Has your business ever created a piece of social media content that was so perfect you thought about framing it in your office? Okay maybe not frame it, but you catch the drift. Then, to your surprise, it doesn’t perform as well as you’d hoped, and you’re stuck wondering why. Even if your content is shared with the right people on the right platform, it can still fall flat if it’s not posted at the right time. To optimize your content, you want to make sure you’re posting at the right time, to the right audience, on the right platform, every time! So—when should you post?
Timing Is Everything—Especially on Social Media First, take a look at the channels your business uses. Whether it’s Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, or Google+, you need to take advantage of the key days and times users operate on these channels. However, none of this really matters if you don’t know who you’re targeting with your content. By creating buyer personas, you’ll be able to determine which platforms will work best for your audience, and what time to post on these platforms. A buyer persona is a semi-fictional representation of your ideal customer based on data (and some educated guesses). If your business doesn’t have dedicated buyer personas, check out this article by HubSpot to learn how to make them! Channel by Channel: Here’s When To Post On Social Media For Best Results If Facebook is one of your main platforms, consider sharing content on the weekends between noon and 3 PM to get the most engagement. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday have higher levels of engagement than Monday and Tuesday, so take that into consideration when scheduling posts throughout the work week. Research also indicates that people are happier on Fridays (go figure!), so think about posting funny pictures or videos they will want to interact with. According to research conducted by Hootsuite, most Facebook users are between the ages of 25 and 34. 74% of U.S. women report they use Facebook as opposed to 62% of men. So, if your ideal customer is a female between the ages of 25 and 34, you’re using the right platform! Just make sure you’re posting at the right time to reach your target audience. To better understand the best way to make an impact on Facebook, check out our blog. Summary: Best day(s): Saturday & Sunday Best time(s): 9 AM, 1 PM and 3 PM Worst time(s): Weekends before 8 AM, or after 8 PM Demographic: Females between the age of 25 and 34 Who would’ve thought the best days for Instagram would be Mondays and Thursdays? Research shows that late night posts around 2 AM, early morning posts around 8 or 9 AM and evening posts around 5 PM have the best engagement, especially on Mondays and Thursdays. If your content involves video, consider sharing it around 9 PM for the best interactions. Most Instagram users seem to be most active before and after the work day, so try timing your content to maximize engagement. Sundays have very low engagement, and posts between 3-4 PM have been known to perform poorly, so try to avoid these (unless it works for your audience!). Instagram has a bit of a younger demographic, reporting that most users are between the ages 18 to 24. Of these users, a whopping 80% check their feed daily, and 55% check multiple times a day! Like Facebook, Instagram users are mostly women. If Instagram is working for your business, see how these demographics fit into your buyer personas! If your target audience is more B2B than B2C, you may have to shift your marketing strategy around. See what we’re talking about. Summary: Best day(s): Monday & Thursday Best time(s): 2AM, 8-9 AM and 5 PM Worst time(s): 3-4 PM Demographic: Females between the ages of 18 & 24 Twitter can be a tricky one, depending on your audience. Surprisingly enough, Wednesdays facilitate the highest engagement on Twitter, especially around noon or 5 PM. We don’t think it’s any coincidence that Twitter users are most active on their breaks, so take advantage of that! You’re also 181% more likely to catch Twitter users during their daily commute, so create and time content they’ll want to read on the go! Similar to Instagram, Twitter pulls more of a younger crowd, with most of their users between the ages of 18 and 24. However, the second largest group of users are ages 25 to 29, so Twitter isn’t strictly for youngsters! Twitter users are almost evenly men and women, with women reporting slightly more use of the platform than men. Summary: Best day(s): Wednesday Best time(s): 12PM & 5-6PM Worst time(s): Fridays after 3 PM & weekends after 8 PM Demographic: Men & women between the ages of 18 & 29 Just because LinkedIn users are business people, doesn’t mean they use it during business hours. During the week, Monday and Friday have the lowest engagement, with highest engagement on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. To optimize content, try posting on these days between 5 and 6 PM. It’s important to note that many LinkedIn users like to read posts in the morning before work, too—just not before 6 AM. Posting too early or too late could result in low interactions for your content, so time it wisely! Since LinkedIn users are primarily business associates searching for professional networking opportunities, it’s no surprise that the demographic here is a little different than the other social media platforms. Most LinkedIn users are between the ages 25 to 29, with the 30 to 49-year-old age group following closely behind. LinkedIn is also equally used by men and women, a refreshing difference from the previous platforms. If you know your buyer persona is someone between the ages of 25 and 49 interested in professional networking, you should strongly consider sharing content on LinkedIn. Just remember to share it when they want to see it! Summary: Best day(s): Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday Best time(s): 5-6PM Worst time(s): 10PM-6AM Demographic: Men & women between the ages of 25 & 49 Pinterest isn’t a platform for every business, and that’s okay! If your company does use Pinterest, we recommend pinning some late-night posts on the weekends. Posts between 8 and 11 PM on Saturdays receive the most interactions, while posts during the work week don’t perform as well. It may not come as a shock that most Pinterest users are female, even though more male users are beginning to join the platform. It’s also important to note that one out of every two millennials use Pinterest! Pinterest users want to be inspired, so direct your educational content towards younger female users (on Saturdays after 8 PM!). Summary: Best day(s): Saturday Best time(s): 8-11PM Worst time(s): During work hours Demographic: Female millennials (between the ages of 23 & 38) Google+ Like Twitter, Wednesday is the best day to post on Google+. Try scheduling posts around 9 to 11 AM for maximum interaction. While some debate if Google+ is a form of social media or not, it’s important to understand and utilize the optimal posting times to best promote your business. Google+ is the first platform on this list to not be primarily used by women! Since 74% of Google+ users are men, make sure your marketing strategy and content reflect your audience and your buyer persona. The age range here is mainly 25 to 34-year-olds, but 35 to 44-year-olds are not far behind. Summary: Best day(s): Wednesday Best time(s): 9-11 AM Worst time(s): 10 PM-6 AM Demographic: Men between the ages of 25 & 44 How To Use This Information To Better Your Social Media Strategy If your business uses all of these platforms, try to strategize your posts to maximize engagement throughout the week. On Sunday and Friday, share your content on Facebook. On Monday and Thursday, choose Instagram! Wednesdays, post on Twitter or Google+. Lastly, stay active on Saturday with some late-night Pins! Knowing what platform your audience uses and what times they are most active will make a huge difference in engagement. It’s also important to note that the days and times you market on these platforms isn’t strictly limited to that timeline. Find what works best for your business, and stick with it! Run some A/B tests to see what your audience prefers. If it fits in with the above research, great! But if your audience prefers something else, that’s great too! Ultimately, the best way to determine what time you should post is by diving deep into your analytics. See what content is resonating most with your customers, and what times drive the most engagement. If you stay aware of what your consumers like, on the platform they like, at the time they prefer, you are guaranteed to hit a home-run with your social media marketing every. Single. Time. This blog was written for and published by Pinckney Marketing. Written by Kailey Dixon.
