Skip to main content
How does timing work?
Chris Traczyk avatar
Written by Chris Traczyk
Updated over a week ago

The timing of delivery has a big impact on open and response rates, so it’s obvious you’d like to make the most of it. In this article you'll learn more about timing and how does it work:

You can set up an hour for messages to be sent. You can also mark which days of the week would be the most suitable for your message to be sent. This way, our app will schedule emails for the closest day that matches your criteria. This is very convenient when you plan to use your cadence multiple times, and we usually recommend marking all days from Monday to Friday.

NOTE: The messages are sent in chosen hours according to the prospect's timezone (not yours).

Where can I change the timing criteria?

You can set and change the timing criteria when creating/editing your sequence. You can reach this point in 2 ways:

1. From a template view:

  • Choose the sequence to edit or create a new one by clicking on + Add new sequence:

Screenshot_2020-10-12_at_19.32.18.png

2. From a campaign view:

  • Enter the campaign in which you want to set your timing criteria,

  • Move to Sequence tab on the top of the page:

Screenshot_2020-10-12_at_19.38.05.png

Once you reach the sequence, you need to change the timing criteria of each step separately. To do that, you just need to click on the step template and there you will be able to change the criteria!

IMPORTANT NOTE: If you want to set up your own timing criteria, you need to turn off the "Optimize sending time for me" feature. Otherwise the messages will be sent according to Growbots optimized timing criteria, not your own.

Initial message timing

First you’ll need to choose when you’d like to send your initial message. The initial message will trigger the timing of your whole campaign. Each follow up message will send based on when the previous message has been delivered.

In the initial message timing you have to choose at which weekdays and at which hours of those days will your messages be sent:

Screenshot_2020-10-12_at_19.14.51.png

Once you do that, you can set the timing of a first follow-up.

Follow-ups timing

The timing criteria of the follow-ups are set pretty much the same way as in the initial message. The only difference is that you need to choose how many days (you can change this criterium to hours if needed) after the previous message should the next one be sent.

mceclip0.png

NOTE: The "Send after" criterium means that the message will be sent X days after the previous message (eg. previous follow-up), not the initial one. Weekends are included into this count.

For example, I send my initial message from 8 am - 10 am on Monday and then my follow up message is scheduled for 8 am - 10 am, 3 days after and allowed to send on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday. This will send my follow up message 3 days after my initial message was delivered on Monday. The follow up land’s in the prospects inbox on Thursday of the same week:

Screenshot_2020-10-12_at_20.10.28.png
Screenshot_2020-10-12_at_20.11.31.png
screen3.png

Other timing criteria

While scheduling the messages, the system takes into account not only the timing criteria in the sequence. It also has to obey the other restrictions that are put on the email accounts and the timeline. So what's taken into account is:

  • Timing criteria in the sequence (weekdays, hours, sending X days/hours after),

  • Sending limits on each of the email accounts,

  • Other messages already scheduled on the timeline,

  • Excluded holidays and custom dates.

You can find more information about scheduling mechanism in this article.

NOTE: Bear in mind that your Timeline is shown in your time zone. You can choose/change your time zone in Settings Organization.

For example, I have a limit of 100 emails per day, and I have a campaign that has a the initial message scheduled to go out 8am - 10am Monday or Tuesday. The first 100 prospects will get one email each (100 emails total sent from your account) on Monday. The remaining 50 prospects will be sent one email each (50 emails) on Tuesday. This is because your initial email could be sent on Monday OR Tuesday. The rule is exactly the same for all follow ups.

screen4.png

It’s important to choose more than one day of the week in case you have a situation like the above example.

Optimized sending time

Optimized sending time is a feature that helps with scheduling your messages. With this option turned on, your emails will be set to go out between 6 AM and 12 PM every weekday, to boost the odds of being noticed and read. Follow-ups are scheduled to be sent after 3,4 or 5 days - randomized. If you want to turn the feature on, just tick the box by Optimize sending time for me option:

mceclip1.png

NOTE: If you want to read more about best practices in email timing, check our article and analyze the perfect timing for specific job positions, industry, company size etc., e.g.:

Did this answer your question?