On social media, it's not just about what you post.
It also matters when you post.
Social media platforms have peak usage times for any given time zone.
On some sites, activity peaks in the evening. Others get the most traffic early in the day.
Some days of the week may also get more activity than others.
You want to post at peak times, but it's not always easy to figure out exactly when those peak times occur.
Different sources may give different answers to this question, and ultimately, you may have to go through some trial and error before you find the best time to post for your particular audience.
In a recent article from Entrepreneur, social media consultant Lesya Liu explains the importance of strategic timing.
She also mentions what a few studies have found about peak times for different social media platforms. Here's her advice about when to post on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Strategic timing of the posts and sharing updates at peak times are among the best ways to increase your exposure organically. So, when are the peak times to post on social media?
According to Hootsuite, the best time to post on Facebook workdays is between 12 pm and 3 pm.
SproutSocial extends that optimal window to be between 9 am to 3 pm on most days. Yet, CoSchedule, after evaluating 20 studies suggests, that 1 pm to 3 pm is the best time for Thursday through Sunday.
To know what works and what doesn’t on Facebook, go to the Insight tab on the top.
Find “Posts” and there it is! A personalized graph of the days and times your audience is most active on Facebook.
Post new content 10 or 15 minutes prior to the recommended times.
CoSchedule and Hubspot rank Wednesday as the best day for engagement on Twitter.
Yet, SproutSocial gives preference to Thursdays.
To figure out the best publishing times for Twitter for audience, go to Twitter Analytics and hit Tweets.
The spikes in impressions will quickly tell you everything you need to know about optimal posting times for your audience.
You can also sign up for Klout (free).
It will start gathering information about your audiences and will suggest the best times to publish based on your followers.
Here, all researches agree that the best times to post are during workdays, but differ on the best day.
They also all agree that early mornings and right after work hours are the best.
It’s generally ok to post during the entire day, but beware of some sort of blackout around 3 pm.
If you have a business account with Instagram, access Analytics and easily figure out the best days and times to post for your audience.
If you do not, however, have a Business account, try a few free tools, such as, SimplyMeasured and Union Metrics, which are one of the best in the market.
It’s nice to have insights into general statistics and metrics. However, you have an abundance of tools to know the specifics that work for your business.
Don’t just rely on a third-party research, know the ins and outs of your strategy.
You can find more smart social media tips over at Entrepreneur, including advice about peak times for other social media sites like Pinterest and LinkedIn.
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