What Factors Determine Effective Use of Timing?

The timing of your online campaign plays a critical role in its success. Timing is made up of two interrelated components:

• When the advertising campaign starts (seasonality)
• How long will the advertising campaign lasts (duration)

Would it be more effective to start an advertising campaign in January or June? In general, the product or service being promoted determines the most effective time for advertising to start. For example:

• A tax preparer seeking new clients for the upcoming tax season may want to start advertising in January.
• A pool supplies store may want to start advertising in April
• A ski apparel store may want to start advertising in September or October
• A jewelry store may want to aggressively promote its products by Christmas and Valentines Day.

Naturally, there are some businesses that are not seasonal. Some examples of products and services that fit into this category might be lawyers, stockbrokers, car repair shops, health providers and technology vendors.

“Short-Term Campaigns”

For the purposes of our discussion a short-term campaign is one that lasts less than a month.

Use short-term campaigns to maximize impact and drive immediate awareness for weekend/daily sales. By their very nature short-term campaigns are best suited for promoting products and services of a time sensitive nature. Assuming two campaigns have the same number of impressions, the one with the shorter term will generate broader ’reach’ (more people will see the ad) each day.

“Long Term Campaigns”

WYME, Inc. classifies long-term campaigns as any campaign that is one month or longer. Advertising over an extended period of time gives your target audience an opportunity to become familiar with your products and services. At the same time you are given an opportunity to learn how your target audience reacts to your advertising message.