In this series, we’ve explored some of the tools involved with planning and executing a good marketing campaign. We can either produce content because “that’s what we’re supposed to do,” or we can use effective tools to define our “who, what, where, and when” so that our media accomplishes our “why” and connects with our audience.
You’ve created your content for the best channels based on your goals and your audience. Now, when do you post? After all your effort, you don’t want to preach to the choir or, worse, to an empty room. When it comes to promoting your media, it’s clear that certain posting times are better than others.
So, when are the perfect times? Get your pen ready, because…
…it depends. Peak times on various channels differ heavily, depending on your audience and a number of other elements.
From our perspective, gaining insight from voices like Hubspot, The Huffington Post, and Social Media Today on social media posting times that are generally optimal is a good place to start. Those voices agree, however, that the best times to post are very different depending on your “why, who, what, and where.”
The Tool: Audience Interaction Data from your Content Calendar
In a future post, we will discuss the beating heart of every content marketing initiative– the content calendar. In addition to helping you plan for consistency in your posting (an element that we think is even more important than posting at the perfect time), a content calendar allows you to document direct results surrounding each of your posts, helping you define your peak times for your audience. Use your calendar during production to define the deadlines surrounding each post, and then add a column to record the audience interaction after the post has gone public. For example, audience interaction data can be as simple as the following:
Content Title 1: Facebook: Posted 5:30 p.m. Friday 7/29: Nine shares and 23 likes
Content Title 2: Facebook: Posted 8:00 a.m. Sunday 7/31: One share and four likes
Content Title 3: Facebook: Posted 12:00 noon Tuesday 8/2: Four shares and 44 likes
Content Title 4: Facebook: Posted 4:30 p.m. Thursday 8/4: One share and 18 likes
What insights do you gain from this small snippet of (fabricated) data? Of course, there are many factors that affect audience interaction, but accounting for posts that are relatively similar in nature and yet receive different response rates at different times of the day or days of the week can shed valuable light on the posting times that are best for you.
For help in selecting the right tools to create a campaign that accomplishes your goals, contact us for a free online marketing analysis.
By Keech Media | Written By Michael Finnern
