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On Social Media Timing Is Everything!
By Heidi Cohen, Actionable Marketing Expert
On social media platforms not all shared content is equal. As in real life, some social shares are more effective at achieving marketing goals than others.
As marketers are continually challenged to create sufficient content, how do you maximize the effectiveness of each piece of content marketing regardless of whether it’s a Facebook update, a tweet or a blog post? As any accounting student can tell you the answer is “It depends.” [Here are some general social sharing tips.]
To extend your content marketing’s reach and life, study research from Bit.ly, Hubspot’s Dan Zarella and Buddy Media. (Understand that each firm’s research is different and isn’t entirely comparable. Taken together, however, they provide useful insights.)
With Facebook’s usage across age groups, research shows that people view it as a personal platform.
- Have lunch with Facebook. Bit.ly found links posted between 1:00 pm and 4:00 pm, the lunch hour across US time zones, had the highest click-throughs, peaking on Wednesdays at 3.00 pm.
- Think me time for retail posting. Consistent with Bit.ly’s findings, roughly 90% of retail brand posts are made between 8:00 am and 7:00 pm according to Buddy Media. This makes sense since this is when marketers and consumers are working. Wednesday’s the best day for retail Facebook posts based on Buddy Media results. While Bit.ly found links posted at night didn’t attract as much attention, those people that are reached may have more time to engage. Similarly, Dan Zarella found that Saturday was the best time for sharing content, especially if you’re looking to break away from the pack.
- Less is more for post frequency. Posting less than three times a day increases Facebook fan engagement 40%. Further, keeping posts to under five times a week increased consumer engagement over 70%, based on Buddy Media research. Similarly, Dan Zarella found that likes declined when posts increase.
- Kiss theory applies. Keep it short and simple. Don’t make prospects think. Use dollars off versus a percentage off to double engagement according to Buddy Media.
- Leave room in the conversation for prospects. Buddy Media found posts containing questions doubled interaction and posts containing fill-in-the-blanks increased engagement ninefold.
- Unlike Facebook, Twitter tends to be used for business related engagement and the research in terms of when to tweet confirms this. [Here's more research on Twitter content.]
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