The most debated aspect of online marketing is when to post on social media. Many marketers find that posting when their target audience is likely to be engaged in a similar activity leads to better engagement, increased CTRs, and a greater chance of a social share of posts. However, just because some of your friends may be posting at these times on Facebook or Instagram doesn't mean you will get the same results. Tips to Optimize your Social Media Posting Times
Determine when your Audience is Most Active
Try to figure out what time of the day and week they are most likely to engage with your posts, and try avoiding those times when you can. Note that this could vary greatly depending on what industry or vertical you're in, so think about how your customer's life may differ from yours. The easiest way to determine the best times for you is by searching for the hashtags you want to use in your post on Instagram and Facebook. Most marketing tools like Hootsuite can help you set more than one hashtag at once so that you can monitor how many people are currently using each of your hashtags.
Pay Attention to what your Audience is Saying
You may find that your audience is posting a lot of comments on other people's posts. While this does mean that they are engaged in those conversations, it also means that you should be careful not to take those posts for granted and instead focus on the people engaging the most often. It would help if you also tried to use phrases or hashtags in your posts that relate to the post's content so that people know they're talking about something interesting.
Go Outside of your Niche
If you're working with a narrow community or a niche, it can be tempting to follow the trends common to that community. It would help if you tried to notice what content is popular at what times and adjust your posting schedule to fit in with those trends. If you're working with a broad audience across lots of verticals, on the other hand, then it can make more sense to try and develop your unique voice that will fit in with whatever else is happening at the time.
Don't let your Perfect be the Enemy of Good
You should make sure that you look at the content others are posting and don't be afraid to copy their methods, but don't feel that you have to conform. Look at other people's content and trends to develop your style, but also consider what is most likely to work for your audience.
Focus on Engagement and Reach
When trying to figure out what times of the day and week to post, you also need to think about how to reach is affected by different times of day and weekly trends. For example, many people have a daily routine, so when it comes to posting, they are likely going to be active at the same time every day. However, some people may not have that kind of schedule, so they may find that a specific time of the day works better for them.
Keep a Close Eye on your Analytics
It would help if you tried actively monitoring your analytics and noting what times provide the most engagement with your followers. While hashtags and searches can track some trends, you will also want to watch which social media platforms are most famous for that time of day. For example, you may find that your followers post more often during the week or prefer Facebook over Instagram at certain times of the day. If you see this happening, try to adjust your posting schedule to fit in with your followers' preferences.
Don't get Stressed Out
It's hard not to feel excited about how well your posts are doing and when that traffic starts pouring in from those Instagram notifications or Facebook notifications. However, it can be easy to get so caught up in new numbers that you forget about the nuances that go into an engagement. The truth is that many people will not be interested in your content, no matter how great it is, and that's okay.
Try to remember that you may spend a lot of time crafting a post and making sure it fits with your target's attention span, but when all is said and done, most people will ignore your post entirely. Try to keep your regular posting schedule, and don't get too upset if you're not getting the engagement you think you deserve.
While there is no universal best time to post, there are times when posts will be seen by more of your followers. It's essential to understand the preferences of your audience and what they are likely to be doing during their day so that you can post in a way that will resonate with them best.
