By the time we’re about 7 years old, we have our parents or guardians figured out. We know which one to go to if we’re wanting to borrow money to go to a movie, which one to tell about our bad spelling test grade and which one to tattle to if our rotten siblings did something unspeakable. We based this upon which one would give us the more favorable response.
Social media is no different.
The Hard and Fast Rules:
While there are no exact hard and fast rules as to when to post to where, there are ways to get a more favorable response. Here are some basic times to get your nonprofit the responses you want to your social media posts, based on this KISSmetrics infographic—and this infographic. (Note that the times given are in EST, which contains 48% of the United States population, so you’d be wise to base your times off of them.)
- Post to Twitter at noon, 5PM, and 6PM
- Post to Twitter midweek, and on weekends
- Share information on Facebook on Saturdays
- Share Facebook information around noon
- Post to blogs in the mornings
- Post to blogs on a Monday
Keep in mind that you must treat each social media outlet differently. Your parents responded differently to your questions and so will your social media followers. For example, Twitter is more quickly checked than Facebook, which is why you can post to your Twitter in the middle of the week and on weekends, while Facebook is a slightly bigger time commitment, making the weekend a more optimal time.
The “However” to These Rules:
Also, we’re sorry, but there are exceptions to these rules. If something ground breaking happens mid-week and 140 characters isn’t enough to express it, then certainly go ahead and post to your Facebook page. You definitely don’t want to wait until the hype has passed to comment. Also, bear in mind—not all of your social media followers have the same schedule. So you can’t expect this schedule to work for all of your followers, but it will definitely help you reach the majority.
Tweaking the Rules:
Timing can impact your social media response rates for the better or for the worse. While the times listed above give your nonprofit a great jumping off point, “tweakage” is necessary to gain better rates. Try posting to your Twitter account a half an hour earlier or later and seeing if the response rates go up or down—respond accordingly.
Constantly strive for better rates to fine-tune your timing strategies for your nonprofit’s social media and you’ll reap the rewards. Ignore the timing issue, and you might as well tell both of your parents about that F on your test.
What strategies does your nonprofit use on when to post to social media?