How to Change Your Time Zone on Your Meta Ads Accounts?

Facebook and Instagram ads are popular channels for achieving business objectives, regardless of a brand's size, scale, or location. Thanks to advances in attribution methods, tools, and data analysis, even traditional offline businesses can advertise on the Meta Ads platform.

If you're serving customers across different time zones, your ads should reach them when they're most likely to be active. This helps you use your advertising budget efficiently. If your ads are delivered when your target customers are asleep, you may not get the best return on investment.

In this article, we'll outline the steps to modify the time zone for your Facebook advertising account and share tips to optimize your ads for different time zones.

Changing Your Time Zone Settings

Facebook may set your advertising account's default time zone based on your location or the location specified in Meta Business Manager. You can check your account settings to see whether changing the time zone is appropriate for your advertising needs.

To modify your Facebook advertising account's time zone, follow these steps:

  • Step 1: Log in to your Facebook advertising account.
  • Step 2: Open Settings in your advertising account.
  • Step 3: Navigate to Ad Account Settings.
  • Step 4: Find the time zone setting.
  • Step 5: If the option is available, select Change Time Zone and choose the appropriate time zone.
  • Step 6: Review any warnings about the effects of changing the time zone and confirm the changes if you're comfortable proceeding.

Note: Meta's interface and available settings may vary. Changing an ad account's time zone can have significant consequences, including creating a new ad account or affecting reporting and billing. Verify Meta's current instructions before making changes.

Optimizing Your Ads for Different Time Zones

In addition to understanding your ad account's time zone, there are several strategies you can use to optimize Facebook ads for audiences in different time zones.

1. Use Facebook's Ad Scheduling Feature

Meta Ads Manager allows you to schedule ads to run during specific periods when the scheduling option is available. This can be useful when targeting users in particular time zones or running ads during peak engagement hours.

To schedule your ads, follow these steps:

  • Step 1: Create your ad campaign as usual.
  • Step 2: Navigate to the Ad Set section.
  • Step 3: Find the Budget & Schedule section.
  • Step 4: Select a budget type that supports ad scheduling, if required.
  • Step 5: Look for the ad scheduling options.
  • Step 6: Choose the dates and times when you want your ads to run.
  • Step 7: Review the schedule and save your changes.

Note: Ad scheduling availability depends on the campaign's budget settings and the options supported by Meta Ads Manager. Scheduling times may follow the ad account's time zone, so verify the displayed time zone before publishing.

2. Test Different Delivery Times

If you're unsure when your ads perform best, test different delivery times and compare the results. You can use Meta Ads Manager reporting to evaluate performance and adjust your campaign strategy accordingly.To test different delivery times, follow these steps:

  • Step 1: Create your ad campaign as usual.
  • Step 2: Navigate to the Ad Set section.
  • Step 3: Configure your budget, schedule, audience, and delivery settings.
  • Step 4: Run your ads across the time periods you want to evaluate.
  • Step 5: Allow enough time for the campaign to collect meaningful data.
  • Step 6: Review performance metrics in Meta Ads Manager.
  • Step 7: Compare results across different time periods, considering metrics such as conversions, cost per result,and return on ad spend.
  • Step 8: Identify the time periods that perform best for your business.
  • Step 9: Adjust your ad schedule and budget allocation accordingly.

Avoid making decisions based on a small amount of data. Consider audience size, campaign objectives, and other factors that may influence performance.

3. Use a Third-Party Tool

Several third-party tools can help analyze advertising performance across different time zones. These tools may provide reporting, automation, and recommendations for improving ad delivery.

Choose a tool that integrates with your advertising account and supports your reporting requirements. Evaluate its features, costs, data access permissions, and security before connecting it to your account.

If you're looking for a simpler way to manage your marketing efforts, consider outsourcing your advertising activities to an experienced marketing team.

Conclusion

Managing ad delivery across time zones can help businesses reach their audiences at more relevant times. By understanding your ad account's time zone, using available scheduling features, testing delivery times, and analyzing campaign performance, you can make more informed decisions about your advertising budget.

For businesses targeting customers across multiple regions, regular performance analysis is essential to identifying effective delivery windows and improving advertising efficiency.