In social media marketing timing is important. Here’s some valuable free advice: There’s not only an art to good social media marketing, there’s also a science involved. That science is based on the study of consumer habits and helps businesses like yours determine the best times, the best topics and the optimal intervals for posting at sites like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Pinterest. Here’s what you need to know. Time of Day, Time of Week In social media marketing timing is important. Here’s some valuable free advice: While it certainly depends on your target market’s specific demographics, there are some generalities we can deduce from examining usage patterns (but do bear in mind that not every social media marketer agrees on these times). Even though you own a business, don’t expect your target market to be online only during business hours. Weekends and nights are typically when consumers have time to scroll through social media posts. Usually Facebook users, who tend to be older and more settled down, are online and ready to see your posts Monday first thing in the morning and then again in mid-afternoon. For Twitter, which enjoys a younger demographic, it’s best to post your company’s tweets in the evenings and on the weekends (Sunday is actually the reported as the best day to get your content retweeted, followed by Saturday and Thursday) and you should schedule them for early in the day or early to mid-evening. Timing of Updates There are few things more annoying to any social media user than getting bombarded with a boatload of tweets or Facebook updates all at once. Yes, timing is everything, especially when it comes to your social media posts. Make sure they are spaced out over a period of days, each and every week. Once again, social media experts tends to disagree, but usually it’s optimum to tweet two or three times a day/night and post to Facebook once or twice a day. Be sure to post on LinkedIn weekly as weekly updates tend to go to all of your connections. Don’t simply take a day a month to do social media blasts as you’ll probably lose opportunities and lose followers. Timeliness of Responses And finally, timing is very important when it comes to responding to users via social media. If someone posts on your Facebook page about a negative experience they had with your company, you can mitigate the damage simply by responding quickly and offering to do whatever is necessary to turn this customer into a happy one. It’s also good manners to respond quickly via social media. If someone retweets your content on Twitter, take the time to thank them. If a customer or prospective client sends you a direct or private message, make sure you post a response right away to let them know you care. It’s definitely smart business to analyse your traffic reports to see what sort of results you’re getting from your social marketing activities, too. This info can help you fine tune your timing so that you are capitalising on successes and hone in on certain social media networks that are bringing you the best results. It’s certainly not easy nor is it always possible to post and respond in the proper timeline. That’s why many modern businesses – all the way from very small operations on up to big retailers – often hire someone like us to take care of their social media marketing. We are a Sydney and Adelaide SEO company who can help. We look forward to talking to you about your needs and how we can put together an affordable and stress-free plan to increase your company’s online sales through social media marketing and other marketing efforts.