Timing Is Everything When It Comes to Posting on Social Media

One of the many services Ant Hill offers its clients is managing social media accounts as well as offering advice for this sometimes overwhelming and ever-changing phenomena. With this, there is actually an ideal time to interact with followers on Facebook and Twitter. The whole point of social media is to engage and create conversation, so it only makes sense to post when your audience is paying attention, right?

We saw some interesting stats in a story on Mashable's site (with the help of link-shortening and tracking service bit.ly) that will help increase engagement, awareness and click-thrus. Below find some pearls of wisdom when it comes to when to post on Twitter and Facebook:

• Want your link to get the most traction on Twitter? Post it on a Monday between 1 and 3 p.m. ET.
• Sending a tweet with a link after 8 p.m. ET should be avoided - as should posting links after 3 p.m. on Fridays.
• The half-life of a link posted to Twitter is about 2.8 hours.
• Facebook's optimal posting times are slightly different than Twitter. Links sent between 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. get the most traction, with Wednesday at 3 p.m. being the best time to post on Facebook all week.
• Links posted after 8 p.m. and before 8 a.m. on Facebook also didn't get the most clicks. Similar to Twitter, bit.ly recommends not posting links you want to go viral during the weekend.
• While web traffic starts to increase around 9 a.m., it would be wise to wait until 11 a.m. to post. Traffic on Facebook usually fades after 4 p.m.

"It's easy to see that just like your neighborhood restaurants, each social network has its own culture and behavior patterns," noted bit.ly in a blog post. "By understanding the simple characteristics of each social network, you can publish your content at exactly the right time for it to reach the maximum number of people."

By following these simple rules and supplying interesting content, you'll be creating conversations and gaining new followers in no time!