What time of day is best to push?

Timing is a massive advantage in mobile—you can deliver messages at the precise time when they are most likely to inspire your audience to act. But that “best time” varies widely among apps based on content, audience and desired action.

For example, an app sending a push at 7 a.m. about a sale might be considered disruptive. But one fashion brand oriented to mothers with young children learned that early mornings are one of the few times its customers can shop uninterrupted. That’s why this app sends early-morning deal alerts.

To find out the best send times for your brand, consider when people are normally opening your app. Commuting hours (if your audience isn’t driving) and lunch and break times might show the greatest engagement. Also note that while these trends tend to vary by day, they also tend to be consistent on the same day of each week.

Another way to select an optimal send time is through A/B testing—same message, different times.

Finally, consider the action you want your audience to take when you choose your send time: one of our customers found that pushes sent in the evenings, when customers had the most time to shop in response to the push, yielded the highest cart values and revenue.

This post is part of our ongoing best practices series.