Many things have changed over the past few weeks. It has caused significant problems across swathes of this country’s business life, so it seems a bit selfish to complain of difficulties with data returns. They require management though.

Experimenting with sending times has become one of the stalwarts of split testing in an email marketing campaign. You probably varied days at the beginning, then specific times, and might even have moved on to subtler markers, such as weather, movements in the markets, or even birthdays. You, like the rest of us, will have tried most things.

Now, unfortunately, the effectiveness of the data might have been compromised, as circumstances have changed. The purchasing person you knew would welcome new ideas on Wednesdays, the day before his meeting with his boss, perhaps around 11 am, just after he’d settled all the overnighters. But the meeting doesn’t occur now.

Working from home changes the clock for us in fundamental ways. No one likes to open a B2B marketing email at 8.30 am, during the rush from the station, or just before the journey home. Many are now already at their place of business at those times. They are at home. 

Many of those who work from home split their day. They might even split working times with their partner, with one getting the kids up first thing, the other feeding them in the morning, and the afternoon generating a volte-face. You don’t need to know their details to be able to discover when they open their emails. 

You should split test now. You might well find the most popular time for marketing email opening is now hours before or after the one proved as best on your data. Don’t just change everything immediately. While the lockdown continues, you should run with the new times but soon, we hope, the situation will change. 

Unfortunately, it is likely that it will not revert, at least immediately. Some will continue to work from home, and possibly for an extended period. How many, and for how long is unknown, at least until you split-test your email marketing lists.