Day-parting for lead gen campaigns

Why time of day can change what your leads sell for

Each lead is offered to buyers in real time by ping/post. Which buyers are bidding, and how many, can change through the day and the week. A lead that arrives when demand is strong is more likely to sell. One that arrives when demand is thin is more likely to go unsold. You are paid rev share on sold leads and unsold leads are not paid, so these swings show up in your payout. See how payouts work.

This guide does not list hours that work, because they differ by offer, state and buyer mix, and they change over time. Hours that suit one publisher's car accident traffic may not suit another's roofing traffic. The only pattern worth acting on is the one in your own data.

Time also matters on the follow-up side. Federal rules in 47 CFR 64.1200 restrict telephone solicitation calls before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m., local time at the called party's location, and some states add their own limits (see our state laws overview). How a lead submitted late at night is handled varies across the market. This is not legal advice.

Step 2: Find the pattern in your own data

Leads are reported by tracking link. There are two ways to see results by time, depending on what your report includes.

If your report includes the time each lead came in

1. Export your leads for a long enough period to cover several of each weekday.
2. Add columns for hour of day and day of week, in the time zone you chose.
3. Group leads into time blocks, for example morning, midday, afternoon, evening and overnight, and weekday vs weekend.
4. For each block, count leads, sold leads, unsold leads and returns.
5. Pull spend by hour and day from your ad platform for the same period and add it to each block.

If it does not

Use sub IDs to carry the time block. Duplicate an ad set into versions that each run only during one block, give each version its own sub ID value, such as "blk-am" and "blk-pm", and compare them in your report. This takes longer, but it works with any report that shows results by sub ID.

Step 4: Apply the schedule in steps

Change spend by time gradually rather than switching hours off. A block that sells fewer leads may still pay for itself at a lower bid.

1. 01

   Lower bids before you cut hours

   Google lets you set bid adjustments for days and times as part of ad scheduling. Start by bidding down in your weakest block instead of turning it off.

2. 02

   Raise bids or budget in your strongest blocks

   Move spend toward the blocks where your leads sell and stay sold. Do it in modest steps so delivery stays stable.

3. 03

   Use the scheduling options each platform offers

   Check what your ad platform supports for scheduling, since options differ by platform and campaign setting. Where scheduling is limited, use separate ad sets per block.

4. 04

   Keep a small control

   Leave one ad set running at all hours, on a small budget, so you can tell whether a change in results came from your schedule or from the market.

5. 05

   Recheck on a set rhythm

   Buyer demand moves over time. Rerun the sheet at a regular interval you choose and adjust the schedule when the pattern shifts.

Common mistakes

• Copying someone else's schedule. Patterns depend on offer, states and buyer mix. Use your own data.
• Mixing time zones. One ad set across several time zones hides the real pattern.
• Turning off hours based on lead count. Judge time blocks on sold leads and returns, not on how many leads came in.
• Reading a pattern from too little data. Wait until several of each weekday have passed.
• Setting a schedule and never checking it again. Demand changes, so a schedule that worked once can start costing you sold leads.
• Assuming buyer hours. Do not plan around assumptions about when buyers are active. Plan around what your leads did.