A question I get asked often is “When is the best time to post to Social Media?” or “Does it matter what time I post?”

The answer is, Yes, of course! It all depends on your business and industry. It’s all about knowing your audience.

For example, think about a gym. We all know that people like to start getting fit and healthy on a Monday. So, the best time to promote your gym is on a Sunday afternoon/early evening. Your audience is finishing dinner and settling down with their iPad or iPhone in front of the TV, planning their meal prep for the week and BAM! There is your ad for your gym. You’ve now got their attention!

Here are a few things to think about before you start posting on your socials.

• Who is your audience? Is it younger? Focus more on Instagram with photos. Slightly older? Facebook is your friend and you have more flexibility with what you can post. Is your business strictly professional, focus more on LinkedIn.

• Think about you. When do you reach for your phone to check your social media? Is it first thing when you wake up at 6.30am or do you have a scroll through at 3pm with your afternoon coffee? If this is your schedule, it’s probably your customers too!

• How often should you post? If you are new to social media and just starting to build your page, 2-3 times a week is great. If you are confident and wanting to grow your page fast, once a day is suffice!

• Make sure your content is unique! It’s super easy to share someone else’s post to fill a blank space but you are only helping them get a higher reach, not your own.

• Videos, Videos, Videos! Social media will share videos over photos so grab your phone and start creating your own unique videos. Just remember to keep them short! Maximum of 2 minutes!

• ## Hashtags ## These are now encouraged on all your social media posts. A maximum of 30 hashtags are permitted on a general post. Don’t forget to check the ‘Banned Hashtag list’. Using one of these could mean zero audience and a complete waste of time.

• Branding. Make sure your business branding is consistent and your own. Remember when you used to share others posts? Now, your posts will be so amazing that people will start to share yours and your brand needs to be visible.