3.9 billion emails and texts were sent from Attentive customers during Cyber Week 2024—that’s a 38% lift year-over-year. While message content has a huge impact on performance, the same message sent at different times can also see significantly different results.
The good news: You don’t have to guess your way through campaign scheduling. As your trusted guide, we’re here to help you find your rhythm. 2024 Cyber Week performance reveals when brands sent the most campaigns and when shoppers converted the most.
We’ll also show you how Attentive’s Send Time AI can boost your conversion rates—and give you clear guidance on when to use automation versus manual timing to deliver the best results.
SMS proved to be the conversion powerhouse during Cyber Week 2024, achieving the highest click-through and conversion rates on both Black Friday and Cyber Monday. The immediacy of text messaging means subscribers see your offers instantly—but only if your messages actually reach them.
During BFCM, phone carrier networks experience massive volume spikes that can delay message delivery. Peak congestion hits between 10am and 3pm ET on Black Friday and Cyber Monday, when delivery can slow significantly.
To ensure your time-sensitive offers reach subscribers quickly:
Remember: To comply with federal and state regulations, we recommend setting quiet hours from 8pm–12pm ET. Check with your legal counsel for specific compliance requirements in your markets.
2024 data reveals a fascinating split between the most popular and the highest-converting send times. Most brands consistently sent campaigns at a different time than when shoppers were converting.
But this doesn’t mean you should avoid sending earlier in the day. Introduce your deals early—especially on Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Then follow up with reminders to encourage conversions when they’re ready to buy.
In general, shoppers are converting earlier in the day than they did in previous years. Behavior has likely shifted as shoppers learn to buy sooner so they don’t miss out on limited-time offers or inventory.
For time-sensitive offers like flash sales or limited inventory alerts, prioritize immediate delivery over optimal conversion times.
Email excelled as an awareness channel during Cyber Week 2024, with peak click-through and conversion rates on the Tuesday before Black Friday. While SMS dominated during typical business hours, email shined when shoppers checked their inboxes in the evening and late at night for most of Cyber Week.
Unlike SMS, where carrier congestion and legal restrictions create timing challenges, email's biggest opportunity lies in reaching subscribers at off-peak times—when the social events are over, the kids are in bed, and people are decompressing from the day.
Evening emails perform well because:
Just like with SMS, we saw a significant gap between when brands sent emails and when subscribers actually converted.
But again, this doesn't mean you should only send at night. Email augments your text message campaigns by expanding on product details and deals and providing more visual context.
As with SMS, prioritize immediate delivery over the optimal send time for any time-sensitive deals so shoppers are alerted right when your sale starts.
In The Consumer Trends Report: The State of Personalized Marketing in 2025, we found that individual engagement patterns vary significantly over the course of a day.
Attentive’s Send Time AI delivers messages when each individual subscriber is most likely to engage. This AI-powered approach improves CTR and CVR for 75%+ of eligible SMS campaigns, and boosts email conversions by 17% on average.
But you’ll need to consider what’s best for your brand throughout the end-of-year shopping season depending on the types of campaigns you’re running.
Personalizing send time with AI is an effective strategy to use outside of your core sale days like Black Friday and Cyber Monday when you are likely running time-sensitive deals.
Since Send Time AI can deliver email and SMS campaigns throughout the day, subscribers could miss your sale altogether if it’s only available for a certain amount of time or if you have fast-moving inventory.
Use manual send times for campaigns that are:
Leverage Send Time AI for extended shopping season engagement.
With 39% of consumers planning to start their Q4 holiday shopping before October, you have more chances to engage shoppers with personalized timing.
Use Send Time AI for:
Using Send Time AI in these scenarios maximizes individual engagement during relationship-building phases while reserving manual control for high-stakes sales moments.
This hybrid approach helps you capture the extended shopping season’s full potential—maximizing engagement when you have the luxury of timing flexibility and ensuring immediate delivery when every minute counts.
With these data-backed insights, you can approach Cyber Week campaign timing with confidence. Keep in mind that what works for one brand might not work for yours. So look at your previous BFCM campaign data to align with what works—or doesn’t—for your subscribers.
Get your email and SMS campaigns scheduled early so you can be sure everything is ready for the big event. If you use Attentive, we’ll identify potential deliverability issues so you can update your campaigns accordingly.
