The best time to send an email

When to Schedule Recruiting Emails

The goal of scheduling an email at the right time, is for it to be read and replied when received. To understand THE BEST time to do this is important to put yourself in the shoes of the prospect or parent. Think about what their school week and practice schedule might look like so you can reach out when they are most likely to be available.

Monday

Coaches and marketers agree Monday is the wrong time to send a recruiting email. People are busy adjusting the workweek or school schedule and emails sent then can be easily missed or ignored.

Midweek (T, W, TH)

Most coaches and marketers will agree that Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday are the best days to send an email. In the middle of the week your recipients are settled into their work routine and can more easily direct their attention to your message. Sending your message during this time will yield the greatest results/responses.

Friday

On Friday everyone is day dreaming about the weekend. This can be tricky, as their attention might be elsewhere but they are usually winding down for the week and are more free to respond. After lunch Friday is typically also a great time to send your email.

Weekend

The weekend is a busy time for your message to appear in a prospect’s mailbox, but there are certain periods when they are ready to respond. Sunday evenings are a good time to experiment sending a message. Prospects receive less emails and may have some free time over the weekend, which makes catching their attention with your message or newsletter much more likely.

What time to send?

Here at ARI Recruiting we have worked with TCS to survey students to find what time they usually check and read their college emails. Research shows that students check their email:

• 12% in the morning before school
• 13% during lunch time
• 28% after school
• 38% in the evenings
• 9% on the weekends

Conclusion

Based on our research, ARI Recruiting’s recommendation is that you schedule your emails for Tuesday to Friday 3pm -5pm and 7pm – 9pm. Our data has shown that emails sent during this time result in the highest open and response rates.

Gray Dorsett is one of the co-founders of Advanced Recruiting Intelligence (ARI), a next-generation software for college coaches to not only track their conversations with recruits, but also measure their interest in their programs using proprietary tools. For a free demo to see how it works, and why so many coaches are switching to this new way of monitoring their prospects’ path through the recruiting process, click here.