When to Post to Social Media

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Addthis, addthis.com, book marketing, book marketing tips, Fannit, fannit.com, social media, social media facts, times to post on social media

I found over at Fannit.com and on Addthis.com these wonderful infographics on the best times to post on various social media and some other facts. First, Fannit has produced an infographic with metrics on six different social media:

by Fannit.com

Next, Addthis examined 14 million sites worldwide (that’s about 3 billion pageviews a day). Here’s what they found for Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Pinterest.

From Addthis.com

Facebook, Twitter in the daytime. Pinterest in the evening.

First, they looked at clicks and shares to see when users are consistently engaging with content the most during an average week. Keep in mind that all times are Eastern Time.

	Facebook	Twitter	LinkedIn	Pinterest
Shares	9am-11am, 12pm	10am-12pm	10am, 2pm	3pm, 8pm
Clicks	3pm-5pm	3pm-5pm	1pm-2pm	8pm-10pm

Most sharing to Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn happens in the morning, when people get to work. Consequently, clicking (which is different from sharing) tends to dominate Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn in the afternoon hours. Pinterest users have the most activity in the evening hours when readers both share and click content as they’re winding down after work.

Tip: So, if you’re looking to increase clicks on your company’s social channels, try posting your content in the afternoons. instead of the mornings

Aim for the peaks every week.

Addthis also looked at the peak of the week to see what day and time had content engagement spikes in an average week.

	Facebook	Twitter	LinkedIn	Pinterest
Clicks & Shares	Thursdays, 9am-12pm	Fridays, 2pm-3pm	Tuesdays, 10am-11am	Wednesdays, 1pm-2pm

It’s interesting to see that each social network has a different peak day and time; not everyone engages with all social networks at the same time. Common sense if you think about it.

Tip: If you’re posting your content across social networks, maximize engagement by posting on the peak day and time of those networks.

As much as data can be useful, don’t forget to think about the human aspect of sharing. Think about your own behaviors and habits on social networks. When are you most likely to share content and using what social media network? When do you have breaks at work? What social network do you find yourself scrolling through when watching TV at night? Chances are, your audience’s behaviors may not be that far off from yours.

What about Time Zones?

As two of you have commented on this, I’m including my thoughts on how time zones fit into these times. The times mentioned on the infographics are EST. However, I assume that the findings are true for each country and time zone.

In my case, my readers are usually in the US. Therefore, I have to follow their timezone, which means that I have to post everything some 7 hours later. My advice, then, is to adapt your schedule to that of your target-group.

Check out Addthis and Fannit for more great marketing information.

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