Bite Size Comms
Bite Size Comms is a weekly podcast that will give you a perspective on an aspect of public relations and communications practice. Bite size as they are short opinion pieces on topical issues. The episodes are sometimes contentious, sometimes funny, and they all aim to provoke thought.
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Bite Size Comms
“The greatest problem with communication is the illusion it has been accomplished”
In this episode we look at finding out the best day of the week and time to send social media posts, and the frequency of these posts per week.
“The greatest problem with communication is the illusion it has been accomplished”
So said George Bernard Shaw. Often, the need to post is on our to-do list. Just needs to be ticked off. Yet the world isn’t full of nice linear communication, with no interruptions or interference of the message from sender to receiver. Unfortunately!
Identifying when our audience is most likely to be receptive to reading and engaging with our posts is a good piece of research to undertake. One of my apprentices who worked for a housing association asked whether sending the weekly news update to residents on a Friday at 4 pm was best. I initially thought that sounded good for the housing association - end-of-week task - rather than the audience. While researching, I discovered it wasn’t as bad a time to post on Facebook as I initially thought.
Sproutsocial’s 2024 analysis of 2 billion posts shows the following days and times are best on each platform for sending organisational posts:
⏰ Facebook: 9 - 11 am on weekdays
⏰ Instagram: 10 am - 2 pm on weekdays, with Tuesdays and Wednesdays extending to 4 pm
⏰ LinkedIn: 10 am - 2 pm on weekdays, with a peak time of Tuesday and Wednesdays 10 am - noon
⏰ TikTok: 4 - 6 pm Tuesdays and Fridays, 9 - 11 am on Wednesdays and Thursdays
⏰ X (in case anyone still uses this platform): Mondays and Fridays 10 am - noon, Tuesdays to Thursdays 9 am - 3 pm.
From this research, I note not to post at the weekend, and Mondays aren’t great either. Generally, the best times to post in the UK are Tuesdays and Thursdays between 9 am and 2 pm. Why? Many people take a quick break from their busy work routine to check social media. Or need an entertainment fix in the afternoon (TikTok addicts).
You can drill into your social media platform’s analytics to find the best times to reach your audiences. It's a bit of work and analytical skill, but it’s well worth it. In my experience tutoring apprentices, young people in PR/comms are much more comfortable with data than some of us older folk. This is a task for the younger staff.
The next question is how often one should post on each platform? I’m sure we all have come across organisations that post relentlessly. You may have unfollowed them because their constant posting was annoying you (I’ve done that!). By their nature, different social media platforms work best with different posting frequencies. Hootsuite research shows:
⏰ Facebook: 1 - 2 posts per day
⏰ Instagram: 3 - 5 per week (although Stories 2 per day)
⏰ LinkedIn: 1 - 2 per day
⏰ TikTok: 3 - 5 per week
⏰ X: 2 - 3 per day.
Above all, aim for quality posts that engage your audiences rather than a sheer quantity of posts.
Back to George Bernard Shaw for the final word: “The only sensible person is my tailor. He measures me anew each time he sees me”. Social media trends are forever changing. Best to do the research regularly.
[Photo by stefan moertl on Unsplash]
