Author Talk: The Time Is Nigh!
You have your content. You have your hashtags. You have your pictures. Now what? Now we figure out WHEN to post our content!
Now, there is no exact science to this. There are plenty of blogs and ideas. The best thing to do is to search the internet for a current post on the subject. Like this: https://sproutsocial.com/insights/best-times-to-post-on-social-media/
There are some general groups you need to put your ideas into before you can find the best time. For instance, is this an entertainment post or one where you hope to sell an item? Are you trying to educate and get some interaction? I like how this blog breaks down some general ideas of when to post what for each platform: https://sproutsocial.com/insights/best-times-to-post-on-social-media/#best-times-insights
When you are first starting out in posting, this information will be helpful in starting to figure out when to post what kind of topic. Eventually, once you get rolling, you will have your own analytics you can look at.
For instance, on Twitter you can go to More>Analytics usually on the left side menu on the web version right before “Tweet”. This gives you a snapshot of your best tweets, impressions, and other cool things.
On your Facebook Business Page/Author Page there is a tab called insights. There are all sorts of information under the “People” section in the insights area. For instance, on FB, it tells me 74% of my fans are women and goes into the breakdown of the age ranges, etc. If you click on the “Posts” section, there is a breakdown of how well your post did. Now, I’ve been told sometimes the good stats don’t show until you get up there in page likes and follows. Don’t be discouraged if you can’t get all these stats to work. There are other ways, although paid, to get this information.
Instagram is kind of weird, but if you are using the app, you can get insights for several categories. You can find age range, locations, genders, and time when your followers are active. For me people are apparently the most active on Wed, Tues, Sunday, and Thursday. Monday and Friday are not the best. It also shows me I have the most activity at 12PM and 9PM on Wed.
Another way you can find analytics to find your best times to post is by using a social media scheduler. A great one to try when you are new and have only a few accounts is Hootsuite.com! You connect your accounts and the program will analyze the info to give you analytics.
Paid versions include PromoRepublic, which can also help you create and edit content: https://promorepublic.com/en/?ref=shannonmcroberts1&utm_source=partner&utm_medium=shannonmcroberts1&utm_campaign=affiliate
And https://www.sociamonials.com/ if you want to host some giveaways.
What’s a scheduler do? It helps you pre-schedule your digital content calendar. This way you can figure out an entire week or even an entire month of content and schedule it to auto-post. Back in the dark ages of Twitter, auto-posting wasn’t something that worked well, and I hated trying to figure out what to post and then having to post it at weird times. But now? I just load and go! A scheduling program can be especially helpful if you must post every, single, day!
(This post includes affiliate links which may provide me with some payment if you click on them, but it will be at no cost to you)