importance of consistent action over chasing the elusive "perfect" send time. She underscores that while data and tools are valuable, the foundation of successful email marketing lies in maintaining a steady and reliable communication rhythm that fits both the marketer's and the audience's workflows.

Notable Quotes

“The best time to send emails is when you're going to get your butt in the seat each week.”
— Liz Wilcox [02:10]
“You can quote, unquote, train your audience to open your emails at Tuesday at 5pm if that's what you've been doing consistently.”
— Liz Wilcox [03:15]
“On Tuesday, I feel like I can slack off again, right? And so I started sending my newsletter on Tuesday for that reason.”
— Liz Wilcox [05:45]
“After consistency, you can start to analyze. Is my open rate good? Would I like it to be higher? Maybe I could try a different day and see what happens.”
— Liz Wilcox [07:10]

Additional Resources

For listeners interested in further enhancing their email marketing strategies, Liz promotes her $9/month email marketing membership, which includes weekly templates and other valuable resources. This membership aims to provide ongoing support and tools to help businesses refine their email efforts effectively.

This comprehensive summary captures the essence of Episode 98, highlighting Liz Wilcox's unique perspective on email timing by prioritizing consistency and personal strategy over generalized data-driven recommendations. Whether you're a seasoned marketer or just starting out, Liz's insights offer a grounded approach to building and maintaining an effective email list.

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Transcript1 lines

[00:01]
A
What's up? Liz Wilcox here. You already know you're listening to the email sound booth podcast. And if you're not watching on YouTube, you can't see me, but I'm making like a big heart with my arms because I don't know why. I just am so blessed and I just, I just feel so much love for you. The listener today is that corny. Probably I'm just in my feelings lately. Like, we're nearing a hundred episodes of the podcast. The YouTube channel. Go to watchlist.com, by the way, is growing. You know, we're, we're gearing up for list building Live, my micro audio summit all about how to grow your email list. The annual pass is going to open up. There's just so much going on and I just. It would not be possible without you. And so, yeah, I love you, babe. Is that inappropriate? I don't know. Anyway, what. What am I talking about? Oh, yeah, I'm recording my podcast. Episode 98. Can you dig it? The best time to send emails. This, this episode should be really short. The best time to send emails is when you can get your butt in the seat. I know when you Google it, they're going to give you a different answer. So you can Google it right now. You can pause this, you know, type it into your phone. I'll wait. I'm putting Chapstick on. Taking a sip of Wawa. Go ahead and Google it. It's going to tell you all this stuff about segmenting and you know, when is your customer online and there's some email service providers that will even track it for you. So it's like, oh, we know Liz Wilcox opens her emails Wednesday at 9am you hit send on Tuesday, but we're going to send this to her Wednesday at 9 or something like that. There's. That's a thing. Hang on, I need water. But listen, if you, if you haven't guessed by now or if you haven't gotten this about Liz Wilcox and what I teach and why I call myself the Fresh Princess, right? Because I offer in fresh takes on email. Like that is doing the freaking most. And you know what? You probably just need to do the thing consistently before you can do the most. So the best time to send emails is when you're going to get your butt in the seat each week, right? You can quote, unquote, train your audience to open your emails at Tuesday at 5pm if that's what you've been doing consistently. They know to look out for your thing Tuesday at 5, right? Or maybe the next morning. Oh, I know. Liz sent email yesterday. That's what I'm going to do. First thing when I turn my computer on is check and look for her email. Right? You can train your audience, so to speak, for lack of a better term. Right? And so I want you to just send the email. When you're going to freaking send the email. Go to your calendar. When do you typically have time? Or when are you typically wasting time? Okay, let's talk about that. For me, I'm typically wasting time on Tuesdays. When do I send my emails? On Tuesdays, right? Because I know on Monday I've got a lot of catching up to do. I've got meetings, I've got this, I've got that. But on Tuesday, I feel like I can slack off again, right? And so I started sending my newsletter on Tuesday for that reason. It just so happens I also talk to other entrepreneurs that probably do the same, right? They're like, oh, Monday, really gotta work on Monday. Or I'm moving slow on Monday. On Tuesday, I want to feel more productive. I'm gonna check my email even though I'm really slacking when I'm checking my email. But it makes me feel feel productive. Right? Same here. So that's why I send on Tuesdays. Back in the day, I had the RV travel blog, right? I used to send on Sunday evenings. That's when I knew my subscribers, again, like me, were sitting down. You know, they had a long weekend or maybe they just got home from camping or they just, you know, yesterday they pulled up to a new campsite. They finally feel settled in. They're going to sit, they're going to watch TV, watch YouTube, YouTube, check their email. So I would send Sunday evenings, right? And to my point about send when you can get your butt in the chair. It was also very convenient for me because I was traveling full time. It was also, you know, usually we'd get into a campsite Thursday or Friday. It would take us a couple days to kind of settle in. By Sunday, we're feeling good, we're chilling out. That was a great time for me to write my newsletter. Okay, so again, short answer here. The best time is when you can get your butt in the chair after a year of consistency. And by consistency, I mean once a week at least sending an email, then you can start to analyze. Is my open rate good? Would I like it to be higher? Maybe I could try a different day and see what happens there. All right. If you want more tips like this, you want to ask me further questions you already know you can join my $9 a month email marketing membership. You get weekly templates and you can send whenever you want them on top of some other awesome stuff. $9 a month link in the show notes as always, I'm Liz Wilcox. I'm so excited that you listened to this episode. Thank you so much and I'll see you on the next one.