Social Media Strategy: What time should I post on SM?
40 million people in the UK use social media. Therefore is a powerful tool to use to increase your visibility. 62% of SMEs use social media to engage with their audiences and foster loyalty. You should be choosing a social media channel/platform where your audience hangs out and that is best for your content. You should be posting regularly on social media at the best times for your audience.
If you don’t really know when your audience is online think about when you use the social media platform and when you browse your phone. For example, I check my phone at the following times:
- 7am-8am.
- 8am – 9am (sometimes)
- 12pm-1pm
- 1pm-2pm (sometimes)
- 5-pm-6pm
- 8pm-10pm
If you post when you are active (and when you have something to say) you are more likely to be engaged in conversations and authentic interactions. So do bear this in mind and don’t rely on pre-scheduled content all the time.
Everyone has different habits, but have a look at the target audience that makes up your followers and work out when they are most active. Check your insights for each of your platforms to guide you.
- Facebook: If you have a Facebook Page, go to ‘Insights’ and click on ‘Posts’ to see the data of when your audience is online.
- Instagram: If you have a business account you will also find data showing the times your audience is most likely to be online.
- Twitter: Go to the ‘Tweets’ tab on your Twitter Analytics dashboard to review your Twitter analytics.
- LinkedIn: It is less time critical when you post to LinkedIn because the content lasts longer, but generally speaking Tuesday-Thursday is the best time to post as there is higher engagement midweek.
You can then use a scheduling tool to schedule your posts at key times. Some scheduling tools will also suggest the best times for you to post based on your audience and also allow you to experiment with different time to see what work best for you.
Further reading: Best times to post on social media (2018)
You may also want to take into account the lifespan of a social media post as well when planning out your posts.
