An online community manager is the person responsible for a brand’s social media communication. A good one will pay attention to vital information about a brand’s demographic, like location, income, network, and personal interests.
This information is so important that Facebook has over 90 data points to target your Facebook advertisements, not to mention the ability to create custom audiences out of your business Rolodex’s contact information, lookalike audiences, and retargeting.
But in digital marketing, you also have to think about the when and the what, not just the who.
A good online community manager will also be aware of time: When is our target audience consuming online content? When are important events and dates like national holidays, current events, and local activities, and are we incorporating this information into our digital marketing calendar? There are a couple of reasons why this is important:
- Improves online viewership which leads to more engagement and better ROI.
- Humanizes your practice which builds trust and customer loyalty.
Let’s take a stroll through “Strategy Park” to discuss the best times of day and recreational activities to schedule your Facebook advertisements around.
Dayparting: Schedule specific times and days to run ads.
An article from Adweek mentioned that “boomers prefer to consume content in the early and late morning between 5am and noon” while spending about 20 hours per week doing so (1).
Our data backs up these findings, as most of our lead generating advertisements receive the largest engagement in the morning through the lunch hour. This doesn’t mean that leads don’t generate in the evening, but it may be wise to save your advertisement dollars and block out those hours of the day when everyone is resting — especially if you are only targeting baby boomers in one time zone.
Weekends are also a big time for Facebook advertisements. Your target audience is more than likely spending time with friends and family and not working. This almost automatically means more online engagement. So, an ad they saw during the week but couldn’t find the time to investigate may now be more accessible.
Maximize as many weekends as possible for the duration of your campaign. If you have an event that’s coming up in a few weeks, make sure your Facebook advertisements run over the course of at least 2 weekends.
Recreational activities: Boomers book trips online too!
Holidays and leisure trips aren’t just for the young. Baby boomers are traveling to see family and checking a few things off their bucket lists. In a 2017 report, AARP mentioned that 41% of baby boomers will book travel online through websites they have loyalty programs with (2).
Since Facebook makes it so easy to run advertisements based on audiences’ interests, why not run an ad campaign that includes online booking and travel agencies in the interest category? More of your audience will be online as well during the holidays, so send out a campaign with a relative deliverable that’s entertaining and connects you with new leads.
If you have an ad with a 2-week duration that falls over a holiday, another good strategy to consider is to beef up your ad dollars over those major holidays. More than likely, people won’t be working so you could see an increase in leads. Once those days pass, evenly distribute the remainder of the budget for the rest of the campaign duration.
Pop culture and current events: Start taking advantage!
A similar strategy to holiday ads, you’ll want to utilize the timeliness and urgency of pop culture or current events in your advertisements. It’s an opportunity to increase your online base, empathize with your audience if the happenings could positively or negatively affect them, and generate leads. For this strategy, attempt to get in front of more people with an event or online webinar!
For more information, contact your Impact team member for more information on how to consistently get your message out.
