For financial advisors, email seems to be the communication medium that is both despised, and loved, at the same time. Despite the fact that email clogs the inboxes, can commandeer our time, is 80 percent or more junk and/or superfluous, technologically archaic, it is STILL the workhorse communication medium for most financial advisors.
However, during a time where time and attention is a resource in diminishing supply, many successful financial advisors are becoming much more strategic in their use of email. One of these strategic decision points is the best time of day to send an email where the recipient is most likely to engage the email content.
“Engage the email content” is a multi-faceted activity. It involves the recipient doing three things:
A recent interesting study from the Email Marketing Tips Blog indicates that the time of day when an email is sent is a critical factor if one wants to be successful in meeting all three of these facets. In the study they analyzed 21 million email messages. Some interesting patterns emerge:
Some Lessons for Financial Advisors
For emails where you want your clients and prospective clients to READ and ENGAGE, consider the following:
Who knows how long email will remain the go-to medium for many financial advisors? With the rate of technological change in mobile devices as well as our changing communication habits and preferences, email might possibly be defunct in a few years. However, for today email still is the king.
Long live the king…but respect when he likes to eat, rest, and sleep.