When To Post On Social Media

This blog may include affiliate links.

The internet has a lot of conflicting information when it comes to social media. When should you post, how should you post - it all seems to contradict itself. However, I have found a few things that ring true across all platforms.

WHAT PLATFORMS SHOULD I USE?

Essentially, if you own a business - you want to also have control over all the associated social media accounts with the same name. When people start out on their business journey I recommend they sign up on every platform as well as REGISTER their business name with the state and BUY their domain of the same name. It’s sad and schemey, but I have had a lot of clients and friends (including myself) be blackmailed into “buying back” an account with their business name as the username. So if you don’t have an account on a platform - get it! But as a general rule of thumb, you’ll want a Facebook Page, Google Business, Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, Yelp, and Pinterest and maybe even sites like We Heart It and Wanelo. Once you have these accounts make sure you fill out the bios and include your website or shop domain so the marketing that reels in your clients will direct them right to buy!

COLLECTING DATA

There are three things you’re going to want to do. Get a Google Analytics account and hook your website, shop and Pinterest up to. Do this as soon as possible so you can start collecting data from your users. Then you’re going to want to sign up for Tailwind - all you need is the free version, but I highly recommend the Pinterest paid side. Lastly, make sure you have an Instagram business account.

Once you have these accounts for thirty days you’re ready to analyze some data! I like to combine all of these to pick the best times to post across ALL accounts instead of having an individual time for each platform.

Your Google Analytics account is going to have a graph like this in the bottom right had corner of the dashboard. You’re going to write down which time of day is the BUSIEST. This is translating to when most people are scrolling through your shop. You want to advertise just prior to this time. If your shoppers can typically shop at 6pm you do not want to advertise at 9am because people will not remember to shop for something they saw 9+ hours ago. If you post at 5:45pm they can hop right onto your shop which could mean more sales for you.

Your Tailwind account is going to “smart read” your account. At your dashboard, you’ll see a posting schedule. At the bottom, you’ll click “Add or remove time slots”. Then “Generate New Smart Schedule”. If you are going to schedule all your social media posts (which I recommend) you’ll set the timeframe over all hours, if you won’t be scheduling posts only set the timeframe to when you’ll be able to manually post. Then put in you will post one time a day. Write down these recommended times.

In your Instagram business account, at the bottom of your “Insights” panel, you‘ll see a graph like this. Go through each day and write down which times of day the most users are online.

ANALYZING DATA

Posting ONCE a day is what you should stick with. Posting too little could bury your posts making you irrelevant and posting too much can easily annoy followers and make them mute or unfollow. Now, look at all the days and times you wrote down. Do any of your times match? These are the main times you should plan to post. If they don’t match up, pick the average time between these posts or directly before your Google Analytics times. Once you have your schedule make sure you don’t have all the same times or even three days of the same time. Think of it this way. If your users typically have the same work or school schedule they’ll be able to use social media around the same times throughout the week. If you keep posting at the same time, you’ll only be marketing to that one group of people over and over again. So varying up your marketing schedule will shake up your audience. I would repeat this process for a different set of times when daylight savings times occur, summer break begins and the holiday shopping rush begins.

THE MOST IMPORTANT PIECE

When you post is not the most important piece of social media, neither is hashtags. You need to post good quality imaging that users WANT to like. You need to post compelling captions that make your users want to read and engage with. But most of all you need to be consistent. Social media is not about showing up on time to the party, it’s about making an appearance. Wear your flashy clothing, have an interesting story to tell and people will listen. Lastly, try and add VALUE to your posts. Offer a good story, provide freebies, and freely give tips and tricks or insights to topics your users will be interested in!