Current trends state that only 19% of all brand Tweets are published on weekends, even though engagement is highest on these days. Also, Twitter engagement rates for brands are 17% higher on Saturday and Sunday compared to weekdays. However, brands do not take advantage of this trend.
To maximize consumer engagement on social media and know when to schedule your content on Twitter most effectively, you have to understand your current publishing habits and alter them based on what will provide the highest return. Doing this will create a more interactive online presence and save you time. Did you know that the time of day you tweet has a significant impact on the engagement you receive on Twitter?
This is an example an average businesses twitter accounts weekly publishing habits
As shown in the graph, this company currently posts primarily Monday-Friday, and content is pushed heavily between the hours of 7:30 am to 12:00 pm. Their publishing tapers off later in the day – which although not ideal – is one of the most common trends with business accounts.
Previously I used a workout clothing company as an example to demonstrate best practices on Twitter – so let’s do the same thing this again and go over the steps of scheduling your content.
Step 1: Research industry statistics on social media engagement rates
Take a look online and dig up some social media stats that are relevant to the industry you operate it!
For example: “fashion industry states that weekend publishing produces 30% higher engagement rates than weekdays and publishing on Tuesday and Wednesday generate higher engagement than Monday, Thursday, and Friday. When brands tweet during “busy hours”, they receive 30% higher engagement than tweets that fall during “non-busy hours”.
Reference: http://twittercounter.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Strategies-for-effective-tweeting.pdf
Step 2: Develop a media schedule that aligns with your industry research
This is an example of how your publishing habits could change. Notice the consistency between each weekday and the massive increase of weekend publishing – that’s more like it! Use the information you found online and create a schedule that aligns with that information. This doesn’t mean you have to be on Twitter at that given time, just schedule your tweets for when your customers are most active!
Step 3: Review your performance and adjust your scheduling accordingly
This is the easy part! Now that you already know what you need to do, just make sure you are keeping yourself on track! Regularly check on the progress of your account and keep track of trends – things could change. As long as you are seeing real interaction you can be confident that you are scheduling at the right time.
Learning to schedule your Twitter content properly will help your business immensely. If you have any comments or questions, please leave one below or email me at john@likeavosssm.com.
