We often get asked – when is it the best time to post on social media, advertise, or host an educational event? When is the best time to send an email? And the answer is…it depends. And, no one wants to hear that. Wouldn’t it be great if there was one true answer to these questions? But the fact is, it truly requires you doing some work analyzing your own data. Your prospects are unique, your area of the country is unique, and thus there is no hard and fast answers.
But while we cannot give you precise times for all of your marketing initiates, I did want to share some insights I uncovered for you. I recently ran across some research regarding posting on social media that is very interesting. Researchers from Notre Dame and Texas A&M studied the most optimal times to post content and use targeted advertising on social media based on where some of the biggest brands are getting results.
Their key findings include:
1) Posting content on social media in the morning results in an 8.8% increase in clicks than posts scheduled for the afternoon, and 11.1% more than posts scheduled in the evening.
2) When using targeted content advertising (TCA) where you promote your content using paid methods within social media targeted to specific people, the afternoon generates 21% more clicks than doing so in the morning and TCA at night goes down by 9.7%.
Ultimately, you need to analyze your own particular results, but this study gives hope that there are some right times to conduct and promote your marketing activities that will increase results. Remember, however, that the message itself will always supersede the time you post as the most effective way to receive the greatest response.