The best time to run LinkedIn ads is the stretch of weeks when something building in your buyers' businesses sends them shopping for what you sell. Hiring rising across a sector and funding rounds closing month after month are typical. LinkedIn Campaign Manager lets you set start and end dates and pick days and hours, which is how you fit ads to that stretch.
The broader case for B2B timing is in when to run ads for B2B SaaS. This post covers LinkedIn's own scheduling options and how to use them.
What scheduling options does LinkedIn Campaign Manager offer?
LinkedIn Campaign Manager offers three schedule types. Two of them work at both the campaign and the ad set level:
- A continuous schedule delivers ads from your start date until you pause them.
- A set schedule delivers ads from a start date to an end date, then stops on its own.
The third, a custom schedule, works only at the ad set level. It delivers ads only on the days of the week and hours of the day you choose, and it repeats every week. You pick the time zone, so a schedule for buyers in another time zone lines up with their working day.
A custom schedule has conditions. LinkedIn requires a lifetime budget at the ad set level, Sponsored Content ad formats, a set schedule with start and end dates, and the LinkedIn Audience Network turned off.
LinkedIn also recommends that you not move the start date of a campaign or ad set to within 24 hours of the current schedule, since the update might not take effect in time.
How do LinkedIn budgets behave with each schedule?
A LinkedIn daily budget is the average amount you want an ad set to spend per day, and LinkedIn says actual spend on a given day might be up to 100% higher. A lifetime budget is the total for the whole schedule, from start date to end date.
You can also set both, which guides the daily pace and caps the total. With a lifetime budget, LinkedIn paces spend across the schedule, so daily amounts vary. LinkedIn's own example is spending 10% of the budget on one day and 30% on another.
Say you give an ad set a $3,000 lifetime budget for a four-week set schedule. Some days will spend well above $107 and others below, and the ad set stops at the end date without you touching it.
What is the best time of day to run LinkedIn ads?
No hour of the day is best for every LinkedIn advertiser. The best hours are the ones your own buyers respond in, and only your own results show them.
A weekday custom schedule is tempting for B2B ads. Test it only after an ad set has run across all days for several weeks, since a few slow weekends are too little data to act on.
For how hours and days compare with demand across all platforms, see the best time to run ads.
Why do B2B buying moments matter more than the hour?
B2B buying moments matter more because they change how many companies need your product at all, while the hour only moves ads around inside a day. A B2B buying moment is a stretch when a change inside many companies creates a problem your product solves.
These moments build up over weeks and converge on a point where companies act. A single headline rarely moves a software purchase. A sector where funding keeps closing for months adds more companies with new money and new hires every week.
Which B2B build-ups send companies shopping?
The build-ups that send companies shopping grow in one direction for weeks and create work a company cannot handle with its current setup. Each row names the build-up, what it moves and the LinkedIn targeting that reaches the buyer.
| What is building | What companies buy | LinkedIn targeting that fits |
|---|---|---|
| Funding rounds closing across a sector for several months | Payroll, benefits and recruiting software | Company Industry, Company Size, Job Function |
| Engineering hiring rising month over month | Developer tools and cloud monitoring | Company Growth Rate, Job Title, Job Seniority |
| More companies posting privacy and compliance roles as a new rule's compliance date nears | Compliance and consent management software | Company Industry, Job Function, Job Seniority |
| Mergers closing across an industry month after month | Data migration and IT integration services | Company Industry, Company Revenue, Job Function |
| Finance hiring rising as companies grow headcount | Spend management and expense software | Company Growth Rate, Job Function, Job Seniority |
LinkedIn defines Company Growth Rate as targeting companies by their rate of growth year over year, based on factors such as employee growth. That makes it a direct match for build-ups tied to hiring. For more on picking the audience, see who to target with ads.
Which approach to LinkedIn ad timing should you use?
Time LinkedIn ads to demand windows first, and add a custom schedule inside them once you have data. A demand window is a stretch of time, with a start and a stop, when demand for a specific product is rising.
| Approach | What it answers | What it misses |
|---|---|---|
| A custom schedule by day and hour | Which working hours your buyers respond in | When companies are shopping at all |
| A continuous schedule at a steady budget | How to keep ads running without upkeep | Stretches when many more companies are ready |
| Spending more when your own pipeline looks thin | Whether you need more leads now | Whether buyers are in the market to supply them |
| Timing to demand windows | When companies will shop for your product, and who they are | Hourly patterns, which you tune afterward |
How do you use LinkedIn scheduling inside a demand window?
Use LinkedIn scheduling inside a demand window by giving an ad set a set schedule that matches the window, with a lifetime budget sized for it. The ads start on the first day and stop on the last without a manual change.
A simple order:
- Build the audience before the window opens, with the targeting that fits the build-up. Verdius gives you the window's start and stop and the audience to reach, so this step and the next start from those.
- Create the ad set with a set schedule matching the window's start and stop, and set the start date more than 24 hours out.
- Give it a lifetime budget, or both a daily and a lifetime budget if you want a steadier pace.
- Run all days and hours for the first weeks.
- Add a custom schedule only if results by day and hour show a clear pattern, and turn the LinkedIn Audience Network off, which the custom schedule requires.
Keep a separate ad set on a continuous schedule for retargeting people who already visited your site. That audience is worth reaching in any week, and it keeps running when the window closes.
How do I know when a sector's hiring or funding is building up enough to start LinkedIn ads for my software?
Look for several weeks of movement in the same direction, such as hiring or funding rising three or four months in a row across the sector you sell to. One strong month can be noise. A steady climb means more companies reach the problem every week, and that is the start of a window.
Verdius watches these build-ups for you and sends an alert when a window for your product opens.
How does Verdius help with LinkedIn ad timing?
Verdius is software that predicts when demand for a product will rise and who to target then. For LinkedIn advertisers, it answers the question Campaign Manager leaves to you: which start and end dates to give a set schedule.
For each product, Verdius gives you:
- Optimal windows to run ads, each with a start and a stop, ranked against each other.
- The business build-ups behind each window, such as engineering hiring rising month over month.
- The audience to reach, in the terms ad platforms already use.
- Alerts when a window opens and when it closes.
Verdius reads your LinkedIn account, along with Google Ads, Microsoft Advertising and the other platforms you connect. It never launches, edits or pauses ads; you build the ad set. See how Verdius finds windows.
So when is the best time to run LinkedIn ads?
The best time to run LinkedIn ads is while a build-up in your buyers' businesses is sending them shopping. Start near its opening. Give the ad set a set schedule that matches the window and a lifetime budget. Add a custom schedule for days and hours only after your own results justify it.