Social Media Timing Factors to Consider

Written by Nick Stamoulis

Social media conceptOne of the great things about using social media for marketing is that we have complete control over the message, including when it is sent. This means that while using it to promote your B2B business, you’ll want to time your posts for when your audience is online. It’s important to use this to your advantage and use social media strategically.

It makes much more sense to send a tweet when we know that a large majority of our target audience will be signing in to Twitter than it does to send it whenever you feel like it.  Timing your social media posts is an important part of the strategy. Here’s some advice on the best way to go about it:

Social Media Timing Factors for B2B

For most B2B companies, it’s important to time the during regular work hours. It’s also important to understand the normal flow of activity during the day. Social media usage seems to spike in the morning right when people get to the office. There’s also another usage spike around lunchtime. This means that you should schedule your posts during these times to maximize their impact.

Social Media Timing Factors for B2C

For B2C companies, the strategy needs to change somewhat. Here, effective social media is usually tied to a campaign, commercial, or special sale. In this case, social media posts need to be made as the event is going on in order for it to have maximum impact. In fact, there should be posts before, during, and after the event. If you’re running a coupon code, you should post about it just before lunch so that people will see it during the noontime social media traffic boosts. Of course, this schedule will also depend on your demographic.

Social Media Timing Recommendations for Facebook

However, it’s important to understand that Facebook needs to be treated differently because a very small percentage of Facebook users actually see the posts go live. This means that you can take advantage of the momentum that Facebook posts that are being used to boost excellent content can provide. The longer the post stays visible, the more likes and shares it will get. The algorithm is written so that the post stays at the top longer if there is more engagement.

Social Media Timing Recommendations for Twitter

Web IconTwitter doesn’t have an algorithm, so posts made to the site happen in real-time. If there’s an event going on, posts need to be made before, during, and after the event itself. It can be helpful to use special hashtags during the event, as well. People who are active on Twitter will be more likely to see the tweets during the actual hashtag feed.

Social Media Timing Recommendations for Linkedin

If using Linkedin as part of your social media campaign, there is a timing factor to consider there, too. When posting to groups, it’s best to time them for just before lunchtime (around 11 AM) so that people will have a higher likelihood of seeing them when they eat lunch.

Social Media Timing Recommendations for Instagram

Like Twitter, Instagram runs completely in real-time. However, you can also build your Instagram account over time. You don’t need to post at this site multiple times a day because when people log in, they’ll see all the posts you made. They don’t want to see that their account was flooded multiple times with the same posts. This site works well, too, when there are special promotions and events to bring to their attention.

Seasonal Considerations for Social Media

Social Media Web Signs On CubesThe seasonality of your product or service should also play a role in when you send social media messages. A patio furniture distributor should ramp up their campaign during late winter/early spring and a snow blower distributor should increase their messaging in the fall. It’s all about sending the messages to your target audience when they are likely to be receptive to them. A tweet about a snow blower in the middle of a heat wave in July probably won’t get much attention.

It’s also important to consider the location of your target audience if you cater to a national or global audience. While you might be tweeting to U.S. East-coasters on their lunch break, you are tweeting to the people across the country in the morning and the people across the world while they are fast asleep. It’s important to keep this in mind and vary your timing accordingly.

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