Social Media: When Is The Best Time To Post?

Entrepreneurs often ask when is the best time to post on social media. The answer will vary according to your type of business and your audience but there are some guidelines to follow. 

Don’t try to be everywhere all at once. 

This is probably the one entrepreneurs miss most often. Keep your time constraints in mind when deciding which networks to join. Updating consistently and engaging your audience takes time. If you spread yourself too thin, you simply won’t be able to keep up. Be selective about which social media platform will give you the best results and focus on building up that one first.
It’s far better to use one or two networks consistently and well than use many inconsistently. After all, imagine how it would look if a potential customer tries to contact you via an abandoned account. “Oops, sorry, I never check that account,” is just going to make you look bad. Even worse, it may inadvertently send a message you definitely don’t want to be sending – that you don’t follow through or respect potential customers enough to respond in a timely manner. 
Once you decide what platforms you want to concentrate on you need to make it a priority to be consistent in posting.

Be Consistent. Set up a posting schedule and stick with it.

Successful bloggers know the importance of consistent posting. It’s the only thing that keeps traffic coming in. After all, if there is nothing new to see, why visit? The same goes for your social media accounts. Staying active is the only way to grow your reach.
Here’s why. You need to keep your name in front of your target market otherwise they’re likely to forget about you. Also if a potential customer finds your Facebook Business Page, for example, but sees that you haven’t been active in a few months they may very well believe you’ve gone out of business and move on to your competitor’s page instead.

When you share is just as important as what and where you share.

While there is no rule set in stone about what times you should be posting on your social media sites, there are certain times that sites like Facebook have peak usage. 

According to a Buffer study, “the best time to post to Facebook is between 1pm – 3pm on during the week and Saturdays.” (Read the complete study on Buffer.)

According to Hubspot, “On average, the best time to post on Instagram is between 2 PM and 3 PM CDT. However, the level of engagement you get can change dramatically depending on what day of the week you post. The best day to post on Instagram is Thursday, not just at 3 PM, but at 5 AM, 11 AM, and 4 PM as well.” (Read the complete study on Hubspot.)

However, that doesn’t necessarily mean those will be the best times for you to post and be active on social media. Test the stats on your platforms with your audience. You may find that their theory on peak usage times gets great results or not. 
Another theory by Dan Zarella of Hubspot is that instead of posting at the peak times, post at off-peak times. If you’re posting at off-peak times your content might have a better chance of being seen, liked, retweeted, shared, etc. because it won’t get lost in the shuffle like it would if you post during peak times when everyone else is also posting.

As you can see, there is no right or wrong answer. You have to decide what works best for you. Pay attention to the days and times your audience seems to be most active and if possible be available to interact with them during those times. Engage your audience, get to know them and build a relationship with them.
Does all this mean you have to be online every hour of the day posting new quips and responding to every comment? Of course not. No one has that kind of time. But you should make it a point to work out a schedule that satisfies your audience without overwhelming you. Each market and business is different, so find what works for you and be consistent!

If all this sounds confusing or just waaaay more work than you have time for then outsourcing your social media to a virtual assistant may be the solution for you.

Outsource Your Social Media

Before you even start interviewing, you should have a strong idea of what your new assistant’s schedule will look like on a regular, ongoing basis. 
You don’t need to micro-manage your assistant (please don’t), but you should work with her to develop overall goals and objectives, as well as sales funnels and what you expect her daily duties to include.  Then leave her to get on with her work, reporting to you at regular, pre-arranged intervals. This regular check-in will ensure you’re both on track.
Here are some common tasks your social media assistant can handle.

• Negative feedback check. Deal with it in a positive, helpful manner.
• Check social media accounts, pages and profiles for interaction from followers, subscribers and niche peers. Acknowledge and respond. Answer questions.
• Check Facebook and LinkedIn Groups for new posts or comments from members. Acknowledge and respond. Answer questions.
• Check Twitter for posts concerning your company to acknowledge and retweet. Thank new followers.
• Search for top niche influencers and monitor feedback and sentiment about you and your company.
• Check the schedule for posts that need to be written. Make notes on future post topics to discuss with you (immediately if a trend is hot or just starting, or at your next check-in together).
• Write social posts or tweets and publish them.
• Upload, proof and publish blog posts.
• Check industry news—scan official blogs from organizations and influencers.
• Check for trends and changes—Scan social media authority blogs such as Social Media Examiner to find out what’s new in social media marketing.
• Make notes and table items found for follow-up, discussion or action.
• Check to find new social media-related events and webinars. Register and add to the calendar.
• Review statistics and metrics for social media platforms and campaigns.
• Check social advertising stats. 
• Create a new social ad (or tweak existing one). Save changes or upload.
• Check-in with other team members for status updates on the material requested.
• Quick check of all social platforms to follow up on customer service issues or see if further interaction is needed.

This may sound like a lot to do but once you set up your schedule and outsource tasks to a professional virtual assistant it will all flow smoothly. But don’t forget that YOUR personal involvement is necessary to be authentic and get the most of your social media marketing.