Ad Scheduling Best Practices

1. When and how should you use Ad Scheduling?

   • Conservatively

     • In certain strategic situations to avoid negatively impacting scale for no performance benefit. It should be a last resort optimization when budgets are low, the campaign is capping out early, and/ or incremental is not an option.  

     • Remember that with a CPC model, the campaign only spends when the shopper is engaging with the products. So, even if it’s early in the day, the shopper is still shopping with intent. 
       
       

   • With Analytics

     • Ad scheduling lets you adjust ad delivery based on when shoppers are most active and engaged.  

     • Make sure to leverage hourly/daily performance reporting to understand which days and hours historically drive the highest conversion rates or traffic volume. This ensures the Key Performance Indicators you review are statistically significant. ​
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   • With a phased test-and-learn approach​ 

     • Minimize risk to your campaign by implementing ad scheduling on a smaller scale initially, and gradually refine schedules based on hourly reporting, market trends, and retailer traffic.​ 

     • Ad scheduling strategies should be carefully monitored and adjusted on an ongoing basis.

     
     

   • An understanding of the Competition  

     • Ad scheduling can be useful during limited funds (i.e. routinely capping out). Concentrate your ad delivery during the most important time slots.  

     • The time slots with the highest engagement may also be the most competitive. Adapt CPC bidding strategies based on the competitiveness of certain time periods. Bids can be adjusted during high-conversion hours ensuring ads remain visible and competitive.
       
       

   • For Seasonal or Event-Based Campaigns​ 

     For campaigns tied to specific events or seasons, ad scheduling allows for increased intensity during relevant periods, ensuring maximum impact during key moments. Criteo recommends leveraging your promotional calendar to concentrate efforts.

2. When should you not use Ad Scheduling?​

If campaigns and line items are struggling to scale  

• By limiting a line item’s delivery to specific time periods, you further reduce the chance that your ad will be seen by interested shoppers.

• Since Sponsored Products are on the CPC model, advertisers do not pay for impressions. Advertisers risk missing potential opportunities for engagement and conversions during other times of the day and in these circumstances, the objective should be to maximize exposure. 

In tandem with other line-item settings​ 

• This tactic may limit the ability to scale the campaign when testing.

 
When lacking sufficient data to identify peak engagement times​ 

• If a campaign is struggling to hit daily caps, it may not have gathered enough data to pinpoint the most effective time slots for ad delivery accurately.  

• Implementing dayparting without a clear understanding of when shoppers are most active may lead to missed opportunities or, conversely, overspending during less effective time periods. 

3. How is ad scheduling accounted for in Cap-out reporting?​ 

   The report details missed opportunities linked to dayparting schedules and the aggregate missed opportunities throughout the day.
   
   

4. Is reporting available at the hourly level?​ 

   Hourly reporting can be pulled via the Onsite Sponsored Products Activity report found in the analytics tab of your account. The Attributed Transaction Log can also be pulled to detail the time stamp of ad engagements or transactions, noting the specific time that an engagement or purchase occurred. 

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5. Does Ad Scheduling obey your time zone or the time zone on the account?​ 

   It follows the time zone on the account and varies based on your account setting.