Personalized Send Times deliver your campaign to each shopper at the time they are most likely to open, rather than sending to everyone at once. Each shopper is sent within a 24 hour window from the date you choose, so your campaign reaches everyone within a day of your scheduled send.
Your shoppers do not all open their inbox at the same time, so a single send time means most of them only see your campaign once it is already buried. Sending each shopper at the time they are most likely to open lifts opens, clicks, and revenue from the exact same campaign.
To turn on personalised send times:
- Build your multi-step campaign as usual, including any email and SMS steps
- Turn on Personalised Send Times for all emails
- Choose your send date
- Check the summary line, which confirms Sending on [date] at each shopper’s best time
- Schedule or send your campaign
Controlling individual steps
Turning on Personalised Send Times for all emails applies personalised timing across every step in your campaign. If a particular step needs to go out at a fixed time, you can turn personalised send times off on that step and set a manual time. The rest of your campaign stays personalised.
How Instant chooses each send time
When personalised send times is on, Instant predicts the best moment to send to each shopper individually:
- Instant looks at when each shopper has opened your emails on average over their lifetime
- It predicts the hour that shopper is most likely to open
- It staggers your campaign so each shopper receives it at their own best time, within the 24 hour window from your chosen date
- The same logic applies across every email and SMS step in your campaign
The content of your campaign does not change. Every shopper receives the same campaign you built, only the timing is personalised to them.
Note: Because each shopper is sent within 24 hours of your chosen date, your campaign can take up to a day to reach everyone.
FAQ
What happens if a shopper has not opened my emails before? If a shopper has not opened your emails before, Instant sends them at the best average open time across all your shoppers. Their timing becomes personalised as they build up their own open activity.
How far back does Instant look? Instant uses the last 90 days of open activity for each shopper.
Does this delay my campaign? It staggers it. Each shopper is sent within 24 hours of the date you choose, so the campaign reaches your full list within a day rather than all at once.
Does it work for SMS as well as email? Yes. Personalised send times apply across every email and SMS step in your campaign.
Will my open rates actually improve? Sending when each shopper is most likely to open is designed to lift opens, clicks, and revenue from the same campaign. Results vary by store and by how much open history Instant has for your shoppers.
Can I set a fixed time for one step but personalise the rest? Yes. Turn personalised send times off on the step you want to control, set a manual time, and leave it on for the rest of your campaign. To send your whole campaign at a single fixed time, leave Personalised Send Times for all emails off.