- eCom Email Marketer
- Posts
- ⏰ When to Hit Send: Your Guide to Perfect Email & SMS Timing
⏰ When to Hit Send: Your Guide to Perfect Email & SMS Timing
Plus, this week's top eCom stories in quick clips.
Commerce Roundtable San Diego is 70% sold out! Don’t miss Gary Vee headlining Sept 22–23 » Get Your Ticket
Hey, it's Chase and Jimmy here.
You spend hours crafting the perfect subject line. You A/B test your copy. You optimize every image and button.
Then you hit send at some random time and wonder why your open rates are disappointing.
Here's what most brands miss: timing can make or break even the best email. Send a great message when nobody's checking their inbox, and it might as well not exist.
But send that same message when your audience is actually paying attention? Suddenly your "okay" campaign becomes your best performer.
This morning, we're covering the timing strategies that actually move the needle. From data-driven send time optimization to automation triggers that hit at exactly the right moment.
Because the best email in the world is useless if nobody sees it.
Also inside:
✔️ How a baby brand built a five-figure revenue engine
✔️ 400+ posts in 48 hours (& tickets are 70% gone)
✔️ Quick Clips: The top stories from AG1, Keurig Dr. Pepper, and Pinterest
👉 Let’s dive in.
💸 How a baby brand built a five-figure revenue engine
Most brands only focus on campaigns. The problem? Campaigns alone can’t sustain growth, especially for small teams.
Bowy Made, a luxury baby brand, flipped the script. By going deeper into pre-purchase automations (browse, product, and cart abandonment), they turned missed opportunities into a five-figure revenue engine, with automations now accounting for 70% of total revenue.
Here’s how they did it:
Built a strong list early and invested in foundational flows
Added pre-purchase automations that captured customers before checkout
Focused on helpful, personal content over discounts
Fine-tuned flows with A/B testing and personalization
The result? Consistent revenue, 52% average open rates, and a 30% return customer rate, all running quietly in the background.
⏰ When to Hit Send: Your Guide to Perfect Email & SMS Timing
Your customer is busy. Their inbox is noisy. Their phone is buzzing. If you don’t show up when they’re actually paying attention, you’re toast.
Timing is one of the most underrated levers in marketing. Nail it, and you can increase opens, clicks, and even revenue – without changing a single word of copy.
Let’s break down how to master your send times (across all channels).
Step 1: Audit Your Current Send Times
Before jumping into experiments, start with your existing data. Check your past 3–6 months of campaigns and ask yourself:
Are there peak revenue hours?
Do your emails tank on Mondays?
Are your mobile-first customers more active at night?

You probably already have clues about what works. But looking at hard data can reveal patterns you’d normally miss.
Step 2: Keep Testing and Experimenting
Once you’ve established a baseline, it’s time to put your theories to test.
Choose a new send time to test every month and split your list:
Group A gets the standard send time
Group B gets a new send time (evening, weekend, etc.)
Keep everything else the same: subject, copy, offer. Just test the timing.
Track open rates, click-through rates, revenue per recipient, unsubscribes, and other key metrics. Over time, you’ll build a clear picture of when different segments respond best.
Pro Tip: Create a simple spreadsheet to log your test results. This makes it easy to revisit the data, spot patterns, and make better future decisions.
Step 3: Use Automation
Some messages don’t need a “best time”. They just need to show up right when they matter.
With automation, you can trigger emails or texts based on what your customer just did.
Here’s what that can look like:
Welcome email → Within 5 minutes of sign-up
Order confirmation → Right after checkout
Abandoned cart reminder → 30 to 60 minutes after leaving the site
Upsell or review request → A few days after delivery

