How to set up sending messages using Best Send Time

Proper timing of your mailing is important for successful communication with your subscribers for the following reasons:

• Increase Open Rate — If an email arrives when a user is most active, the likelihood of it being opened is much higher.

• Increased engagement — subscribers are more likely to read and interact with content (click on links, take targeted actions) if they receive an email at a time that is convenient for them.

• Reduces the likelihood of being spammed — if emails are rarely opened, email services may flag them as unwanted. Sending at a good time helps avoid this.

• Optimize resources — sending at the wrong time can lead to poor performance and lost leads, while Best Send Time helps maximize your return.

• Enhance loyalty — if subscribers receive messages at convenient times, they perceive them as more relevant and less intrusive.

The Best Send Time model, using machine learning, takes subscriber behavior into account and determines the optimal send time to make each mailing as effective as possible.

Machine learning (ML) is a technology that allows a computer to independently find patterns in data and use them to make decisions or predictions, without explicit instructions from a human.

How the Best send time model works in the Altcraft platform

Based on activity analysis, the best send time is determined individually for each user — it is one or several days of the week and hours when a message is most likely to be opened. The platform selects the closest of such intervals and sends the emails. This allows to increase the probability of opening emails, increase the open rate and click rate, and reduce the number of unsubscribes.

The model uses profile activity data for the last six months to determine the optimal time to send messages. If a profile does not have a history of sends and opens over the last six months, the algorithms will not be able to calculate the best time to send for that profile.

Read more about how the model was created and how it works in interview with Altcraft CEO.

Best Send Time model activation

ML service must be enabled to access this type of segmentation. To do this, contact the platform administrator.

Then enable machine learning in the base you plan to work with. Go to the base editor, scroll down the page and in the block «Machine Learning Settings» click «Activate»:

The «Best Send Time» model will start to work after that:

The data in the database about the best time to send is regularly updated at 00:00 (according to the time zone of the account). If you are required to change the update time, please contact the platform administrator. You can view the next update time in the database settings. If machine learning has been enabled recently, wait for the first recalculation of the data:

How to set up mailings with Best Send Time

Best Send Time can be used in two ways: via a segment in a regular campaign or via a node in a scenario. If the mailing is simple (for example, one-time or regular, without complex conditions and automatic data updates), it is enough to use a segment — the system will choose the optimal send time at the time of launch. If the mailing includes dynamic data updates, a chain of emails or trigger events, it is better to use a scenario where Best Send Time is configured via a special node.

Campaigns sending: Integrating Best Send Time into segment

To launch a regular Best Send Time campaign, go to «Segments» → «Dynamic segment» in the platform.

Enter the title:

Select the profile database whith activated machine learning. Specify selection by — «Best Send Time». Next, select the selection condition:

If the condition «for current hour» is set, the segment will include profiles for which ML service considers the current hour to be the best time to send a message. If at the moment of segment calculation it will be 11:30, the segment will include those for whom it is better to send messages at 11 am.

If the «select hours» condition is chosen, multiple hours can be selected. If a profile's best send hour matches one of the selected hours, it is included in the segment.

In the example below, profiles with a best send time of 9, 10, or 11 hours are selected:

After making the settings, click «Save» in the top right corner.

Then go to «Campaigns» → «Regular» and create a new campaign. In the recipient settings, select the subscription source «Segment»:

and specify created earlier segment:

Complete the settings and save the campaign. Now it will be sent according to the Best Send Time model.

Sending campaigns: integrating Best Send Time into scenarios

To start a mailing with more flexible sending settings, go to the «Scenarios» section of the platform. A node from the «Channels» category is required to create a mailing:

Before the item from the «Channels» category, add the node «Best Send Time». Select it from the «Operators» section:

Connect all elements, activate the scenario and save.

This operator will set a pause before the next element of the scenario, based on ML service data. In this case, the campaign will send a message to the profile at the most convenient time for it.

If the best hour has already passed when the profile hits the element, the system will wait for the nearest suitable time to send. If there are no such time intervals, the profile will go to the next element immediately.

In the case when a profile hits an element that has no data on the best send time, it will also be immediately directed to the next element.

Conclusion

Using Best Send Time helps determine the optimal moment for sending messages. This leads to better results. Thanks to Altcraft platform's ML algorithms, it accurately predicts when subscribers will open the email. This solution improves customer engagement, reduces the risk of sending messages at the wrong time, and drives up Open Rate and CTR.

Now you know when the best time to send a newsletter is and how to integrate ML into your marketing to create a personalized approach. Activate Best Send Time and increase the impact of your marketing campaigns!