When it comes to email marketing, most industry experts agree that content is the single most important factor for determining a campaign’s success or failure. Without engaging, valuable content, an email message is unlikely to hold a reader’s attention or encourage him or her to take action.

While content is critical, there are many other elements that must be considered for effective email campaign management. One of these is timing. Without proper timing, a campaign will miss out on many valuable opportunities, and its messages will resonate less with recipients.

Mobile vs. traditional emails

One of the key factors marketers must take into account when planning the timing of their campaigns is the device used to read the messages. According to a recent Return Path study, people tend to read emails via mobile devices more heavily during the weekend than the week, while the reverse is true when it comes to using desktop email clients.

Considering the number of people who use mobile devices to read email, marketers must take these timing issues into account when designing their campaigns. By sending mobile-based messages on the weekends, they can increase the likelihood that their emails will actually be read by recipients.

Tools yield results

To achieve this goal, Josh Boaz of iMedia Connections recently argued that marketers should invest more heavily in email marketing tools that can provide insight regarding email opens, clicks and conversion rates. Doing so can help marketers to optimize their timing, and therefore the overall effectiveness of their campaigns.

Kara Trivunovic, vice president of agency services for a leading email marketing firm, agreed with Boaz’s assessment.

“As with so many other aspects of marketing, timing is one of the most important elements for success and that is no less true when it comes to email marketing,” she said.