Looking for some advice on when and how to post to your small business’ Facebook page?
Every business is going to find their own “best practices” for posting through experimentation. What do your customers and Facebook friends comment most on or share more frequently?
Here are some thoughts on what many small businesses are finding works on Facebook. Don’t take this as the gospel truth, though – test and see if these make sense for you.
- Post once or twice a day. More frequent posts may overwhelm or annoy your followers – not to mention, it can be hard to run a business and post to Facebook at multiple times of day. But you will need to post with some consistency to make sure you are on their radar. Once a day seems to be a good frequency for most small businesses.
- Put up your posts in the morning. For most businesses, you’ll see increased interactivity if you post before noon. Why? Because many people start their day by checking email and Facebook. They may use lunchtime to check again. But after that, there’s less activity as people get busy and then get ready to end their days. And after work – they’re reading more personal comments by friends discussing their days, their afterwork plans, what’s on TV… it’s easy to get lost in the feed. Of course, there are exceptions – and that’s why you should test what works best for you. Fast food restaurants, for example, see more activity in the afternoon (as people get hungry for dinner). But when a plumber puts up information at 5 p.m. or a garden center posts at 9 p.m., that information tends to get lost in the shuffle.
- Think about what days are best for certain types of posts. If you have a special offer, you might want to post that (and re-post, in various ways) at the beginning of the week. But if you want fan interaction, Friday is the best day to do it. People respond more at the end of the week, when their attentions are less on work and more on getting to the weekend. But don’t waste your time on Saturday or Sunday – people are out doing their own thing and aren’t spending as much time on the computer or even with their mobile devices.
- Mix it up with the types of posts you use. Images can get a great response, so if you have a photo of your product in use or the work you’ve just finished for a client, that’s great. Ask some questions, have a contest or two, link to a related video. Don’t always just post a run-of-the-mill “status update” about what you’re doing.
- Use a blend of sales and non-sales messages. People don’t follow so you can continually tell them how great and valuable your products and services are. They follow to get good deals from you, learn about new offerings, or be entertained. Sure, you can post about specials and sales, but don’t make it all about the sales pitch. Put in notes about the area where your business is, your community, your employees, local events, customers. Ask people what they think about a local news story. You can be relevant and brand your business without always talking directly about what you sell.
Trial and error is a part of using social media, so experiment with what might work best for your business. Try different types of posts at different times and make notes on what works best!