⏰ What are the best times to post social content?

Hey 👋

Welcome to Neighbourhood Post issue #8 - easy to implement digital marketing ideas straight through your metaphorical letterbox.

Exciting news; we’re hiring! 🎉

We’re looking for an 8th team member - a Social Media and Email Executive. If you know someone who might be a good fit, there’s more info here.

Today’s newsletter is super practical; when should you post on social media, and does it matter? Forward this one to any social media managers you know.

Let’s go.

👉 By the way, if you’ve missed previous newsletters you’ll find them here.

📩 And if you’ve been forwarded this email you can subscribe here.

Finding the golden hour ⭐️ ⏰

This week I saw a tweet from Buffer.

It contained a chart of the best times to post on Instagram.

Here’s the rundown:

1. Engagement starts to peak around 7am 😴

2. It’s at its highest point at 7am-8am on weekdays 📈

3. There’s a dip from then, with a slight peak at lunchtime 🥪

4. Engagement picks back up in the early evening 🌆

5. Weekends drop significantly 🎢

That’s not a bad starter for ten.

If you follow them, you’ll see a slight uptick.

But if you really want to hit the next level, here are a few thoughts from me…

1. Make it human: Think about your audiences’ behaviour

Buffer’s study suggests 7am, 12pm and 6pm are the best times to post.

But all optimised posting times are not created equal.

💨 The 7am slot is all about speed. Catch up on posts that came in overnight, clear your messages and notifications - but do it quickly, you’ve gotta get in the shower!

😎 The lunch hour is about killing time. You’ve got an hour, you should probably be doing something more productive but you’re quite happy to fall down a rabbit hole of content.

😆 The early evening is about switching off, forgetting the stress of work and seeking some entertainment.

Match your message to your audiences’ frame of mind.

• 7am - static graphics, quick, clear announcements

• 12pm - longer-form content

• 6pm - entertaining and trivial

Don’t post a 2 minute reel at a time when your audience is scrambling out of bed getting ready for work.

Think about your audience as humans, and predict what they want to see.

2. Mix It Up: Keep your audience on their toes

Quick quiz: What percentage of your followers see your posts? 👀

It’s easy to think 100%, or maybe just below that.

But data shows it’s a lot less. 

So if you have something really important to say, don’t risk it being missed; find three ways to say it and post at three different times across a few days.

Pro-tip: go calculate your reach rate. 

Your reach rate is the percentage of your followers who see your posts, on average.

Calculate it by taking your average post reach and dividing by your total followers.

Most reach rates are around 15-25% meaning only 25% of your audience will see something you post.

Make sure you’re accounting for that.

3. All hail the algorithm: time is dead 💀 ⏰

The timing of your posts used to matter a lot more than it does now.

The chronological news feed is dead, long live the algorithmic news feed.

Time is not the biggest factor any more.

The algorithm will show your posts to the section of your audience that is most engaged. Bear in mind that’s not just engagement in terms of likes and comments, but also video views and scroll stops.

If people stop to look at your content, the algorithm will serve them your future content, regardless of the time of day you post.

🔑 The key takeaway: In 2023, If you’re sweating more about posting times than the quality of your content you’re probably focusing on the wrong areas.

Whether we like it or not, the algorithm is king, and we must bow down to it if we want to play the game.

On that cheery note, see you next week ✌️

What we’re looking at 👀 and listening to 👂

📺 Fran would highly recommend the new Netflix hit “All The Light You Cannot See.” If you’re looking for something to watch this weekend, look no further.

📺 Mark watched Louis Theroux Meets Pete Doherty this week. His review: “it’s all about drugs”. Not sure what else he was expecting from a Pete Doherty documentary.

Before you go - we’ll never use these newsletters to directly sell you our services, but we’re always here if you need any expertise or support 👍