Let’s say a new customer signs up on your site for 10% off. If your welcome email (with the discount) lands within seconds, they’ll likely complete their order. But if you wait a few hours? Chances are they’ve already moved on.
Plus, automation keeps you consistent because there’s no manual work involved. You’re easily able to repeat workflows for each individual customer.
Step 4: Pay Attention to Time Zones
What’s the point of sending a 10 a.m. email if half your list is still asleep?
If your customers are spread across the country (or around the world) you need to send messages based on their time, not yours.
Most email and SMS tools let you schedule by time zone. Use that setting so your 10 a.m. campaign actually lands at 10 a.m. for everyone.
If your platform doesn’t support it, try segmenting your list by region and scheduling in batches.
Step 5: Avoid Common Pitfalls
Timing mistakes don’t always look obvious. But they quietly cost you opens and sales.
Here are a few timing traps to steer clear of:
Monday mornings: People are clearing weekend clutter. Your email is likely to get buried or skipped.
Late-night sends: Unless you know your audience is active (e.g. you sell pizza), most won’t check until morning.
Holiday inbox chaos: During big sale periods like Black Friday, your message can get lost in the flood.
Also, don’t schedule based on what works for you. Just because your team prefers early mornings doesn’t mean your customers do. Always go by the data.
Step 6: Sync Send Times Across Channels
Email and SMS are strong on their own, but even better when they work together.
Instead of sending everything at once, space it out so your message follows the customer naturally through their day.
Here’s a simple flow:
Morning: Email with full details
Afternoon: Retargeting ad or Instagram story
Evening: SMS reminder with a direct link to buy
It feels coordinated, not pushy. And it increases the chances they’ll take action.

Step 7: Monitor and Adapt
Even the best timing strategy needs regular check-ins.
Keep an eye on:
Open and click rates: Are they trending up or down?
Unsubscribes: A sudden spike could mean your timing feels off.
Revenue per send: The most direct signal something’s working (or not)
Customer behavior shifts over time. Seasons change, routines shift, and what worked last quarter might not work now.
TL;DR: Timing Is (Almost) Everything
Want better results from your emails and texts?
Focus on when you send, not just what you send.
Here’s what to remember:
✅ Use your own data to find what timing works best
✅ Automate key messages so they send at the right moment
✅ Send based on your customer’s time zone, not yours
✅ Test, tweak, and avoid crowded inbox windows like Monday mornings or holidays
The message matters. But timing can make or break it!
400+ posts in 48 hours (& tickets are 70% gone) 🌴
Commerce Roundtable lands in San Diego this September 22–23... and it’s nothing like the drab carpeted, fluorescent-lit conferences you’re used to.
No endless pitch decks. No recycled playbooks. Just real operators sharing the strategies that actually work today.
At last year’s San Diego event, the energy was undeniable. 400+ social posts in just 48 hours. Proof that the insights (and connections) here are worth talking about.
Here’s why:
Proven, tactical insights from top DTC leaders
Inspiring waterfront venue for big thinking
Elevated food + drinks (goodbye, sad buffet lines)
Strictly limited sponsors (no pitch fest vibes)
Access to operators you usually only follow online
Legendary after-hours networking
Tickets are already 60% gone - grab yours before it's too late.
🗞️ Quick Clips:
Keurig Dr Pepper makes an $18B coffee power play: KDP is acquiring JDE Peet’s (Peet’s, Stumptown, L’OR) in the biggest European deal in two years. Once finalized, the companies will split into two U.S.-listed brands: Global Coffee Co. and Beverage Co. Total annual revenue? $27B.
AG1 launches AGZ, a melatonin-free sleep drink: AG1’s first new product in 15 years is here: AGZ, a nighttime blend of magnesium, saffron, valerian, and more, designed to help you wind down and wake up refreshed. No grogginess, no sugar, and three calming flavors.
Pinterest taps Gen Z with secondhand style push: Pinterest’s Fall 2025 trend report is all about vintage: from Y2K prep to Art Deco décor. Gen Z and male users are leading the charge, and the platform just launched a Thrift Shop hub now live through Sept 26.
Annnnd that’s a wrap for this edition!
Thanks for hanging with Chase and me. Always a pleasure to have you here.
If you found this newsletter helpful (or even just a little fun), don’t keep it to yourself! Share ecomemailmarketer.com with your favorite DTC marketer. Let’s get them on board so they don’t miss next week’s drops.
Remember: Do shit you love.
🤘 Jimmy Kim & Chase Dimond
Love this newsletter but want to receive it less frequently? Let us know by clicking here!
Reply