When it comes to social media marketing, there is no hard-and-fast rule that applies to everyone. But still, everyone always wants to know the same thing, “When is the best time to post?” A timely post leads to increased engagement via likes, shares, comments and URL click-throughs; so it’s undoubtedly an important question to consider.
But, timing varies depending on industry and your specific audience in order to have the greatest impact. Here are some things you should consider before posting.
First Things First: What Kind Of Clientele Are You Courting?
B2C is a little bit different than B2B. For social media marketing, these differences need to be carefully noted and applied. Generally, B2B clients tend to buy in different quantities which differ from B2C. One business may need twenty smartphones, while a consumer only needs five for their family; so the plan pricing and sales strategy differs. As quantities differ in sales, so also do activities on platforms like social media. Both B2C and B2B customers will purchase in differing quantities per customer, and use social media in slightly different ways.
When Is Best To Engage B2C Audiences?
B2C audiences will follow general public social trends, but that will differ slightly based on demographics. For example, if you’re selling something like the “life alert” button for senior citizens, your audience is not likely to be too active late in the evening. Much past six and you’re posting for your staff; nobody else will read it.
Meanwhile, that demographic tends to be up at around five or six in the morning–depending. You need to know who your demographics are to nail down when they’re most likely to be active.
Let’s look at optimal posting times for B2C audiences based on the most popular platforms:
- Facebook. Hootsuite reports that the best time to post on Facebook is around 12 PM EST on Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday.
- Twitter. Considering the average demographic information, generally, you want to post on Twitter between 12-1 PM EST on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.
- Instagram differs slightly for every industry. For the food industry, for example, perhaps owing to lunch breaks, 12 EST is best to post. For educational industries, it’s 4 or 5 PM EST–probably owing to school being out at that time. The Hootsuite article referenced earlier breaks down the best posting time for Instagram based on your specific industry. In general however, 12 PM to 1 PM EST, Monday-Friday seemed to have the best engagement in their analytics.
- LinkedIn. 7:45 and 10:45 AM EST are best for LinkedIn in the morning; 12:45 EST and 5:45 PM for the afternoon. Monday and Wednesday have the most activity with B2C audiences.
Now, these times are for general industries and the general public; but your demographic may have odd hours, so use this as a general guide and branch out based on the specifics of your clientele.
When Is The Best Time To Engage B2B Audiences?
- Facebook. 9 AM to 2 PM EST Tuesday-Thursday.
- Twitter. 9 AM and 4 PM EST on Monday and Thursday
- Instagram. 12 PM to 1 PM EST, Monday-Friday seemed to have the best engagement in Hootsuite’s analytics, as seen above.
- LinkedIn. The same hours above apply to B2B audiences. 7:45 and 10:45 AM EST for morning posts, and 12:45 EST and 5:45 PM for the afternoon. Wednesday is your best day, Tuesday your second best day.
In summary, for both Facebook and Twitter, the emphasis on your best window of outreach is between 11 AM and 1 PM; but owing to business realities, hours outside that target can effectively engage audiences as well. Instagram relevancy is essentially tied to a similar data set to B2C outreach; though with Instagram, how recent a post is plays into its visibility. More recent posts are favored.
Maximizing Social Media Impact
Neil Patel, a well-known professional SEO influencer in modern marketing, points out that 91% of brands use two or three social media outlets, so you definitely want to use multiple social media sites to most efficiently engage clients of the B2C and B2B variety.
With that in mind, by all accounts, Wednesday at noon EST is the best time to utilize any social media outlet for overall engagement; whether you’re in B2C or B2B. However, little things affect visibility, so be sure to carefully consider core customers in B2C and B2B categories as a means of more efficiently rounding out social media marketing effectiveness.
The best piece of advice is to test and optimize on an ongoing basis. What works for you today may change in several months. Finding dates and times that work best for you and your audience is important, but keep in mind how frequently audience habits change. Monitor your posts, track engagement and track your most successful posts vs. your least successful to optimize your social media strategy on an ongoing basis.
