What time should I post to social media and other "rules" you can't always follow.
See also: what time should I send my email blast? What day is best for blog posts?
People have asked why I don't just use set templates for all of my clients. They offer this suggestion as a time saving solution to be able to take on more clients at once (my magic number is 5). Fact is, I do have a system I follow when it comes to my work; routines and methods I use for my own time management sake. However, when it comes to the people who hire me, well, they pay me for my ideas and my customized solutions to meet their individual, unique goals. If I used/did/said the same thing for all of them then it really wouldn't be worth their investment. What I provide are customized systems that are cater to who they are, what they do and what they need.
When it comes to marketing/social media, while there are some rules you should follow (like the proper use of hashtags, tagging effectively, being professional) there's no hard and fast rule you need to be following for when you should post. Social media marketing is not cookie cutter. At its core you start out with the same basics: who, what, where, when, how, why. You figure out your goals, what your intentions are and so on but because your brand isn't the same as the other even if it's in the same realm, what they do is not necessarily what you should do.
So I encourage you to take those "These are the best times/days/dates/tide levels to post or send your email!" articles with a tablespoon of salt. They're good guides but pay attention to what they're saying and most of all, pay attention to who it is you want to attract. If your audience is soccer moms, they're oging to have very different social media usage habits than, say, 20-somethings or the AARP crowd. Get in your customer's head, think about what sort of day they may have and figure out when you can reach them.
Pay attention to your analytics and see when your audience is most active on social media! People are, for the most part, predictable so if you can think like them, you'll know what's going to draw them in so do THAT instead of just following these so-called rules of thumb.
Another thing: if we were all to follow the "Post on this source at X times only" you'd be pitting your posts everyone else trying to get theirs seen at that time and you'll end up getting lost in the mix. Have a strategy, figure out what works best for YOU to get the results you want.
On the flip side, if you're managing someone's social media and you have a good personal brand, know that just because something works for YOU it doesn't mean it'll work for your client.
