Factors you need to consider
When someone asks us how long they should run digital advertising, our answer is that it depends on their goals, budget, and desired results.
Your goals: What is the objective of your advertising? Is it to increase brand awareness, generate leads, or drive sales? Once you have reached your goal, you can consider stopping the advertising or adjusting your goals.
Your budget:Do you have a fixed budget for your advertising, or can you afford to continue advertising as long as it delivers a positive return?
The results: Is your advertising effective and delivering the results you want? If not, it may be wise to identify the reason for this and adjust your advertising.
Which type of advertising should you choose?
Ongoing advertising
Ongoing advertising is advertising without a specific end date. The advantage of this is increased visibility over a longer period. This is an effective way to build brand and drive conversions.
The longer you run always-on advertising, the more data the algorithm collects. This data makes your ads perform better and become more profitable over time. We therefore recommend always-on advertising to gather as much data as possible. If you have a product or service that remains relevant over time, we recommend always-on advertising. This will give you better results in the long run.
The algorithms perform best when they collect information about the target audience through conversion tracking. It takes time in the beginning for the algorithm to learn about the audience, which is why it pays off to run ads over a longer period. This also allows you to make adjustments along the way and optimize the ads to reach your target audience more effectively.
Campaign
A campaign is a form of advertising that has an end date, as opposed to always-on advertising. A campaign period can range from one week to several months. This advertising format is effective when you want to promote a message or product to a specific target audience during a defined period in one or more channels. You should use a campaign when the product, service, or event you are promoting has a deadline/end date. The advantage of a campaign is when you have a special offer to promote, for example during Black Friday or the Christmas shopping season.
Extra profitable with a combination
By combining campaigns with always-on advertising, you can leverage the data collected from your ongoing ads and run campaigns based on these insights. When the campaign ends, the traffic from paid advertising stops, so it is smart to continue with always-on advertising to secure traffic to your site.
Also consider the advertising platform
It’s also important to consider which advertising platform you use, and how you can measure the impact of your advertising. Platforms such as Google Ads give you the ability to set budgets and timeframes for your campaigns, so you can get the most out of your investment.
We have written about how to choose the right advertising platform; read more about it here:
So, how long should you run ads for it to be profitable?
There is no definitive answer to how long you should run ads before they become profitable. However, the longer you advertise, the more time the algorithm has to collect data and insights that will improve performance. We therefore recommend advertising for as long as possible with always-on campaigns, and using time-limited campaigns if the product, service, or event has a deadline.
We help you identify what will be most profitable for you. Contact us for a no-obligation conversation – or take a look at our services below.
