With the rise of social media advertising, many marketers are turning to platforms like LinkedIn to reach their target audiences. LinkedIn now has over 722 million members worldwide, making it one of the largest professional networks on the internet.
This massive user base presents a huge opportunity for B2B marketers looking to generate leads and build brand awareness. However, as with any advertising platform, there are important strategy considerations when running LinkedIn ads.
One common question that arises is whether LinkedIn ads should be paused on weekends. Some argue that engagement drops on weekends, so it’s better to pause campaigns to save budget. Others believe it’s important to maintain presence consistently.
So what’s the right approach? Here, we’ll examine the pros and cons of pausing LinkedIn ads on weekends to help you optimize your strategy.
The case for pausing ads on weekends
There are a few reasons why you may want to consider pausing LinkedIn ads over the weekend:
Lower engagement
Engagement on LinkedIn tends to be lower on weekends compared to weekdays. Many professionals are not actively checking LinkedIn on Saturdays and Sundays. One study by Social Media Examiner found that only about 16% of LinkedIn users check the platform on Saturdays. That drops to just 11% on Sundays.
With fewer active users on weekends, the chances of your ads being seen and clicked decreases. Some experts recommend pausing campaigns to avoid wasting budget on periods of low engagement.
Decision makers are less active
Not only is overall engagement lower on weekends – but engagement from your target personas may decrease as well. Most senior-level decision makers in B2B companies do not spend weekends browsing LinkedIn.
Since these are likely the personas you want clicking and converting from your ads, some argue it’s better to pause over the weekends when decision makers are less active.
Save on daily ad spend
Pausing ads can also help manage your daily ad budget. LinkedIn campaigns are billed on an average daily spend, calculated per calendar day. This means weekends count towards your average daily spend, even if engagement and conversions are lower.
By pausing campaigns, you can save budget on weekends that would otherwise be counted towards average daily spend. This allows you to maximize budget on high-performing days instead.
The case for running LinkedIn ads consistently
On the other hand, there are also advantages to keeping LinkedIn campaigns running consistently seven days a week:
Maintain presence and visibility
Although weekend engagement on LinkedIn is lower compared to weekdays, there is still activity happening. 16% of users engage on Saturdays and 11% on Sundays – that’s millions of professionals still active on the platform.
By continuing to run ads, you can maintain visibility with these weekend users. This contributes to overall reach and impressions for your campaign.
Strengthen retargeting
Running LinkedIn ads consistently allows you to retarget users who may have seen or engaged with your ads earlier in the week. Retargeting past visitors can improve conversion rates.
If you pause campaigns over the weekend, you miss opportunities to bring users back and continue nurturing them towards a conversion.
Account optimization benefits
Keeping campaigns active also allows LinkedIn’s algorithm to continue optimizing your account and ads. Factors like bid price, relevance score, and expected CTR can improve over time.
Pausing on weekends disrupts this optimization process. The algorithm needs continual data to keep getting smarter at delivering your ads to the right audiences.
Tips for optimizing weekend LinkedIn ad performance
If you decide to continue running LinkedIn ads on weekends, here are some tips to optimize performance:
Adjust bids down
Lower your bid prices on Saturdays and Sundays to account for decreased engagement. This will help control costs when less people are active on the platform.
Use conversion tracking
Focus on conversion events like leads and sales rather than vanity metrics like clicks and impressions. This will help maximize value from weekends.
Update targeting
Narrow down your target audience and demographics. Prioritize titles and accounts that indicate real buying authority, like Founders, Directors, and VP-level roles.
Monitor closely
Keep a close eye on performance over weekends. If results continue to be low, you may still decide to pause campaigns temporarily.
The verdict: Should you pause LinkedIn ads on weekends?
In most cases, continuing to run LinkedIn ads consistently through weekends is recommended. Here’s a quick summary of the key factors:
| Pause Ads | Keep Running |
|---|---|
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The main risks with pausing are missing out on retargeting opportunities and disrupting optimization. Maintaining a consistent presence can also help build your brand and authority.
However, if engagement remains very low even after optimizing campaigns, temporarily pausing may help control ad spend. Test running ads continuously including weekends vs. pausing – then closely monitor performance.
With the right targeting and optimization, LinkedIn ads can still deliver results and value on weekends. Treat them as an extension of your ongoing strategy, rather than lost budget.
Focus on consistency, optimization, and tracking conversion events – and your LinkedIn ad performance on weekends can contribute to the overall success of your campaigns.
Frequently Asked Questions
Should I pause all LinkedIn campaigns on weekends?
Not necessarily. Monitor each campaign independently and pause ones that consistently underperform on weekends. Your most effective campaigns may still be worth keeping active.
What days and hours see the most LinkedIn engagement?
Engagement is highest on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays generally from 8-10am and 5-8pm local time. Lower on Mondays, Fridays and weekends.
Do weekends impact LinkedIn advertising costs?
Yes, weekend days are included in calculating your average daily ad spend. With lower engagement, your cost per result may be higher on Saturdays and Sundays.
What should be my LinkedIn ad bid strategy for weekends?
Consider lowering your bid prices by 10-25% on Saturdays and Sundays to account for reduced engagement levels. Test different discounts to find the optimal balance.
How often should I check LinkedIn campaign analytics?
Aim to check performance daily so you can spot issues quickly. Pay extra attention on Mondays to see how weekends impacted results.
Conclusion
Running LinkedIn ads consistently through the weekends can optimize presence, retargeting and allow ongoing optimization. However, monitor performance closely and adjust bidding and targeting to account for lower engagement.
The key is testing and tracking conversion events – don’t consider weekends as lost budget, but as an extension of your overall LinkedIn ad strategy.
