Finding the right ways to engage people is a concern as old as the marketing industry itself. The rise of social media has only exacerbated this obsession.
Brands post content to be seen, to be engaged with, to be reacted to. This is often a lot simpler when it comes to B2C engagement because companies often know exactly who they are targeting. However, when it comes to B2B engagement different industries have different interests, habits, work schedules, average ages, seniority levels and gender balances, which means it can often get a bit more complicated…
To address this issue, Sprout Social have looked at the big three social platforms (Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram), and created an analysis on the best time to post in order to catch the eyes, hearts, and wallets of the right business audience.
When targeting on Facebook, the data suggests it’s best to post at the beginning of the week and from the late morning until the early afternoon. Facebook’s advertising however, when compared with other social media platforms, is a bit more complex than simply posting at a particular time of the day. Many agencies believe brands will have to invest more on paid ads to gain a significant number of views due to algorithms not giving organic posts the same level of viewing priority as they would have received a few short years ago.
When posting on Twitter, it seems it’s best to release content towards the end of the week. Twitter is a quick and relatively simple way to get content out to the world, but with the length of tweets being confined to 280 characters it’s a platform which is often bombarded with an array of content which can be scrolled over quickly. With this in mind, it’s important to ensure quality over quantity. In a study on how US B2B buyers thought content could be improved, 92% mentioned that they wanted more focus on value rather than product details, and 96% said they desired more insight from industry leaders.
The best time to post on Instagram when targeting professionals is generally towards the middle of the week with a peak on Friday mornings. It’s a brilliant platform for developing the personality of a brand and showcasing the employees that B2B customers will be engaging with. Utilising Instagram stories and consistent post designs to showcase employees, company events and happy customers displays a more recognisable and human side to B2B brands.
Of course, getting the best out of your posts also depends on an array of other factors such as the tone, length, design and content of your message. But these insights should help you think about the crucial factor of timing too.
Priscilla McGregor-Kerr
@cillahope
cillahope 