Timing is one of the most underrated parts of email marketing. You can craft a great subject line, design a clean layout, and even segment your audience perfectly, but if your email lands in an inbox at the wrong moment, the results can drop instantly.

The good news? You don’t need complicated tools or big budgets to get this right. With a few simple tweaks, you can send emails when your audience is at its most active, helping you increase open rates, clicks, and conversions.

In this guide, we break down the best times to send marketing emails in the UK, using behavioural trends, industry benchmarks, and practical tips for small businesses. We’ll also look at the differences between B2B and B2C timings, how often you should email your audience, and how to run simple tests to find what works for you.

If you’ve already read our post on the 10 Best Email Marketing Tools for UK Small Businesses in 2025, this guide builds on that by helping you get the most out of whichever platform you choose.

Why Email Timing Still Matters in 2025

Email might feel old-school, but it continues to outperform almost every other marketing channel. Inboxes, however, are more crowded than ever. People receive dozens, sometimes hundreds, of emails every day, and most are skimmed, ignored, or deleted without ever being opened.

This means the question isn’t just what you send… but when.

Good timing helps you:

• Increase open rates
• Improve click-through rates
• Boost engagement
• Reduce unsubscribes
• Avoid “email fatigue”
• Strengthen deliverability (yes, timing affects this too)

And while every audience is different, we can still use UK-specific behaviour patterns to find strong starting points.

The Best Time to Send Marketing Emails in the UK

Across multiple UK marketing studies, one clear trend stands out:

The best overall time to send marketing emails in the UK is between 9:30am and 11:00am on weekdays.

Why this works:

• The morning rush has passed
• People are settled into their day
• Inboxes are less chaotic than first thing
• The “mid-morning check-in” is extremely common in the UK
• Engagement tends to spike before lunch

However, this is only the starting point. The real magic happens when you start tailoring send times to your audience type and behaviour.

Best Send Times for B2B Email Marketing in the UK

B2B audiences behave differently from consumers. They check emails more frequently, often during structured parts of the day, and tend to engage most when they are not deep in meetings or tasks.

Best Send Times for B2C Email Marketing in the UK

B2C behaviour is more varied. People check emails in shorter bursts throughout the day, often on mobile. They scroll in queues, on lunch breaks, or in the evenings when they finally have downtime.

Weekend emails? Really?
Yes. UK data shows that B2C emails sent on Saturday morning or Sunday evening often perform surprisingly well because:

• There’s less inbox competition
• People have more time to browse
• Mobile use is much higher at weekends

This works especially well for:

• Retail promotions
• Event reminders
• Short newsletters
• “Last chance” offers

If your business serves consumers, whether that’s online shops, services, fitness programmes, or events, don’t underestimate evening and weekend performance.

How Frequency Affects Deliverability

One of the biggest misunderstandings among small businesses is how often you should email your audience.

Too many emails can lead to:

• Lower open rates
• Higher spam complaints
• Higher unsubscribe rates
• Poorer sender reputation
• Emails landing in the Promotions tab (or worse, spam)

On the other hand, too few emails can also harm your performance. If you only email once every couple of months, your audience forgets who you are, which increases unsubscribes and lowers engagement.

Recommended frequency for UK small businesses:

• B2B: 1 email per week or 1 every two weeks
• B2C: 1–2 emails per week
• Newsletters: weekly, fortnightly, or monthly (but consistent)

Frequency is more important than volume. If you email every Tuesday at 10am, eventually your audience expects it, and consistency helps inbox providers trust you.

Avoiding Email Fatigue (and How to Spot It Early)

Email fatigue happens when subscribers feel overwhelmed or uninterested in the content you’re sending. This hurts your performance and can damage your long-term deliverability.

How to prevent fatigue:

• Keep frequency consistent
• Send useful, relevant content (not constant sales pitches)
• Segment your audience
• Suppress inactive users
• Monitor your engagement monthly

If you sell a product or service that people don’t buy regularly, avoid sending too many promotional offers. Instead, share helpful content: guides, tips, updates, or case studies.

Morning vs Afternoon vs Evening: What Works Best in the UK?

Every part of the day has pros and cons depending on your audience.

Weekend sends

Best for: Retail, consumer services, lifestyle content
Pros: High mobile usage, less inbox clutter
Cons: Rarely ideal for B2B

How to Test Your Own Email Send Times

Every audience behaves differently, and the best-performing send time for your business may be unique. Testing doesn’t need to be complicated, and all you need is a repeatable method.

Final Tips for Small Businesses and Startups

Because many small businesses don’t have large lists or advanced segmentation, timing becomes even more important. A few practical rules to follow:

• Use mid-morning for B2B:
  If your audience includes professionals, try Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday between 9am and 10am.
• Use lunchtime or evening for B2C:
  Try 12pm–1pm or 6pm–8pm, and test weekend sends.
• Start slow and stay consistent:
  1 email per week is enough to build trust without overwhelming subscribers.
• Always monitor your metrics:
  You’ll quickly spot if timing needs adjusting.
• Keep building your email cluster:
  Your site already ranks well for email-related topics, so timing content will strengthen your authority even further.

Final Thoughts

If you’re looking for a simple way to improve your email results, optimising your send time is one of the easiest wins. While every audience is different, UK data for 2025 shows clear patterns:

• B2B performs best mid-morning on weekdays.
• B2C performs best at lunchtime, evenings and weekends.
• Consistency boosts deliverability and trust.
• Testing your timings is essential to long-term success.

Even if you’re a small business or startup with limited time and resources, improving your timing can help you get more out of every email you send.

If you’d like help refining your email timing, choosing the right platform, or improving your email results, feel free to reach out or explore the rest of our email marketing guides.