Send time optimization (STO)
Use send time optimization (STO) to deliver emails at the exact time of day and day of week that your contacts are most likely to be checking their email, based on prior behavior. Send time optimization and behavioral tracking must be enabled for your organization. You can then set up any single or double opt-in database for send time optimization.
Your databases might include contacts from several time zones and countries. Messages that are sent with STO are delivered based on the contact's past email activity. Therefore, you can send a message once and, regardless of time zone, it's delivered at the most optimal time.
Acoustic Campaign determines when the next STO-enabled message should be delivered to your contact, based on the most frequent open time for that contact. For example, if Jane Doe opened several of her previous emails at 3:00 PM, but her last open occurred at 10:00 PM, her optimized send time remains at 3:00 PM. If Jane's interaction with your messages changes over time, STO calculates the most likely time of open.
Activate STO for multiple databases
You can enable STO while you're working in any single or double opt-in database, all in one location. Enable STO and then create or map the Send Hour column from your database.
When you enable STO for an existing database, you must wait 24 hours before you send your first optimized email. This time allows the system to process your previous 30 days of email activity to identify the optimal delivery time for each contact.
How does STO send?
The default value for the send hour field is 0 for "Send immediately". When you add a contact, the Send Hour field is automatically set to "Send immediately". You must select a send start trigger with each send type. The trigger can be a time, date, or event. In all cases, STO begins processing the send immediately upon the trigger.
After the processing completes, STO (for both 24 hours and 7 days) immediately sends the email to all contacts with a value of 0 in the send hour field.
Processing time varies depending on the size of the database, the complexity of the message content, and other factors. The send occurs as closely as possible to the send trigger, and continues to send every hour on the hour for the next 24 hours or 168 hours (7 days).
Types of STO send
There are two types of STO for scheduled and automated sends: 24 hours and 7 days.
An STO send with a time span of 24 hours begins sending at the first whole hour that occurs after processing completes. It continues to send every hour on the hour for the next 24 hours. Send hour values represent each hour within a week, so some conversion is required for a 24-hour send. For a 7-day STO send, a contact with a send hour that equates to Monday at 7:00 PM is sent to on Mondays at 7:00 PM. For a 24-hour STO send, that same contact is sent to at 7:00 PM, regardless of which day of the week the send is scheduled for or triggered.
For example: On Tuesday at 2:00 PM, you schedule a send for Thursday at 2:30 PM with the 24 hour STO selected. Processing takes two hours. For all contacts with a send hour of 0, the email begins sending on Thursday at 4:30 pm. The next send begins at 5:00 PM and is sent to contacts with a send hour that is the equivalent of 5:00 PM, regardless of the day of the week. The next send begins at 6:00 PM, continuing around the clock until the last send takes place at 4:00 PM the following day.
7-day sends do not require conversion.
For example: On Thursday, May 21 at 1:00 PM, you schedule a send for Thursday, May 21 at 2:00 PM with the 7-day STO selected. Processing takes 2 hours. For all contacts with a send hour of 0 and all contacts with a send hour that matches Thursday at 4:00 PM, the email begins sending on Thursday, May 21 at 4:00 PM. The next send begins on Thursday, May 21 at 5:00 PM, for contacts with a send hour that matches Thursday at 5:00 PM. The following send begins on Thursday, May 21 at 6:00 PM for the next send hour contact group. This continues throughout the week, with the last send taking place on Thursday, May 28 at 3:00 PM for the last group of contacts.