Social media marketing centers around getting the attention of your present and prospective customers.

What is the best time to post on social media?

“The best time to post on social media is when your customers (both present and prospective) are online”.

When to post on Social Media in 2020

Social media eCommerce trends indicate that the use of social networks for eCommerce is on the rise with an estimated global eCommerce sales of $4.5 trillion by 2021, a 246.15% rise. Hence, questions like why post on social media and what are the implications of not posting on social media are becoming more and more irrelevant. Now, the only question that needs to be answered is when to post on social media for maximum engagement.

Best time to post on social media in 2020 – Facebook

• It is more or less safe to post on Facebook on weekdays between 1 pm to 4 p.m. for those who would like to indulge in a bit of online shopping during lunch hours at work.
• The best time to post on Facebook for online retail brands is not one single time slot but rather a few optimum times are present:
  • Wednesday between 11am-3pm
  • Thursday at 2 p.m. and 4 pm
  • Friday between 10 am to 3 pm
• Weekends are usually considered to have the lowest engagement rates for consumer goods brands.

What to post on social media for your business: A Guide for FacebookSince Facebook’s audience is highly coveted by online businesses simply because of its sheer reach, you could have a regular flow of informational content, industry news and updates, and product promotions. These will generate brand loyalty and increased sales. Remember to have an effective CTA to your posts on Facebook, like Steam Horse Dry Goods Co. below. The post is crisp, to the point and has a clear CTA.

Best time to post on social media in 2020– Instagram

• The safest times to post are every day from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
• The best time to post on Instagram for online retailers is Saturdays and particularly at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.
• Wednesday has been seen as the day with the most engagement.
• Monday is the least engaged day for consumer goods, maybe because people are more likely to catch up on work, and everyone, in general, is more focused on getting ready for the week ahead.

What to post on social media for your business: A Guide for InstagramPrimarily a photo sharing app, Instagram is highly impacted by product images and is a key driver of brand awareness for eCommerce. New product launches, lifestyle posts, and user-generated content teamed up with effective hashtags have been seen to be doing really well on Instagram. You could also post short videos.

Best time to post on social media in 2020 – Twitter

• The safe time to post on Twitter is between 1 to 3 p.m. every day.
• The best day and time to post on Twitter for eCommerce brands is on Saturdays at 1 p.m.
• Sunday has been reported to be the lowest in terms of engagement but has seen some engagement at 11 a.m. and between 1 to 4 p.m. on this day.

Some other types of content to post on social media sites

1. Posts of your company
2. Industry news
3. Curated content
4. Questions
5. Videos
6. Advice
7. Memes 
8. Contests
9. Holiday Posts
10. Links to freebies

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How to post on Social Media? – Apps that post on social media for you

Very often you might be required to post to multiple social media accounts at once, and it can be very daunting for those who don’t know how to post on social media. Here are some tools that will help you with this:

1. Hootsuite

Hootsuite is a great tool which enables you to schedule your posts across all major social media pages at specific times. Available both as a free and paid version, this is an excellent tool to publish and monitor your posts on multiple platforms from one single screen. It also has an “auto-schedule” option which is based on the company’s own knowledge on the best time to post on Instagram or on Facebook. 

2. Hubspot

Apart from publishing and monitoring, if you are also looking for an app that will also do the reporting for you, Hubspot is the app to go to. It provides a closed-loop reporting data, which means that you’re not just seeing which channels are giving you the most engagement, you can also track the funnel down further to see which posts are driving actual leads and sales.

3. TweetDeck

If you are focusing on just Twitter, you should not look any farther than TweetDeck. Apart from being one of the oldest to be around, it is one of the best too. You can follow several conversations at once with this tool, and it is actually quite fun at times.

4. IFTTT (or Zapier)

This is a Trigger-and-action tool. Acronym for ‘If This Then That’, IFTTT is an automation tool that can save you a lot of time while it manages your social platforms effectively. The tool links your website, social media pages, and apps based on a trigger and an action. Based on a particular trigger you create, it starts an action. For example, if you publish a blog (the trigger), then IFTTT will automate and create a tweet (the action) about it.

5. Raven

Apart from allowing you to access data and schedule posts from a variety of social media platforms, Raven provides reports from information gathered about pay-per-click (PPC), search engine optimization (SEO), and social media channels. Thus, you get insights on topics like what the best time to post on Instagram is or if SEO is a better channel than PPC campaigns.

6. Buffer (DLVR.it)

Buffer or Dlvr.it are advanced applications that provide Automated scheduling and engagement analysis.

Conclusion There is really no magic rule to engage with users. Every brand is different and so are their respective audiences.