**by Doug Drees**
In the first part of this series, I explained how B2B Marketers can
improve the efficiency of pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns via
geo-targeting
<http://searchengineland.com/benefits-of-geo-targeting-a-national-ppc-program-20597>
, and why this technique is beneficial, even for national advertising
programs. Today's article will explore a second, proven method of
focusing PPC campaigns and improving results: ad scheduling.
Ad scheduling
Basically, there are two methods of scheduling ad serving: time of
day, and day of week. With time of day scheduling, you set specific
times you would like to run (or not run) ads. With day of week, you
run (or do not run) ads on certain days. You can combine these two
methods and set ad serving for specific times on certain days. For
example, you may choose to run ads between 8:00am and 6:00 pm on
weekdays, and only during evening hours on weekends.
Day/Time reporting tools
Before you start an ad scheduling program, I recommend that you
analyze past campaign performance by day and time. The specific
metrics you analyze will depend on your campaigns goals and how you
measure success.
Google allows you to report impressions, clicks, click-through-rate,
average cost-per-click, and cost – all by time of day and day of
week. You can do this by generating an Ad Group, Campaign, or Account
Performance Report. These metrics are great ways to better understand
traffic patterns.
However, for campaigns that measure success based on conversions
(sales, leads, registrations, etc.) you will need to move beyond basic
Google reporting and use a third-party tool that allows you to report
conversion metrics (such as volume of conversions, conversion rate and
cost-per-conversion) by time and day.
Analyze historical results
Once you've prioritized campaign success metrics, it's time to
analyze historical results. If you work in a seasonal industry, you
may want to run a separate analysis for various time periods. For
example, PPC results may be different in the summer months, or may
vary greatly during the holiday season. If your business isn't
particularly seasonal, it's best to analyze a full year of data if
possible, to average out any short term anomalies.
Once your data is compiled, you will likely see significant trends in
campaign performance by day and by time. Below are some examples of
data from actual PPC campaigns:
<http://s786.photobucket.com/albums/yy148/dougsmartsearch/?action=view¤t=Graphs.jpg>
Implement a scheduling strategy
A common occurrence for many B2B campaigns focused on reaching
corporate buyers is that results decrease significantly after business
hours and on weekends. If this is what your historical data indicates,
you should consider focusing your campaign, realigning your budget,
and only serving ads during business hours.
Alternatively, if your target audience is small business owners and
independent consultants, many of these folks work out of their home or
run a business on the side. You may see better results during evening
hours and weekends. If this is the case, it makes sense to focus your
limited investment during these peak conversion times.
Once you have determined a scheduling strategy, you can easily
implement this in each of the PPC campaign interfaces by setting your
ads to run at the best performing days and times. In both the Google
Adwords and Yahoo interface, you will find this option in campaign
settings.
Focus your investment
Searchers (and prospects) behave differently at various times. Ad
scheduling can be a great tool to add to your PPC arsenal. Whether you
have unlimited funds, or a limited budget, ad scheduling allows you to
take advantage of the times of day or day of week when your customers
are most interested in your product or service.
Bottom line: Make sure you're spending your dollars in the right
places
<http://searchengineland.com/benefits-of-geo-targeting-a-national-ppc-program-20597>
and at the right time!
Opinions expressed in the article are those of the author, and not
necessarily Search Engine Land.
Doug Drees <http://searchengineland.com/author/doug-drees/>
is a PPC Specialist at SmartSearch Marketing
<http://www.smartsearchmarketing.com/ >
. Over the past several years he has successfully managed large,
complex campaigns in many industries including retail, education and
technology. Doug also has a strong background in web analytics, local
search, media buying and social media. SmartSearch Marketing
specializes in custom, comprehensive search marketing programs for B2B
firms <http://b2b.smartsearchmarketing.com/ >
and companies with complex sales cycles.
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