Online advertising works best after 6pm, according to new research carried out for the IAB, 'Receptivity of the online audience'.
Consumers were asked to rate how likely they think they are to pay attention to online ads when carrying out a range of activities online. According to respondents, the best time to reach them with ads is during e-commerce activity, whether researching the best deals or shopping online.
The research also suggests that social networking has a high level of receptivity. I'm not sure what this means. If it's suggesting that people click on Facebook ads, it flies in the face of experience.
Try a Google search on 'facebook ad performance'. There's not a lot of positive comment. One social media reviewer even says "Facebook Ad Click-Through Rates Are Really Pitiful". It's from April 2008, so maybe everything has changed now. I just can't find anything that contradicts it.
Some might contend that it's naive just to look at click-through rates. I'd agree it's not the only metric to consider. But it's not a bad starting point for measuring engagement across different sites, at various times of the day, for any given demographic.
