One of the nifty features of AdWords is the ability to schedule your ads to be shown at a particular time of day. With Ad Scheduling, advertisers can set the days and times that they want their ads to be shown. For example, an advertiser can tell Google to only show his or her ads from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. Additionally, advertisers can also set an ad schedule bid adjustment to increase or decrease their bids on keywords during certain times of day.
While Ad Scheduling is a great feature for advertisers who want to pinpoint when they show ads to potential customers, it’s not a perfect fit for every business. When deciding on whether to use Ad Scheduling, advertisers should consider the nature of their business, but more importantly, how they have defined conversions. That is, if conversions include filling out a form or making a purchase on the website, ad scheduling may not make too much sense, as potential customers can complete these actions at any time of day. If, on the other hand, you are a business who only takes reservations over the phone, and such is your only conversion, it does make sense to schedule ads during normal business hours. While some customers may take down your phone number to call during your normal business hours, the majority will not call if your restaurant is not open at the time that they see your ad.
Another factor involved with ad scheduling is the nature of your customer. To borrow the restaurant example again, many customers likely call for a reservation on their lunch break or commute home from work. If this is the case, target these times of day with bid adjustments. If you’re unsure about when the best time to show ads are but think Scheduling would be a good fit for your business, you can view data on when your campaigns are receiving the most impressions, clicks and conversions. To view this data, click on the Dimensions tab, and change the View drop down to Time. Here you can see how your campaigns are performing based on the day of the week or hour of the day. You can use this data to make educated decisions regarding Ad Scheduling.
One final note: the time zone you set at the campaign level dictates the data you see. Make sure that you are set to the correct time zone to ensure accurate decision-making.