How can a business optimize its posting timing?

Test test test.  That is the answer.  At the end of the day (proverbially speaking) there is no magic formula for determining the best time to capture your audience’s attention without some trial and error testing. 

Nonetheless, there are some notable patterns. Determining the best time of day to post on social media leverages a combination of understanding your target audience’s behavior and taking advantage of platform-specific insights.

This article provides a starting point for this analysis, and highlights key tactics to optimize your posting times. 

Optimizing posting time for audience engagement

Know Your Audience – Start with demographics, habits, and time zones. Who is your customer and what is their profile?  Other factors include age, profession, and typical lifestyle to estimate when they’re most likely to be active on social media.

Analyze Audience Insights – Leverage your data from past postings.  Keeping a close track of platform analytics will help to gather data on when your audience is most active. Most social media platforms provide insights into your followers’ online behavior.

Experiment and Track – Begin by posting at different times of the day and track the engagement metrics for each post. Over time, patterns will emerge, and you’ll be able to identify the times that consistently yield the best results.  This analysis, in particular, will help you find peak hours.  Generally, posting during peak hours (when users are most active) can maximize visibility. These hours can vary depending on the platform and your audience’s location.

Third-Party Tools – As always, there are several applications that can support this process, but which will take some time to learn.  While the best foundational knowledge is gained through sifting through the user data (did we mention above, know your customer?), there are various tools and services that can analyze your audience’s behavior and suggest optimal posting times based on the data you input into the application. 

Understand the Platform – A growing body of research in recent years has shown patterns of engagement in common social media platform.  Some platforms will prioritize content when it’s initially posted, while others might distribute it over a longer period, to enable a pattern of likes and shares to develop.

Key variables in optimizing posting time

For many social media marketers, there are some specific variables to assess in determining most favorable posting times:  

• Commute Schedule:  When there’s nothing else to do on the morning public transport commute, many users engage with social media.
• Competitor Behavior:  Observe when your competitors post and when they seem to receive the most engagement.
• Audience Profile: Younger audiences are more likely to turn to social media after dinner, versus older audiences who are still attached to network broadcasting for entertainment.
• Platform Usage Patterns: Different platforms have different peak usage times. For example, LinkedIn daytime is relatively busier than evening Instagram.

A more sophisticated analysis will track engagement statistics not just for volume, but also for quality.  Analyze when your posts receive the highest engagement (likes, comments, shares), which can indicate when your audience is most active and most open to new offers. 

As always, continuously analyze your data and adjust your posting schedule based on what works best for your specific audience and goals.  The best posting times can evolve over time as your audience changes and social media trends shift.  Regularly review your analytics and be willing to adjust your strategy to maximize engagement and reach.