I’m a big fan of social media for business purposes and believe certain social networks are important for business growth. Social networks like Facebook, Twitter, and Google+ have millions of users each day and a simple post shared can generate thousands of visitors in a single day. They are great for brand awareness, user engagement, and increasing conversions. However, just like everything else you do online, it’s important you test what works well on these social platforms. This means to find out what days, times, and the type of content generates the most buzz. If you can optimize your social media strategy, then you can grow your business 2X in a simple month. However, the key is to know what are the right days and times to post online.
I did some research, gathering data from people who have conducted case studies on social media networks. Here’s the information I was able to gather, which will help answer important questions regarding user social media habits.
I’m going to keep everything simple and right to the point, so it’s easier to understand.
Best “Days†to Post- Facebook
First, 86% of posts are published on social media networks during the work week with a Thursday and Friday being the most active days. From the statistics, it was noticed engagement rates dropped from Monday-Wednesday by 3.5%, which has been attributed to it still being the beginning of the work week and catching up on emails. Lowest engagement was seen on Monday and Tuesday, which, again, has to do with people getting back to work and having to sort out work for the entire week.
Here are things to keep in mind when posting on social media networks relevant to days…
- Post on Thursday and Friday
- Avoid Monday and Tuesday
- Try posting on Wednesday because certain niches might perform better.
- Happiness index spikes on Friday by 10%
Best “Time†to Post – Facebook
Now that you have statistics on the most effective days to post on social networks, it’s important you know exactly what time engagement is at its highest. For example, from the data I gathered, early afternoons are the best times to share content. Here’s a quick breakdown of the timing: “1PM†gets the most shares while “3PM†gets the most clicks. Next, all niches seem to have performed well during this time, however, after “5PMâ€, there is a 10% drop in engagement attributed to people travelling home, eating dinner, family time, etc.
Here’s a quick breakdown…
- “1PM†gets the most shares
- “3PM†gets the most clicks
- “5PM†there is a 10% drop in engagement
- All niches perform well during these times
Best “Day†to Post – Twitter
The engagement on Twitter can be split into B2B and B2C,
First, with business to business, the best day to post was seen on Monday-Friday, with a 14% increase compared to weekends. This is obvious as most businesses are open and people are in full work mode being productive. However, business to consumer engagement on business brands was higher by 17% on weekends. This can be attributed to the fact people like to shop online and explore new products and services on their time off. CTR is the highest on Wednesday, which has a lot to do with people’s email habits at work. On Monday and Tuesday, they clear inbox clutter, quickly skimming through junk mail. All other email is put aside for a day when they can read through carefully, beginning on a Wednesday. CTR is highest as people will click-through to check out promotional items, etc.
Let’s breakdown this information.
- B2B engagement highest from Monday-Friday
- B2C engagement highest on weekends
- Brand awareness increases on weekends by 17%
- CTR are highest on Wednesday as people have cleared through clutter in work email.
Best “Time†to Post – Twitter
As for exact timings they are different than those of Facebook.com, however, the timeframe is very similar. For example, highest CTR was noticed at “12PM†and “6PMâ€, while “retweets†were done at “5PMâ€. During this time, people are on lunch breaks and commuting home, trying to find things to keep them occupied. Twitter is a very simple tool to use as much of the engagement can be done with the click of a button. Mobile devices come with a Twitter app, which makes it even easier to get updates, etc.
Here’s a quick breakdown…
- CTR highest at 12PM and 6PM
- Retweets highest around 5PM
- Try to send tweets during these times for highest engagement. You can schedule tweets to go active using Buffer.com and WordPress plug-ins to automate the process. Be sure to change the time to EST (Eastern Standard Time) to account for time changes.
Wrapping It Up…
Social media networks are amazing for business growth so leverage the information above to optimize your campaigns for higher user engagement. There are many tools you can use to automate the entire process like Buffer.com and WordPress plugins like: Simple Twitter Tweets, Rotating Tweets, and Twitter Auto Publish.