Isn’t it frustrating sending out a tweet or facebook post and having it just go into the black hole abyss that can be the internet? You are probably wondering why you don’t get the Re-tweets or shares you think you content may deserve. Well, I think I have a solution for you. Time your tweet accordingly! It’s tough to have people comment or share you work if they don’t even have a chance to see it. Here are the the most efficient times to tweet and share your content on Facebook to maximize the number of eyeballs on your content. The fine folks at link shortening and tracking service bit.ly has released new data on the best and worst times to share links on popular social networks Facebook and Twitter, here’s what they found:
I find Twitter is the hardest popular media site to generate hits to a website or blog right now. With so many people following 500, 1000, or even 1500 people, your timeline is constantly being flooded with updates, links and re-tweets, it’s very hard to keep up with things that you may want to read/watch even if you are constantly monitoring it. You need to make sure you have the highest chance of having your tweet seen by your desired audience.
The Bit.ly study found that if your link to get the most traction on Twitter, post it on a Monday between 1:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m. ET. The company revealed that posting links to Twitter between the hours of 1pm and 3pm will give you the highest click rank, especially on days earlier in the week. Meanwhile, sending a tweet with a link after 8:00 p.m. should be avoided — as should posting links after 3:00 p.m. on Fridays. People are less likely to spend a few extra minutes reading an article as they try to race out of the office with the weekend on their mind.
The half-life of a link posted to Twitter is about 2.8 hours, according to bit.ly. (The half-life of a link is the amount of time it takes for a link to get half the clicks it will ever receive.) So you need to make the timing of your tweet count!
I was recently talking with TV Reporter Gavin Seal who said he may read a great article at 11pm but then will schedule a tweet for the next morning to share said article when they is a better chance people will be see it. This is great advice, there is no point of sharing content if no one is even awake or on social media to see it.
Facebook’s optimal posting times are slightly different than Twitter. Links sent between 1:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. get the most traction, with Wednesday at 3:00 p.m. being the best time to post on Facebook all week. The after lunch, mid-week blues tend to set in and people are more likely to spend some time checking out links than first thing in the morning.
Links posted after 8:00 p.m. and before 8:00 a.m. on Facebook don’t get the most clicks. Similar to Twitter, bit.ly recommends not posting the links you want to go viral during the weekend.
“While traffic starts to increase around 9:00 a.m., one would be wise to wait to post until 11am,” bit.ly said in a blog post on its site. “Traffic from Facebook fades after 4:00 p.m.”
A link posted on Facebook has a half-life is boosted to 3.2 hours, and direct sharing has a half-life of 3.4 hours.
Overview
Take these numbers with a grain of salt. While the results came from actual statistical data, the best time to tweet or share a link on Facebook, may ultimately come down to your desired audience. Think to yourself, ‘when do I usually go on Twitter/Facebook?’ then aim your tweets accordingly. Try to pinpoint a time where you’d typically be checking Facebook and Twitter, especially if you are aiming your content towards the same audience category you fall under. For example, if you are posting something aimed towards people in the media, they don’t typically work the 9-5 day. Think of a tweet you would post at 3pm, for someone working in the media, 3pm might just be the start of their shift and they are being inundated with assignments compared to someone working in an office who is having a coffee break at that time and is just surfing the web trying to find something interesting to read as they kill 15 minutes.
Be smart with your posts. Don’t just blindly share your content with the world hoping that every one of your followers will see it and re-tweet it. Think of your audience, think of when would they be on Twitter or Facebook and cater to that. If you do that, you’ll have more eyeballs on your great stuff and you’ll be able to take some pride in the fact that more people can actually enjoy what you spend so much time and effort creating. A great tool to time your tweets and Facebook messages is HootSuite – that’s what I use and I cannot recommend it highly enough.
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