Social media timing is everything

Advertising your business over social networks is not only a popular marketing option these days, but it can also be a serious money-saver if you don't have the funds to spend on traditional marketing tactics.

But how do you go about maximizing your social media buck? With these platforms, it seems that timing is everything, and a recent study from link shortening service bit.ly broke down when you should post/tweet and when you should lay low.

For instance, here are some interesting time-related Twitter statistics (assume Eastern Standard Time):
- The best time to post on Twitter is on Monday between 1 p.m. and 3 p.m.
- The worst times to post on Twitter are Fridays after 3 p.m., and any day after 8 p.m.
- The half-life of a link posted to Twitter is about 2.8 hours.

The takeaway here is that the most effective tweets seem to occur early in the week, when users are refreshed and ready to attack the social media landscape. Late on Fridays, users are more likely to be concerned about getting out of work and starting the weekend. Additionally, it seems the Twittersphere shuts down considerably after 8 p.m., when prime-time TV shows are on and some people begin their nighttime routines.

Researchers found similar results for Facebook:
- The best time to post on Facebook is Wednesday at 3 p.m.
- The best range of time to post on any day is between 1 p.m. and 4 p.m.
- Avoid making any posts prior to 8 a.m. and after 8 p.m.

The specific information about Wednesday posting can be crucial for your business, as it's always best to know that your efforts are being used optimally. Also, just like Twitter users, it seems that Facebook users tend to pack it in after 8 p.m., making a post less likely to go viral after that time.

"It's easy to see that just like your neighborhood restaurants, each social network has its own culture and behavior patterns," bit.ly noted in the blog post. "By understanding the simple characteristics of each social network, you can publish your content at exactly the right time for it to reach the maximum number of people."

GlobalWriters recently consolidated multiple studies of the same vein and got even more specific about timing, finding that it's better to post at the top of the hour (the first 15 minutes).