When should you post on social media? If you like to think of yourself as a freewheeling, happy go lucky sort of outfit, the question might seem silly. Surely, you might say, the answer is ‘whenever I feel like it’? Social Media is about getting your opinions out there, isn’t it? Well – yes and no. How you use Social Media depends on what you want to get out of it.
For businesses, there are two ways to use Social Media. We might refer to these as the Museum of English Rural Life approach, and the Barclays approach. The first summarises the meme heavy, internet savvy approach to social – you post whenever you think of something funny, and don’t try to plan too much. The latter approach is a little more sober – posting about once a day, focusing on pre-determined topics like products, customer service and sponsorships.
These two approaches are both valid – but the latter is more suitable for most types of businesses. You have to commit to the former approach, whereas a more structured approach is easier to plan. Which leads us to our subject – when should you plan to post?
The only time you should ever post anything on social media
Science (a study by the SM posting platform Hootsuite) has determined the optimum time to post on Social Media. 10AM in the middle of the week is the most effective time to post – in terms of likes, engagement and numbers of views.
So, there we are – answer given, QED etc, right? Unfortunately, it’s a bit more complicated than that.
It is hard to decide on the perfect time to post on your socials, precisely because of their plurality. Different social channels are used for different purposes, and with different target audiences in mind. There isn’t necessarily a single best time to post across all platforms – despite what an averaged out time such as the one above might suggest.
When to post on Facebook
It is important to post at a time when people are free to check Social Media. Especially with business social posts, you need to post when people are likely to use the platform. For example, the worst time to post is Sunday if you are looking for engagements. According to the Hootsuite survey, the best time to post to Facebook is between 6:15AM and 12:15 AM on weekdays. This is the approximate time when people are most likely to check their Social Media and engage with a post.
When to post on Instagram
Instagram and Facebook are owned by the same company, Meta. As a result, their posting schedules are similar. The recency of a post affects its potential ranking on both platforms. The statistically most engaging time to post on Instagram is slightly later than with Facebook, being either between 8AM and 12AM, or between 4PM and 5PM.
When to post on LinkedIn
LinkedIn has a deliberately different type of audience to most social platforms. It aims at professional people, and as such is used in a different way by its users. Users are most likely to check their accounts when they arrive in the morning at work. As such, the most engaging time is actually around 9AM in the middle of the week.
How often should you post?
This is one of those questions that is not easy to immediately answer, and possesses the awkward answer of ‘it depends’. Remember the two examples of when to post we discussed earlier? They represent either end of the posting schedule for frequency too. For most businesses, once a day is a perfectly appropriate frequency. This is roughly appropriate for all of the major platforms. However, for a more detailed breakdown:
- On Instagram, post between 3-7 times per week.
- On Facebook, post between 1 and 2 times a day.
- On Twitter, post between 1 and 5 Tweets a day.
- On LinkedIn, post between 1 and 5 times a day.
Won’t I annoy my audience?
There is always an element of trial and error in marketing. This means that you do need to put some effort into determining the right amount to post. If you have a very specific audience, then you shouldn’t be taking too much general advice. Instead, you need to find out how often you can post to keep the audience engaged, without over doing it. The easiest way to do this is to prioritise the quality of your posts above the frequency. In that way, even if you do find yourself posting frequently, your posts themselves should be interesting enough to ensure that your audience don’t find themselves annoyed.
Does it all sound too much like work?
Running a business’ Social Media account is not a simple proposition. It needs some degree of knowledge and experience to get the best out of your accounts. For lots of people, this takes more time than they have free to give.
That’s where we step in. We are experts in running business Social Media accounts – for companies that do all sorts of work. Whether you provide specialist insurance policies or bathroom fittings, we understand the best way to communicate your brand to your followers. With our experience, we can figure out what your audience wants, and the best way to transmit your brand’s aims to them.
To learn more about how we can help you make the most of your social media, get in touch with Maria today.
