The never-ending question, right? 
Getting your message through the clutter of ads, news items and conversations on social media is a difficult task, especially for smaller businesses.
There are many solutions to this problem, the basics of which simply require you to represent your brand accurately and post content that appeals to your target audience.
One issue we CAN control is when we post content.
Optimizing the part of the day or week when to introduce new content is a critical factor in producing successful outcomes for your inbound marketing plan. Bitly recently performed some research on the best times to post on social networks:
While we wish we could say to post at these times and only at these times, this information is simply a guideline for you.
Start with these times and go from there. Test different times of the day. Ultimately it’s going to depend on where your target audience is and when they are on social.
That being said, if you want to fine tune the optimal times to post on social media sites, you may wish to consider the following:
- Avoid posting around global events—While it may be appealing to post some content that ties in with major events like the Olympic Games or the presidential election, you should avoid posting right before or after these events. The majority of the public and your consumers are probably paying attention to these newsworthy activities, thus virtually any marketing message is lost upon them.
- Use your own analytics—The consumers your company is trying to reach may have a decidedly different schedule than most of the market. If your audience is primarily new mothers, they may be most attentive late at night when things have quieted down or early when the baby gets up. Using widely available analytics on Google or Facebook can help you identify these critical periods.
- Focus on downtime on the weekends—The weekends are an ideal time for many professionals to engage on social platforms. A study by Kissmetric shows that the peak time for activity on Facebook is actually on Saturday, followed closely by Sunday. Twitter actually has the most tweets on Friday, when people are disclosing weekend plans. Posting prior to these times is usually optimal, so that your consumers can find them when they have some free time.
- After key company events—If your company has invested in a trade show, which generated considerable interest, it is wise to stoke that enthusiasm with new content. Similarly, new product rollouts, organizational changes, or involvement in social events can produce a spike in interest; using publicity as a springboard for real engagement is usually quite effective.
- Cater to more than one market segment—The Internet is a global marketplace, so don’t forget large markets in other time zones. While you may wish to devote the majority of your new content to times when your largest audience is available, you may wish to also post content that is specific to other geographical markets right before their peak times.
Choosing the best times to post on social media is rarely as simple as you may like.
You want to avoid posting during periods of intense traffic, and identify times when your consumers are most active on your social networks.
Wondering how you can utilize social media to generate more leads?
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