Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Google+ are tools that nearly all organizations should be using at some level to share their message with current and potential clients. Each tool has its uses, and not all are appropriate or worthwhile for every organization to use. Almost every organization with an internal communications team should be either posting content or contracting that task to an experienced contractor.
There are definitely good times and bad times to post content on social media channels. Every social media professional needs to be aware of the optimal times and days to post content. The most useful study done on the best times to post social media content was written for Forbes by Doug Chavez, VP of Marketing at RadiumOne, which built the social sharing platform Po.st. (I will let you click through to his article to find out the best times for the social media channel you use for your organization.)
Mr. Chavez did not mention a very key concept. It is vital to understand your current and potential clients. The concept, “fish where the fish are,” is as old as fishing itself. If your company sells products to mothers of school children, 7-8 am may not be the best time to post, since they are most likely getting their kids out the door. If you are marketing snack products, a great time to post is during the big football game.
Unspoken by Mr. Chavez, except for a small mention in his byline, is that he sells Po.st, a useful tool to schedule content. I use Hootsuite, which is a free but powerful tool that also allows you to schedule content. They have an inexpensive professional version that adds some more features, like analytics. There are also many other tools available that will allow you to schedule content.
A final thing to be aware of is that Facebook can lower the ranking of your business page posts if you use some scheduling tools. The reason is that Facebook sees all posts that come from sites like Hootsuite and lumps them into one bin, rather than considering them as originating from the Facebook page of your business. However, Facebook will allow you to schedule business page posts, if you fully set up your business’s profile.
Bonus material: Christopher S. Penn shares the best times and days to not send out a press release.
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