What is send time optimization?
The send time optimization feature delivers email messages at the exact time of day and day of week that your customers are most likely to view their inboxes, based on prior behavior.
How to use it
Use send time optimization to send your message to millions of contacts with a single click, each of them receiving their message at the optimal time for them.
International emails
The majority of marketers have databases comprised of contacts across a number of time zones. Because messages sent with send time optimization are delivered based on the contact's past email activity, you can send a message once and regardless of time zone, your message is delivered at the most optimal time. International emails have never been easier!
How it works
Acoustic Campaign determines when the next send time optimization-enabled message should be delivered to your contact, based on the most frequent open time for that contact evaluated over a number of sends. For example, if Jane Doe opened several of her previous emails at 3 p.m. but her last open occurred at 10 p.m., her optimized send time remains at 3 p.m.—the most frequently occurring time of activity. If Jane's interactions with your messages change over time, send time optimization calculates the most likely time of open.
Easily activate send time optimization for multiple databases
You can now enable send time optimization while you're working in any single or double opt-in database, all in one location. Simply enable send time optimization and then create and/or map the Send Hour column from your database.
Initialization process for active databases
When enabling send time optimization for an existing database, you need to wait 24 hours before sending your first optimized email. This allows time for the system to process your previous 30 days of email activity to identify the optimal delivery time for each contact.
How does send time optimization work?
Let’s begin with a definition for the send hour field of 0. The default value for the send hour field is ‘0’ (‘Send Immediately’). When you add a contact within the system, the Send Hour field is automatically set to ‘Send Immediately’.
You must select a send start trigger with each send type. The trigger can be a time, a date, or an event. In all cases, send time optimization begins processing the send immediately upon the trigger.
After that processing completes, send time optimization (for both 24 hours and 7 days) sends the email to all contacts with a value of ‘0’ in the send hour field immediately.
Processing time
The processing time varies depending on the size of the database, the complexity of the message contents, and other factors. The sending occurs as closely as possible to the send trigger, and it continues to send every hour on the hour for the next 24 (24 hours) or 168 hours (7 days).
Send types
The two types of send time optimization sends are available when scheduling and automating sends are 24 hours or 7 days.
24 hours
A send time optimization send with a time span of 24 hours begins sending at the first whole hour that occurs after processing completes. It continues to send every hour on the hour for the next 24 hours.
Send hour values represent each hour within a week, so some conversion is required for a 24 hour send. For a 7 day send time optimization send, a contact with a send hour that equates to Monday at 7 pm is sent to on Mondays at 7 pm. For a 24 hour send time optimization send, that same contact is sent to at 7 pm, regardless of the day of the week the send is scheduled for or triggered in.
Example:
On Tuesday at 2 p.m., you schedule a send for Thursday at 2:30 pm with the 24 hour send time optimization selected. Processing takes two hours. All contacts with a send hour of 0 begins sending on Thursday at 4:30 pm. The next send begins at 5 p.m., and is sent to contacts with a send hour that is the equivalent of 5 p.m., regardless of the day of the week. The next send begins at 6 p.m., continuing around the clock until the last send takes place at 4 p.m. the following day.
7 days
7 days sends do not require conversion.
Example:
On Thursday, May 21 at 1 p.m., you schedule a send for Thursday, May 21 at 2 p.m. with the 7 day send time optimization selected. Processing takes two hours. All contacts with a send hour of 0 AND all contacts of a send hour that matches Thursday at 4 p.m. begin sending on Thursday, May 21 at 4 p.m. The next send begins on Thursday, May 21 at 5 p.m., for contacts with a send hour that matches Thursday at 5 p.m. The following send begins on Thursday, May 21 at 6 p.m. for the next send hour contact group. This continues throughout the week, with the last send taking place on Thursday, May 28 at 3 p.m. for the last group of contacts.