Once you have established your social media platforms, you are ready for business, right? Yes, but…believe it or not, there are even more considerations to make when posting content.
You know when you scroll YOUR social media account on Instagram, Facebook, or TikTok … first thing in the morning, last thing at night, waiting in “pick-up line” for your kid? Like it or not, your consumers aren’t on all day awaiting your post. In general, different demographics hop online at different times of the day. Not only that, but your content should be well thought out and planned to make the most of your contact with your consumers.
We know … it’s more work than you thought
We hear ya! P&A provides social media strategy and implementation – aka, doing the posting – for more than 50 social media accounts. Many of our clients don’t want to deal with the daily drag of social media minutia. If you are one of the brave ones, however, then read on to see what timing and planning you should take into consideration when posting on your account. Otherwise, give us a call and we can take it from here.
Let’s start with planning
So, you want to get some content out there, but you are unsure where to start? The most successful accounts have something in common: content is thoughtfully conceived and scheduled. In fact, many people create content calendars that cover an entire month of posts, but this depends on your industry. Some social accounts that rely on current events can’t get away with this but may be able to plan for a week’s worth of posts at a time.
The benefit of this is CONSISTENCY. Building a cadence achieves a consistent message delivered to your target audience. You plan so you don’t sound redundant, boring, or scattered. Also, planning means you won’t forget to post important information for your target market. For instance, many companies will create a social media cadence that allows different types of posts for each day of the week, such as #MondayMotivation, #TuesdayTestimonials, #WhyWednesdays, etc. Then, they can just fill in the missing pieces when they want to post on a particular day of the week.
Let a scheduler do the work
There are many ways to go about getting your content scheduled, but what matters most is that you use a scheduling platform that is easy to understand and efficient. Facebook offers a free scheduling tool and is a great place to start. Since Facebook owns Instagram, you can also schedule your Insta content from the same place. Other platforms include MeetEdgar, Loomly, Sendible and Hootsuite, among about a hundred others. Some of these require payment, others offer a free first account. Once you get your content into a scheduler, though, you are home free and won’t need to worry about posting to your platforms daily.
Timing matters!
One more word about scheduling:You will be able to set up your post to go out at any time of day you would like. What you DON’T want to do is miss out on the best times for your target market — the times when they are most likely to be online. Therefore, when you do your research, it is important to note when your targeted demographic is scrolling since they will be more likely to interact with your content.
The best times to post on various platforms shifts and changes depending on algorithms as well as consumer habits. Heck, even a change in the seasons can affect the way people are interacting with their social media. Check here for the best times to post during each day of the week if you use Instagram and here if you are a Facebook user. We would put the times into this blog but, unfortunately, they are always changing and, well, we just want to feel more timeless than that. Call us old fashioned.
