How to Time Your Drip Messages for Best Results

How to Space Messages Apart

The right interval depends on your campaign type and audience. Here are proven starting points by campaign type:

• Welcome sequences: Day 0, Day 1, Day 3, Day 5, Day 7. Front-load messages when interest is highest, then stretch intervals.
• Lead nurture: Every 2-3 days for the first week, then every 4-5 days. Total duration 3-6 weeks.
• Post-purchase: Day 0 (confirmation), Day 2 (getting started), Day 5 (check-in), Day 10 (review request), Day 21 (cross-sell).
• Cart recovery: 1-2 hours, 24 hours, 48-72 hours. Short and urgent.
• Onboarding: Day 0, Day 1, Day 3, Day 5, Day 7, Day 14. One milestone per message.
• Re-engagement: Day 0, Day 3-5, Day 7-10. Three attempts maximum.

The general principle: send more frequently at the beginning of a sequence (when the trigger event is fresh) and less frequently as time passes. Early messages benefit from the contact's recent action and high engagement. Later messages should give breathing room.

Best Time of Day for Email Drips

Research across billions of emails consistently shows that mid-morning sends (9am to 11am) get the highest open rates for business audiences. For consumer audiences, early evening (5pm to 7pm) also performs well as people check personal email after work. Tuesday through Thursday tend to outperform Monday (inbox overload) and Friday (weekend mindset).

That said, the best time for your audience may differ. Test different send times using the A/B testing approach and let the data guide you. On this platform, you configure the send window (hours and days) in the schedule settings. The system sends during that window, distributing messages across the allowed hours.

Best Time of Day for SMS Drips

SMS timing is even more critical because text messages interrupt people immediately. Best practices:

• Never send before 9am or after 8pm in the recipient's time zone. Many carriers block messages outside these hours, and recipients will unsubscribe.
• Late morning (10am to 12pm) works well for most business messages. People are awake, at their phones, and not yet in deep work mode.
• Early afternoon (1pm to 3pm) catches the post-lunch window when people check their phones.
• Avoid commute hours (7-9am, 5-7pm) for marketing texts, but these work fine for appointment reminders and delivery updates.

See Best Times to Send SMS Messages for more detailed timing recommendations.

Timing for Cross-Channel Sequences

When using both email and SMS in the same drip, do not send both on the same day unless one is a deliberate follow-up to the other. Alternate days: email Monday, SMS Wednesday, email Friday. If you do send both on the same day, send the email in the morning and the SMS 4-6 hours later as a "did you see our email?" nudge. See Combined Email and SMS.

Signs Your Timing Is Wrong

• High unsubscribe rate on a specific message: The gap before that message may be too short, or the message itself may feel repetitive coming so soon after the previous one.
• Sharp open rate drop after message 2 or 3: You are sending too frequently. Stretch the intervals.
• Low open rates across the board: Your send time may miss when your audience checks their inbox. Try a different time slot.
• Good open rates but low clicks: The timing might be fine but the content needs work. See Writing Drip Messages.