Knowing when to send out your company’s latest message on social media is a constantly changing quest. We all want to maximize reach on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, but it’s challenging to know exactly when to schedule posts on each platform.
Every time a new social media report is released or a new piece of data is discovered about maximizing eyeballs on your posts, there’s an urge to make a change.
That urge has intensified this year due to the workplace interruption we have all experienced this year. Now, everything we knew about when people are on each social platform has been changed because we’re working from home and accessing social media at different times.
For example, at the beginning of this year, your typical customer may have only opened LinkedIn early in the morning before starting the workday or late at night when catching up on industry news.
Now, that person is working from home and spending more time browsing LinkedIn on their phone in the middle of the day looking for a respite from trying to balance work and home life. (Just think about all the times you’ve opened up a social media app on your phone in between Zoom meetings!)
This is just one example of many changes to user behavior across all social media platforms. So, now the question is, when should you post on social media? And, will you need to change again when people begin to return to their workplace looking to restart their typical routine?
New Data on When to Post on Social Media for All Platforms
Sprout Social tracks data from thousands of brands across a variety of industries. The social media scheduling platform recently released a new report on how social media usage has changed during this year’s workplace interruption.
Consider what has changed for each platform — ranging from the typical B2B platform (LinkedIn) to the typical B2C platform (Instagram).
How LinkedIn Has Changed
LinkedIn has experienced an interesting shift from peak periods early in the morning and during lunch windows to slightly later in the morning and in the middle of the afternoon.
Perhaps your audience is using an extra hour of not scrambling out the door and sitting in traffic to catch up on sleep and check LinkedIn later in the morning. Then, without a traditional lunch break to look forward to, they’re spending more time on LinkedIn in the afternoon to break up the day.
2020 Peak LinkedIn Periods Before the Workplace Interruption
- Wednesdays from 8:00 to 10:00 a.m.
- Wednesdays at 12:00 p.m.
- Thursdays at 9:00 a.m.
- Thursdays from 1:00 to 2:00 p.m.
- Fridays at 9:00 a.m.
2020 Peak LinkedIn Periods During the Workplace Interruption
- Wednesdays at 3:00 p.m.
- Thursdays from 9:00 to 10:00 a.m.
- Fridays from 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
How Facebook Has Changed
If your brand has a presence on Facebook, you should actually be posting every day right now. The data shows that Facebook activity shifted from a mid-week peak to high volume every day.
You can guess why that your audience is scrolling through Facebook a lot right now looking for updates from friends, family, and co-workers. You can seize this opportunity to increase reach while people are spending more time than ever on Facebook.
2020 Peak Facebook Periods Before the Workplace Interruption
- Wednesdays at 11:00 a.m.
- Wednesdays from 1:00 to 2:00 p.m.
2020 Peak Facebook Periods During the Workplace Interruption
- Mondays at 10:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m.
- Tuesdays at 11:00 a.m.
- Wednesdays at 10:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m.
- Thursdays at 11:00 a.m.
- Fridays at 10:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m.
How Twitter Has Changed
Twitter has experienced an interesting shift as people use the platform to search for news about COVID-19 and how the health crisis will affect their day, their week, or some period of time in the future.
For brands that are on Twitter, the recommended time to post has shifted to very early on Fridays.
2020 Peak Twitter Periods Before the Workplace Interruption
- Wednesdays at 9:00 a.m.
- Fridays at 9:00 a.m.
2020 Peak Twitter Periods During the Workplace Interruption
- Fridays from 7:00 to 9:00 a.m.
- Fridays at 9:00 a.m.
How Instagram Has Changed
At the B2C end of the social media scale is Instagram, which has followed a similar pattern as Facebook. There is a higher volume of social media activity as people are looking for updates from family, friends, and co-workers, plus interesting, bright, and fun posts to feel uplifted throughout the day.
This is another opportunity to position your brand as uplifting and encouraging during the ongoing health crisis and workplace interruption. Use compelling and interesting photos with uplifting copy to engage with your audience in a real way.
2020 Peak Instagram Periods Before the Workplace Interruption
- Wednesdays at 11:00 a.m.
- Fridays at 10:00 a.m.
2020 Peak Instagram Periods During the Workplace Interruption
- Mondays at 11:00 a.m.
- Tuesdays at 11:00 a.m.
- Tuesdays at 2:00 p.m.
- Fridays at 11:00 a.m.
Putting It All Together for a Smart Social Scheduling Approach
Some brands are on all four platforms, others are on 2-3, and some are just on one. It depends on your brand and where your audience is located, but here is a break down of the peak times to post during the current interruption for all four major social media platforms…
- Mondays: Facebook at 10:00 a.m. and Instagram at 11:00 a.m.
- Tuesdays: Facebook at 11:00 a.m. and Instagram at 11:00 a.m.
- Wednesdays: Facebook between 10:00 and 11:00 a.m. and LinkedIn at 3:00 p.m.
- Thursdays: LinkedIn between 9:00 and 10:00 a.m. and Facebook at 11:00 a.m.
- Fridays: Twitter between 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m., Facebook between 9:00 a.m. and 10:00 a.m., Instagram at 11:00 a.m., and LinkedIn from 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
The biggest shift is from Wednesdays to Fridays. Before the workplace interruption, the peak day of the week across all platforms was Wednesdays. Now, Friday has become the day with peak volume across all platforms.
It’s interesting because we typically think of Fridays as having the least engagement with people wrapping up their work week or thinking ahead to the weekend. Now, instead of your audience being checked out, they’re actually using social media more on Fridays.
How to Adjust for the Social Media Change
Keep in mind that the data on social media changes covers a lot of brands and industries. While it’s helpful guidance to see how social usage has changed, keep in mind that your company is unique and you have a unique audience.
It requires a smart approach to know when to post on social media and when it’s appropriate to deviate from your current posting schedule. This includes looking at your own before and after metrics to see where there has been a shift in engagement during the workplace interruption, then using the data to decide whether to make a change.
Of course, we might be right back in this same position during the second-half of the year re-evaluating when to post on social media, especially if there is a mix of some customers continuing to work from home and other customers returning to the workplace looking to find their “new normal.”
During this period of constant change and re-evaluation, you need an experienced partner in your corner looking at the data and applying an intelligent approach to posting on social media.
You want to maintain momentum and continue to engage with your target audience. We can help with Social Media Management:
- We work with you to form a social media strategy
- We help decide which platforms to post on
- We create and manage the social media calendar
- We write the copy and craft the visuals for each social post
- We schedule the posts at the ideal time
- We analyze the data to know when to post on social media
We can help your brand stay on track during the current interruption or even implement an entirely new social media strategy. We’re here to help. Contact us today to discuss!
