Should You Run Google Ads All Day or Just During Work Hours?

If you use online ads to get new customers, you might wonder when to show your ads. Should you run them all day and night, or just when your business is open? Let's think about it.

If you only show ads during work hours:

• You might miss some people who search at night or early morning.

• But you can answer calls and messages right away.

If you show ads all the time:

• You might get more leads.

• But you might waste money on night-time leads you can't follow up quickly.

Some people say running ads all the time is best because you can get more leads, and sometimes clicks are cheaper at night. Others say it's better to run ads only when you're open because if someone contacts you on Friday night and you don't answer by Monday, they might choose another business.

Both ideas make sense. So, what should you do?

Try Both Ways

The best way to know what works for your business is to test it out.

Run your ads all day and night for a while. Then look at how well they do during work hours compared to after hours. Or, if you're already running ads all the time, look at your results from the last few months.

Many people look at how much each click or lead costs to decide if their ads are working well. But that's not the best way to decide in this case.

You see, the faster you respond to a lead, the more likely they are to become a customer. Leads that come in after hours often don't turn into customers as much as leads during work hours. So just looking at how much the click or lead costs can be misleading.

Instead, try looking at how much you spend on ads for each lead that becomes a customer. Here's how to figure it out:

1. Add up how much you spent on ads during work hours.

2. Count how many leads from work hours became customers.

3. Divide the ad spend by the number of customers.

4. Do the same for after-hours.

Here's an example:

Work Hours

• Money spent on ads: $150,000

• Leads that became customers: 300

• Cost per customer: $150,000 / 300 = $500

After Hours

• Money spent on ads: $50,000

• Leads that became customers: 80

• Cost per customer: $50,000 / 80 = $625

This takes more work to figure out, but it tells you how well your ads are working to get actual customers, not just clicks or leads.

If you don't have enough sales information yet, you could look at how much you spend for each lead you were able to contact. This works on the idea that if you can't reach a lead, you probably can't turn them into a customer.

Try this for both work hours and after hours. Then you'll know which way works best for your business!