Over the years marketers have debated what the best time is to run Facebook ads. Everyday leads to a new study that disproves the last. At first, “Weekends are the best time to post!” Then the next claims, “Weekdays get the best ROI for marketers!” Followed by “Both are wrong, best times to post are dependent on each industry and market you are in!”
Everyone has had their chance to weigh in on the subject, but the question still remains. Today Farfetched Studios is going to change that. The answer, which many may not like is: It all depends. And this is why…
Organic Posts vs Paid Ads
If Facebook was in a perfect world, all followers would see every organic post, like or comment on them, and share them leading to increased sign-ups and sales. But the reality is, this perfect Facebook world doesn’t exist and not all posts are created equally.
Since the introduction of the news feed in 2009, marketers have been tirelessly trying to beat the algorithm responsible for limiting branded content in user’s feeds. But there is a difference between choosing the best time to post an organic Facebook post and when to run a paid ad.
Organic posts can only be seen in news feeds of people who have already liked the page.
What makes Ads Different?
Facebook Ads deliver the potential to be seen by everyone on Facebook regardless of the user liking your page or not. Those seeing organic ads have already signed up and expect updates on their news feed.
Ads are naturally more aggressive, where marketers have bought their way into the news feeds to force feed content, that isn’t always relevant. Farfetched Studios doesn’t recommend making decision about when to run ads based on “the best time to post.” Users are more likely to engage with posts that they have already consented to.
Where with ads, most users don’t know what they will see next. Like showing an ad to an adult single male with no children potty training tips and products. The time chosen to run the ad doesn’t matter if the targeting focused on the wrong audience.
If marketers have the targeting under control and serving to the right demographics, but can’t rely on “best time to post” advice, what are they to do?
Determining the Best Time to run Ads
Figuring out when to run ads requires a deep understanding of the business, industry and it’s customers. In example, marketers would not want to show ads for snow blowers during a summer campaign. But, its also a little more complicated than just that when making the decision.
The highest earning day of the week for most retails marketers is Monday, where the weekend has been the lowest. Consumer spending also increases in the beginning and middle of the month due to the “paycheck effect.”
Being able to make sense of industry statistics is incredibly valuable, but it is not enough in the long run. Knowing the business from top to bottom is the key.
• What days have the most sales?
• What time of day do blogs and posts get read the most?
• When are the number of email sign-ups the highest?
The Experts Weigh In
A specialist at Paypal and Ebay, Claudia Lombana, noticed on Mondays between 11 am and 1pm was their biggest time for mobile shopping.
These are the depths of details that need to analyzed. When running an ad to drive clicks to a blog, figure out what time the blog tends to get the most traffic. Or running an ad to generate sales, find the days that have been most profitable and start the focus there.
Use Facebook’s data to decide the best time to run your ads based on performance. Follow the highs and lows to show trends and patterns through peak days of activity. This data is unique to each business, and must be determined on an individual basis. To find this, uses the Facebook ads manager tool to generate some reports. Specificity is key, break down the results by age, gender, placement, date range, and actions. All this data combined will point to a schedule on when to run the ads.
Now Your Turn
When deciding to run Facebook Ads, follow the methods mentioned above. By continually analyzing, adjusting and optimizing; finding the “right time to post” will be a thing of the past. Contact Farfetched Studios if you need help setting up and scheduling Facebook ads for you business. With over 10 years of experience in Social media marketing, let us help build a strong social ad campaign for the “right time.”