When to send out emails

I send out email announcements to both fans and media. I've pondered what day and time to send them. I try to avoid weekends, on the assumption that some people only check email during office hours. For the same reason, I try to send them out to during daytime hours, fearing that they may become buried amongst other email if they arrive in the inbox during the nighttime. Also, for fans, I usually send out an announcement no more than two or three days in advance, on the assumption that people will forget if they receive a notice too far in advance.

Here's something I found on timing tourism notices.

iMedia Connection: Case Study: Newsletter Boosts Tourism: "In order to stand out, Travel Oregon used the first newsletter to test which day of the week was best to reach potential Oregon travelers. Traditionally, the period between Tuesday and Thursday was thought to be an optimal time; last year, however, an eROI email study determined that Monday appeared to be the best day to not only send email, but also the best day to generate clicks (individual recipients clicking on links). More recent data suggest that while the best day to send email varied by industry, weekends have emerged as an optimal time to maximize clicks. Given eROIs findings, TravelOregon's communications director, Kevin Wright, decided to 'split its 70,000 subscriber list into four segments and compare response to each in order to determine the best send day for the Travel Oregon Newsletter.'"