Try to Outbound in the “Offseason”

I don’t do much outbound marketing to sell domain names these days. In the past, I spent a fair amount of time reaching out to prospective buyers, and the timing of emails is important. I don’t have the data to share what day or time of day is best to send emails, but I do think it is important to send outbound sales pitch emails during the “offseason” or “shoulder season.”

When a company is busy taking or fulfilling orders, they are probably ignoring sales pitch emails. They are focusing on making money and responding to clients, and an email pitch to sell a domain name most likely go ignored. It can be difficult enough as a customer to get a response from a contractor or service provider during a peak season, so expecting a response to a sales pitch is silly. An outbound sales email could also make someone angry and too many spam reports can cause future deliverability issues.

A better time to send an email is during a slower time of the year for the business. During the off-peak times, the business operators are planning and budgeting for the next year or next season, and a domain name sales email will likely be more timely. Perhaps the company just finished a great season and is planning ahead for the next one. Even if they aren’t, it is more likely that an outbound email will receive more attention than during the peak season.

Seasonality depends on the type of business. An email targeting accountants probably shouldn’t be sent during corporate or personal tax filing seasons. Event planners probably shouldn’t be emailed during the Spring or Summer seasons. Almost every business has a time of year when the company is at its busiest and the management doesn’t have the time or desire to review sales emails. I try to time my emails based on that if I am able to know when it is busiest.

I find myself thinking that one of my domain names would align with a particular business while that business is on my mind. Unfortunately, this probably means it’s peak time for that business. When I opt to do outbound, I generally pick and choose domain names at random from my portfolio. If I choose to send outbound emails, business seasonality plays a role in deciding which domain names to pitch and when.