There’s a saying in marketing: “Right message, right person, right time.”

Most product marketers obsess over the first two elements while completely missing the third.

Quite truthfully, it’s sometimes the hardest.

But it’s super important: when people buy your product is nearly as important as who buys it and the messaging you use.

This timing element isn’t limited to seasonal trends or day-part targeting. It’s more about identifying the precise moment when a vague want transforms into an urgent need.

When your prospect suddenly says “I need that.”

When we launched the Parallel Pillow, we discovered something specific about sleep products: purchase intent often spikes at 2-3 AM.

This makes perfect sense, right? People tossing and turning on uncomfortable pillows aren’t scrolling Instagram at noon. That’s when they’re catching a nap or trying to make up for their lost morning productivity.

They’re desperately seeking solutions in the middle of sleepless nights.

So we deliberately ran ads targeting people active on social platforms during those wee hours. The conversion rates were dramatically higher than daytime campaigns, while the cost per acquisition was substantially lower.

I saw similar results working with a company that makes premium auto visors. We built a weather-triggered ad that increased spend on clear, sunny days when glare is at its most bothersome. Again, the results outperformed standard targeting by a significant margin.

For a weighted stress relief cushion, we emphasized a specific day of the week, recognizing people were universally affected by the Sunday Scaries.

These aren’t happy accidents. They’re examples of aligning marketing with natural trigger events — predictable circumstances that transform casual browsers into motivated buyers.

In I Need That, I discuss how the “dog brain” (our emotional, impulsive decision-making system) responds most strongly when existing pain is at its peak.

Your marketing becomes exponentially more effective when it arrives at precisely the moment your prospects are feeling the problem you solve.

The key is identifying which triggers matter most for your specific product:

• Is it weather-related? (Rain boots, sun protection, heating systems)
• Time-specific? (Late-night food delivery, morning productivity tools)
• Event-triggered? (Moving services, gift items, travel accessories)
• Emotional? (Comfort products, stress relievers, luxury splurges)
• Sequential? (Following another purchase or life milestone)
• Sensory? (Triggered by specific discomforts or irritations)

Just as important: are certain triggers bringing you the wrong customers? A fashion brand I worked with discovered their flash sales were attracting bargain hunters who never returned at full price. You can’t transform one buyer type into another, but you do choose who and when you target.

By shifting to more targeted timing strategies, they attracted customers with higher lifetime value.

Product Payoff: Chewy applied this timing strategy masterfully by implementing a weather-alert system for pet supplies. When severe weather is forecast in a customer’s area, they proactively email reminders about stocking up on pet food and supplies. This perfectly timed outreach increased their average order value by 23% during weather events and strengthened customer loyalty, as pet owners appreciated the thoughtful reminder at exactly the right moment. The approach leverages an existing trigger event (weather anxiety) and aligns it with a natural need (ensuring pets are cared for), creating a win-win scenario.

Action for today: Run a quick “trigger audit” by interviewing 3-5 recent customers who gave you five-star reviews about what was happening in their lives when they decided to purchase your product. Don’t just ask why they bought. Ask specifically what was happening that day or week. Was it a particular experience, emotion, or situation that pushed them from interest to purchase?

Look for patterns that could inform more precise timing strategies for your marketing efforts.

Do the same thing with your negative reviews. What trigger moments are motivating those wrong-fit customers?

What have you found?

What unexpected timing factors have you noticed affecting your product’s sales? Have you discovered weird patterns in when your best customers buy? Tap that reply arrow and share your timing insights.

I really will write back.

Or reach out to my amazing team of product marketing specialists at Graphos Product.