When Should I Post on Social Media?

One might ask when is the best time for my business to post on Facebook, Twitter, or other social media accounts. Unfortunately, there is no mathematical equation to plug in what you are posting, the type of business you are and who you are targeting to get the answer. If it were that easy, posting on social mediums would be a breeze and everyone would be spending money without a target audience. During an automotive webinar, they stated that over 60% of people only access Facebook via mobile devices. More and more people are accessing social media whether at home or on the move. It is important to know your target audience, but also to know each platform is different. Twitter postings should not be identical to Facebook postings. This includes the content and timing of them. People engage on different mediums at different times.

Facebook

I have found that the best times to post depends on your target audience and what you are posting, however, there are more beneficial times to post. When posting on Facebook, it is best to avoid posting between 8 p.m. and 8 a.m. Any other time of day is a good time to post, but the time with most engagement would be in the afternoon between 1 and 4 p.m. HubSpot broke their “best times to post” into days. They stated Saturdays and Sundays are best between noon and 1 p.m., while during the week on Wednesdays between 3 and 4 p.m. are best. Another blog included that Thursday and Fridays you want to post fun and exciting content because engagement peaks those days. HubSpot recommends posting on Thursday and Fridays between 1 and 4 p.m. as these are days people tend to be happiest and most likely to engage with the fun and exciting content due to the time of the week. From a marketing standpoint, Facebook is typically the number one tool to hit your target market because there is such a broad market on Facebook. The Facebook audience logs in on both mobile and desktop computers, at work and at home.

Twitter

When it comes to Twitter, remember your target audience once again. Twitter is a social media site used more in downtime (lunches, breaks, travel, etc.) and tends to be used more like an RSS feed. HubSpot mentions posting Monday through Friday between 12 and 3 p.m. and also includes posting on Wednesdays between 5 and 6 p.m. If you are looking for retweets, another blog stated those are best after 3 p.m. Twitter, like Facebook, is used on mobile and desktop, while at home and work.

Pinterest

Pinterest is a place to pin ideas, plans and connect. Pinterest can be accessed on mobile and desktop by anyone. When utilizing Pinterest as a business, it is imperative to be consistent and spread your pinning out. Varying your timing is important to expose yourself to different segments which can lead to more exposure, repins and followers. There are still better times to be active on Pinterest to reach an optimal segment. According to Hubspot, the best times to post on Pinterest is in the evening any day of the week, especially Saturdays between 8 and 11 p.m. Some other great times to post include every day from 2 to 4 a.m., and Fridays at 3 p.m.

Instagram

Instagram is a place for inspiration, photography and sharing. It is less about content and more about the visual. When posting on Instagram, remember people are going to interact and engage more during off-work hours than during the workday. Monday and Thursdays anytime except between 3 and 4 p.m. are good times to post. An Instagram video performs best between 9 p.m. and 8 a.m. It is important to experiment with your audience to see when they are engaging the most. Be sure to also include appropriate hashtags to reach people who are searching similar content, but you don't want to use too many. Include a question or a sentence in your caption for more engaging content. Keep your audience in mind when posting on Instagram. All in all, when to post on social media depends on your audience. Each business is different when it comes to where and when to post. Some businesses might not find Twitter successful, but find Pinterest successful instead. Try posting different content and images to see which people react to the best. Then review the results and determine what times are working best for your business. Take the time to really get to know your audience, how they react and use the tools out there to help you gauge when the best time to post is for your business and the content to be published in order to be successful. *Images from Hubspot