Emergency Plumber Ad Scheduling: When to Run Ads and How Hard to Bid

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Summary: Match ad hours to answering hours. Use your own call data to find the hours that book jobs, raise bids there, and cut or pause ads when no one can pick up. Use separate emergency campaigns so after-hours bids do not inflate daytime spend.

Start from your call data

Export calls by hour and day from your call tracking. Mark which became booked jobs. That shows your profitable hours better than any rule of thumb.

Set the schedule

1. Create an emergency campaign with emergency keywords and copy. See emergency plumber ad copy.
2. Set ad schedule to the hours you answer live.
3. Use bid adjustments for the hours that book best.
4. Keep a daytime campaign for planned work like water heaters and repipes.

Nights and weekends

Many competitors pause, so clicks can be cheaper. If your on-call technician answers, these hours can be the most profitable. If calls go to voicemail, pause.

Local Services Ads hours

Set your business hours in LSA to match when you answer. Missed calls can now count against you. See LSA missed-call charges.

Weather and seasonal spikes

Freezes and storms create surges in burst pipe and flood calls. Raise budgets ahead of forecast cold snaps and make sure the phone is staffed.

FAQ

What if I use an answering service?

It works if they book jobs or reach your on-call tech quickly. Test it by calling at 2 a.m.

Does smart bidding ignore my schedule?

Smart bidding adjusts bids by time itself, but your ad schedule still limits when ads can show.

Should I raise prices after hours?

Many plumbers charge an after-hours fee; state it clearly on the call.

Opus Group runs Google Ads, Local Services Ads and high-converting landing pages for local service businesses. See how it works.

Opus Group is a plumbing marketing agency working with plumbers across the US, including Chicago, Sacramento, San Diego and Charlotte.

Theo Prada is the founder of Opus Group, which runs Google Local Services Ads and Google Ads for local service businesses.