Social media is one of the main ways a brand engages with its audience. Timing is a huge factor when it comes to successful audience engagement on social media.
Consider these the best times to post by channel:
- Twitter: 5:00 p.m. Is considered to be the time with the highest amount of retweets
- Facebook: 1:00 p.m. weekday afternoons to get the most shares
- LinkedIn: Most shares occur on Tuesdays from 10:00–11:00 a.m.
- Pinterest: 9:00 p.m. on Friday or Saturday nights has most traffic
- Google+: Best engagement is 9:00 a.m. on Wednesdays
- Instagram: For brands, evening hours
However it truly depends on your followers, some brands have followers which stay up late, some brands have groups of followers who are morning people. Experiment with different times, and find out what works for your brand.
The study also listed Thursday and Friday as the days with the highest engagement on Facebook. This may have something to do with the “Happiness Index”, that raises 10% every Friday. Apparently, engagement rates fall 3.5% below average for posts published Monday – Wednesday.
How Often
Quality over quantity. Over posting on social media can be a death sentence to the amount of followers a brand has; over posting is the number one reason people unfollow a brand. An ExactTarget study asked consumers why they unlike brands on Facebook, 44% said it was due to the company posting too frequently. When asking Twitter users why they unfollowed a brand, 52% said that the content was repetitive or boring.
The study found that the maximums for each social media channels were as follows:
- Facebook: Ten posts maximum a week
- Twitter: No maximum posts per week
- LinkedIn: Five posts maximum a week
- Pinterest: Ten posts maximum a day
- Google+: Ten posts maximum a week
When it comes to posting on social media, post relevant material that appeals to your target audience. Make sure that your brand is posting at the right time. Everyone’s audience might be a bit different, find what time works for your brand. Consider time zones, holidays, and work hours. Pay close attention to how often you are posting. Post weekly, but don’t drown your followers with excess posts.
