Gone are the days when Facebook was just a social networking site where you could share pictures and statuses with your friends and family. Over the years, Facebook has gone through a lot of transformations. However, it was the introduction of Facebook ads in 2007 that totally changed the game.
Facebook has a little less than 3 Billion monthly active users. This is why it has become one of the best platforms for businesses to market their products and services. Facebook ads help them connect with their potential and existing clients. With time, Facebook advertisements have been updated to fulfill the current needs. However, just using Facebook ads does not guarantee success. You need to understand how Facebook ads work.
With so many people using Facebook ads to market their products and services, you need to have certain tricks and business ideas up your sleeve to make you stand out. To get the most out of your Facebook ads, you have to optimize them. Different factors determine the success of your Facebook ad. One of those factors is the time you run your ad on the platform.
Does Running Facebook Ads at a Specific Time Help Your Business?
You might have heard the phrase “Time is Money.” It represents the importance of time and why should one never waste time when they can use it to earn money. Well, we are going to use it a little differently. We can signify the importance of time in the case of Facebook ads.
The time you run your Facebook ads is critical. Investing in Facebook ads isn’t enough; you need to know the best time to run them. If you run the ad at the wrong time, then you may not be able to extract all the benefits from that ad. So, choose your ad time wisely.
What is the Best Time to Run Facebook Ads?
When it comes to Facebook ads, people usually tend to focus on the ‘What’ and ‘Who’ while totally ignoring the ‘When’. So when it comes to answering the question about what is the best time to run Facebook ads, then the answer isn’t as simple as you would think. There is no doubt that the time factor is essential, but there is no generic or specific time to run Facebook ads that would work for all businesses.
If you see a successful business person run Facebook ads at a specific time of the day, then you may be compelled to run Facebook ads for your business at that particular time. However, the process isn’t as simple as that. What worked for the other person may not work for you. Many different factors determine the ideal time for your ads.
Some of the significant factors that determine the ideal time for Facebook ads are:
- The nature of your business
- The intent of the advertisement
- Your target market
- Geography
Just as an example, we can take the following scenario. It is usually the young adults who use Facebook at night. So, running the ads at night will not do you any good if your business targets senior citizens.
Therefore, there is no universal time to run Facebook ads. You have to study your market and understand how Facebook ads work carefully. You have to know how to run ads in such a tough and cut-throat online business arena.
Ideal Time to Post on Facebook: What Does the Research Say?
You will hear different things from different people. Some of them will tell you that it’s best to run the ads on weekends, while others would tell you that it’s a bad idea.
A study shows a general view of how time affects Facebook posts. The study was conducted for general Facebook posts and not just advertisements. However, it can help you understand the time dynamics of Facebook ads as a business person. The respective study found that the best time to post on Facebook is between 1 PM and 3 PM. This is for all days of the week other than Sunday. The study also shows that the engagement rate is comparatively higher in the latter part of the week; Thursdays and Fridays.
The above information may give some insight to business owners running ads on Facebook. However, this is way too general to work for all businesses. Many other studies have been conducted on the matter, and usually, all these different studies show different results.
Run Your Ads at Different Times and Analyze
When we say there is no universal time to run Facebook ads, we do not mean that the time factor isn’t essential. It just means that the time is different for different businesses. Looking at companies that are very much similar to you can help you a lot. However, if you really want to know the best time to run Facebook ads for your business, then there is no better way than to try to run the ads at different times.
Do as much research as you can, and based on your research, narrow down your options to 3 or 4-time slots. Once done, you can run the ads in these time slots. Do it for one week, and it will tell you which day and what time of that specific day yields the best results.
Tools You Can Use to Determine the Ideal Time for Facebook Ads
The following three tools can help you determine the ideal time for your Facebook Ads.
Facebook Analytics
It helps you understand which of your Facebook posts has the highest engagement rate. So by observing the engagement rate on your posts, you can understand the time when most of your followers interact with your Facebook page.
Google Analytics
Google Analytics may not give you enough information about your Facebook profile, but it can help you extract information related to the traffic on your website. When your website has the highest traffic can be understood as the ideal time for your Facebook ads. This can be seen as the time your clientele is available to interact with your posts and ads.
Facebook Pixels
Facebook Pixels can help you determine the accurate conversion rate of your Facebook ads. So if you have placed different ads on Facebook, you can compare their conversion rate on Facebook Pixels. The ad with the highest conversion rate determines the ideal time for your Facebook Ads.
Final Thoughts
Although there is no universal time to run Facebook ads, it does not mean that timing is unimportant. Therefore, you can take the assistance of the tools mentioned above to determine the ideal time to run Facebook ads for your business.
Author’s Bio
I’m Mohammad Abid – I live in Karachi and love exploring the city, business, books, and the Internet. I work in marketing and more specifically SEO, have done quite a few things in my short career, have an incredible family, and prefer running my own website over a social media profile.
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