Megan Ingenbrandt
The customers you’re looking for aren’t online 24/7. They have families, jobs, and other things to do. But if your customers aren’t online at a certain time of day, what’s the point of your ads running then?
Fortunately, you can look at your campaign data to figure out when your ads perform best. Using this data, you can optimize your campaign to “ramp up” at those times. That way, your ad is online when your audience is.
What Is It?
Dayparting means scheduling your ads at certain times. When you schedule them depends on which times provide the most value to your business. It’s also called ad scheduling or time targeting.
Why Should I Be Using It?
You need to be where your customers are, when they’re there.
Does your data show that your target audience is searching for your product the most on Tuesday afternoons? Then that’s when your ads need to be seen.
How To Make The Most Of It:
1. Define Your Business’s Peak Hours
Before we begin, we need a business to advertise. I’ve been craving pizza lately, so we’ll call it Mama Meg’s Pizzeria.
First, figure out when your customers are searching for you. This is when your ad needs to be most visible. You’ll use this insight to schedule your ads.
You can find this information in the ‘Dimensions’ tab of your AdWords account. Here, you’ll be able to see when your ads are getting clicked. You’ll also find your average CTR, CPC, and impressions.
With Mama Meg’s Pizzeria, we may notice an increase in website clicks and traffic around dinner time. This is when people are coming home from work hungry.
You’ll want to make sure that your ads are visible during the peak hours your audience is online. Use your campaign data to see when your customers are searching for your product.
2. Know The Overall Trends
Searches for restaurants (like our pizzeria) account for 23 percent of local mobile searches. And 80 percent of them lead to conversions. Plus, did you know that there’s an uptick in mobile usage between 6 p.m. and 10 p.m.? That’s when most people are browsing.
Take advantage of this! Target this time frame to make our campaign more visible.
This ensures that we’re the first business our town thinks of when they’re craving a slice of tomato pie.
3. Target Your Business Hours
If your business is open weekdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., don’t have a click-to-call campaign running at 10 p.m. For example, if our pizza shop stops delivering at 1 a.m., we would need to make sure our ads with the call-to-action, “Order now!” are turned off by then. Same with any ad with a call extension.
With any campaign trying to get someone to initiate direct contact, you need to make sure someone’s around to help them.
4. Account For Seasonal Behaviors
Keep in mind that what works in the winter might not in the summer, especially if you sell a seasonal product. No one needs a surfboard during a blizzard, after all. Customers’ needs may change depending on the season, so don’t “set it and forget it.”
If you notice your product is more in-demand one month than another, why not use that to your advantage?
Here’s How It Works:
You’re probably wondering how to set up dayparting. In this video, the folks at AdWords show you:
Have you tried dayparting? What results have you seen? Share in the comments below!
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