What is Time Of Day Exclusion?

Time Of Day Exclusion is a marketing growth strategy birthed from the infusion of data analytics into marketing tactics.

As marketing got more digital and interactive, marketers started tracking consumers' behavior to learn their habits and preferences. Soon, they realized that ad performance varied greatly depending on when the ad was shown, leading to the concept of Time Of Day Exclusion.

This tactic can be defined as the process of identifying and eliminating those periods in a day when your ads perform poorly. It's a smart way to optimize your ad spend by preventing wasted dollars during times when there's little or no return on your investment, such as early morning hours when there may be few conversions but high ad costs and clicks.

In the realm of traffic generation, Time Of Day Exclusion is crucial. That's because it enables you to focus your budget and energy towards driving traffic at times when prospects are more responsive, thereby improving your site's visibility and boosting potential conversions.

Examples of Time Of Day Exclusion

1. An online retail store notices a spike in costs but a decrease in conversions during after-work hours, from 6 PM to 9 PM. They decide to exclude these hours from their ad campaign, redirecting the budget to midday hours when they get more conversions.

2. A mobile gaming app maker finds that ads run in the early hours of the morning have the highest click-through but the lowest in-app purchase. They exclude this time frame from their ad schedule, choosing to invest more during the late evening hours when most purchases occur.

3. A software provider has discovered that their cost per click on Google AdWords is highest during morning office hours, but the conversions are negligible. They opt for Time Of Day Exclusion for these hours, allocating more funds to the late evenings when potential clients may have more time to explore their product.

4. A food delivery service realizes that their Facebook ads get the least engagement late at night. Instead of wasting advertising funds during this time, they exclude these hours from their ad campaign.

5. A fitness equipment company finds high bounce rates and low conversions from ads displayed early in the morning on Pinterest. They decide to pause their ads during these hours and refocus their strategy on after-work hours when their audience is more likely to engage and make a purchase.

Marketing Tactics Similar to Time Of Day Exclusion

• Day Parting: This is the practice of dividing the day into several parts and running ads only at certain times to maximize efficiency and effectiveness.

• Geo-Targeting: This involves tailoring your ads to reach people based on their geographical location. It is similar to Time Of Day Exclusion as it also aims to maximize ad efficacy.

• Behavioral Targeting: It's about showing your ads to users based on their past behavior, such as search history, browsing behavior, and past purchases, similar to how Time Of Day Exclusion focuses on times when users are most likely to engage.

• Ad Rotation: This tactic involves changing ads at certain intervals to avoid ad fatigue and keep the audience engaged. It aims to optimize ad performance like Time Of Day Exclusion.

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