Tips to choose the best time for posting on Facebook
Knowing the right time to post updates on Facebook can help you reach the maximum number of fans; and increase the engagement on your page. Here are some tips to help you decide what time of the day is ideal for you to post.
The best time to publish your posts depends on a number of factors and varies from page to page. But in general, a good understanding of the following four factors will give you a roadmap to figure out what time works the best for posting on your page.
- The time of the day when maximum fans are online:
This depends on the demographics of the target audience. The lifestyle and choices of the target audience also affect their time of being online. Example, if your target audience is housewives, afternoons are a good time to post as they are relatively free from their housework while if you are targeting college-going youngsters, late evenings or nights are when you will usually find them online. The day of the week; whether it’s a holiday or a working day, are other factors that influence the time when maximum members of your target audience are online. Meticulously observing interactions on the page will help you see trends and patterns that give you an insight into the best times to post.
- The type of information shared:
Understanding the type of content shared will help you decide the right time to post it. Example, if it is a debate or a question, you need to post it when your target audience is involved and active on the page while on the other hand, a nice image can be used to boost interaction levels at a time when there is a lull in engagement of the members of the page. Your target audience is likely to respond differently to different formats of content like audio, text, images, video, etc. Observe and analyse which type of content generates maximum interaction and leverage it to communicate the right things at the right time.
- Experiment:
Every post if different and so will be its performance. Experiment with timings and content types on a regular basis because it is the only way you will know what works better for you and what doesn’t. The content type, format, time for posting, preferences of your target audience, will all begin to get clearer once you start trying out different options and analysing their impacts.
- Analytics:
Live monitoring of every post for its performance will tell you what works and what doesn’t. Apart from the number of Likes, Comments and Shares that you get, you should also check the Reach, People talking about it, and Virality of the posts. Use the lessons from the analysis to support your future experiments.
Looking into these four aspects will let you get at least an effectively workable, if not 100% accurate, idea of the best time for posting on Facebook.
Is Facebook an integral part of your digital marketing strategy? Do you plan your posts according to the above factors? Does your social media agency share their rationale when they plan posting schedules for you? Do share your thoughts, observations, and experiences in the Comments section!
Abhishek is a part of the Ethinos search team and helps client with various search techniques.
what do you think?