When should your ads appear?

MoreVisibility - July 17, 2008

At MoreVisibility, we work with many business-to-business (B2B) clients who recognize the importance of internet marketing.  They know their products and services intimately and understand their target customer base.  But many B2B clients we work with are not educated on how to leverage the search engine marketing space effectively to reach their potential customers.  Knowing when to display your ads can be as important as the ad copy itself and the amount of money you allocate to advertise online.

An excellent way to maximize your company’s exposure online and stretch your advertising dollar is through Ad Scheduling.  It is powerful because you get to choose what days of the week and what times during the day your ads will run in the search engines.  While you have this flexibility with some forms of traditional advertising, such as TV and radio, other forms do not provide this opportunity.  Billboards, magazines and newspapers come to mind in that regard.

Purchasing agents, company buyers, and those in charge of making purchases for their company use the internet to research and find suppliers.  And while more and more people extend their hours of work, they are still primarily doing their research and making decisions on what to buy and where to buy while they are at the office.  Targeting your Pay per Click ads, for example, to run Monday — Friday from 8am EST through 9pm EST (accounting for west cost business opportunities) in Google, Yahoo, or MSN gives B2B advertisers the flexibility to display their ads when they know their potential customers are in the “prime time” of making purchases and doing their research.  Having your ads paused during the weekend, when most of your B2B buyers are not at work, keeps you in control of when your advertising dollars are being spent.

So, think about when your customers are most likely to research your product or service online and get in front of them when they do!  Schedule your online ads accordingly and you can be confident you are getting the most out of your advertising dollar.