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![]() 500 Social Media Marketing Tips by Andrew Macarthy, priced at $3.98 on Amazon, has been an eye-opening read this year, and here’s why. About the Author Macarthy is a social media consultant in Wales, UK. After publishing 500 Social Media Marketing Tips, it quickly rose in popularity and soon hit No. 1 on Kindle’s Web Marketing Bestseller’s list. His tips and tricks for social media marketing have helped thousands of readers and business owners develop and even perfect their social media skills. What You Will Read It is no secret that social media marketing is more important now than ever, and Macarthy noticed that. The purpose of 500 Social Media Marketing Tips is not to tell you what you are doing wrong with your social media, but to offer advice to get your social media where it needs to be. Macarthy’s book covers all the various parts of social media, covering topics such as how to perfect your Twitter, Google+, Pinterest, LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram and Snapchat accounts. He also offers blogging tips, some general strategy techniques and more. His blogging advice helped me refocus my writing. Instead of writing about something I know about, Macarthy reminded me to write about something I care about. Why I Love It For me, Macarthy’s writing helped me reflect on my own social media experiences. There are plenty of times his tips would cause me to rethink my previous social media decisions, and plenty of other times I knew I made the right decision. For example, his tips about content calendars reminded me how much it helped me as a social media intern. Being able to post quality content, rather than last minute content, makes a huge difference in your business’ social media. Macarthy also does a fantastic job of referencing tips you would not normally think about. He breaks social media down to a science, and elaborates on each and every part. Macarthy truly leaves no stone unturned when it comes to social media marketing, and you can tell he did his research. Flipping through the pages, it is hard not to find one with a hyperlink. If you want to further investigate a topic, he conveniently has it there for you. As a budding blogger and social media aficionado, this book has completely changed my thoughts about blogging and social media practices. I feel as though I am more prepared to create quality content in my writing as well as my social media posts that people can relate to and want to share. Why You Should Buy It Overall, if you are searching for ways to better your brand or your business’ social media marketing but do not quite know how, I would highly suggest reading this book. Macarthy’s insights are spot-on, and you will finish reading feeling like a social media pro. So, what are you waiting for? Click the link at the top and buy your copy today. You will be glad you did, I know I am. References Macarthy, A. (2016). 500 social media marketing tips: Essential advice, hints and strategy for business: Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google +, YouTube, Instagram, LinkedIn, and more!: Author. ![]() Content calendars. For social media managers, these two words determine whether you sink or swim when it comes to creating and managing your business’ social media outlets. Planning your posts days, weeks, or even months ahead can make a tremendous difference in your content. Creating social media content in advance gives you the gift of time. You no longer have to worry about what you will post today because you already planned it out weeks before. Creating a month’s, or even a week’s, worth of content at a time can help you plan and manage your social media more effectively. For me, creating a content calendar was everything, especially when you are managing more than one client’s social media at a time. At the end of the month, I would begin to plan the entire next month’s worth of content. That way, I could plan for any upcoming holidays, special events or promotions. As an intern, having a content calendar made my life so much easier because it helped me keep track of each client’s social media when I had a billion other things to worry about, too. After the content was created, I didn’t just sit on it either. My advice to you is this: After you have created your content, plug it into the website of your choice to schedule your content. My personal favorite is Hootsuite. Through Hootsuite, you can manage any and all of your social media accounts. Does your client use Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter? No problem. Do you have 10 clients that all use different social media platforms? No problem. Through Hootsuite, you can manage and create your social media content with ease. Once your created content has posted, you can even use Hootsuite to analyze your posts. It offers Twitter, Facebook, and even Google Analytics. Hootsuite is a one-stop-shop for all your social media needs. As a social media manager, I know first-hand how difficult it can be to create original content, especially on the fly. However, planning your content ahead of time will save you time and allows you to think more creatively in advance. Once you have created content you’re proud of, schedule it online through the website of your choosing (preferably Hootsuite). Then, sit back, relax, and let your content do the rest. Your boss, and your sanity, will thank you. |
AuthorKailey is a recent graduate of UNC Charlotte who loves to write, play with her dogs and help perfect your content strategy. ArchivesCategories |