Dear Kristen:

I wear a lot of hats in my company and one of them is updating our social media pages. I've read a lot of about the ideal time to post on different sites but no one seems to have the same answer. So when IS the best time to post on my pages?

Signed,

Jackie of all Trades

Dear Jackie:

I hear you. Social Media is a 24/7 job in a 9-5 world, and unless you actually own the company or run the marketing department, I am sure that you don't want to spend every waking hour of your life posting on sites. But there is good news—I have an answer for you! The best time to post on social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc., is ....

When your customer or target audience is actually ON those sites.

What time is that? Well, this is where you have to do a little bit of investigative research and check the analytics. You also need to consider what people use each site for. You also need to know who your customer is.  And at some point, you have to understand that all three of those work together to give you your company's ideal time to post.

See, the problem with all the articles that you have read is that it's based on averages, so I'm going to take each one of those points and elaborate a little bit more.

What do the numbers say? Facebook, especially, has a report that shows you exactly WHEN your followers are on Facebook.  Just because you're at work and on Facebook doesn't mean the rest of the world is. As a matter of fact, most people are not, and that's where many marketers fail to get their messages seen. Take a look at this screenshot that I took from a page that I manage.

According to the analytics, if I were to post on this page before NOON, my message most likely would be missed by the majority of my followers. As a matter of fact, the chances continue to increase the later I wait. If I were to post between 6-8 am, only 124 people would have the opportunity to see my post, but if I wait until the evening, that number almost triples.

Which leads me to another one of the points:

Know who your customer is and where the are. If your target audience is women between the ages of 30-50, chances are pretty high that they will be on sites such as Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram. And if that is your target market, what are most women in that age range doing in the mornings? Getting their kids ready for school, and then either going to work or starting their day at home. If they stay at home, they may take a bit of a break around 10:00 to check in on Facebook, check out some Pins on Pinterest, and maybe scroll through their Instagram stream. Maybe they'll do it again at noon or at 2 or 3 when they're in a pickup line. Most, though, will not be on for any length of time until the evening after the kids are in bed, chores are done, and dinner is over—which is why 9:00 pm is almost always the peak time for 99% of our clients.

Conversely, if your target audience is business people, then you need to post on the sites that they will be on such as LinkedIn, Twitter, Google+, and maybe Facebook. Those sites are ones that you should definitely post on during the day because that's when business people are on them. The optimal time there is usually early—7:00 am or so—before their days get started, and they're checking in on the latest news. From there, lunch time, and finally—at the end of the day.

What are they using the sites for? If you are a B2C company, your best sites are going to be Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter. If you are B2B, it's going to be Twitter, Google+, and LinkedIn. B2C is also good for sites such as Instagram and YouTube (B2B is strong here as well!), so you'll want to structure your post to fit the audience and the platform. This is why you don't use the same post on all sites. This is another question that I've been asked many times, so I'll be answering that one in more detail very soon!

Hope this helps with your timing!

If you have a question that you'd like Kristen  or anyone else on the team to answer, just leave it in the comments below!