Social Media Post Shelf Life

Social media marketing is crucial for small businesses to thrive as the world is becoming exponentially more tech savvy. So, you formulated a social media posting calendar to make sure you get your small business out there on multiple platforms, but are you really maximizing your posts? Each social media site has a specific shelf life that can push your post to the top of the feed and effectively share your small business’ message.

Understanding the shelf life of your social media posts on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter will help your business stay in the front of your clients’ minds all the time.

Facebook

Posting to Facebook requires more strategic thinking than ever before. While most people understand that posting in the middle of the night is not going to reach many people, it goes further than just what time to post your messages. 75 percent of engagement on a post (likes, comments, shares and loves) occurs within the first five hours after being published. This makes your timing for putting out your ad or update crucial for it to be effective. The average user only sees 20 percent of all posts, so being timely will ensure you take advantage of that window for your followers to see.

A good way to gauge your audience is to track how many impressions you get on your posts. Thinking about your audience will help you figure out what time of day would be best to reach them. If your target audience is the Monday through Friday workers, posting on evenings and weekends would be a good way to ensure they see what you have to say.

Twitter

While posting multiple times a day on Facebook would be an ineffective strategy, on Twitter it’s what you should be doing. The average Tweet dies in the Twitter world after 18 minutes. Knowing this, it’s important to be present on Twitter by liking and re-tweeting throughout the day. Think about the last time you scrolled through your Twitter feed. Every time you stop to refresh, there are at least a handful of new tweets to see at the top (5,700 tweets per second in the world to be exact). Staying active on Twitter will build your followers and make sure your Tweets make an impression on your audience.

You only get 140 characters at a time, so be engaging to your followers by keeping it short and to the point. To accomplish this, try things like this: In your next event, live tweet so those who follow you but can’t attend in person will be able to participate and feel like a part of your business. Live tweeting also gives your followers the chance to share your Twitter handle to their network.

LinkedIn

Since LinkedIn is the professional platform of social media, posts tend to live longer. The idea of this site isn’t solely based on updates and events, it’s more about using your posts to network and engage with your professional connections. LinkedIn has the longest shelf life (24 hours) of any social media site. Your goal on here should be to create “evergreen” posts: updates that ask for your network’s opinion or for them to take action.

It’s important to remember here that your connections don’t necessarily want to be bombarded with your promotions since they use this to connect and learn. Whether you use LinkedIn to connect with professionals in your arena, to recruit, or to search for jobs remember that a little goes a long way. Each posts weighs more than on other social media sites, so be thoughtful before you post.

The point of social media for your business is to get a message out to a broader network than just your regular clients and email lists. Each one of these tools is powerful as long as you understand how to utilize their strengths. Get your business organized and be consistent with when and how you use them. Social media is something your business needs to excel and stay ahead, so if you feel like you don’t have time (totally normal!) or lack the know-how, we can help create a calendar of social media posts for you to use or even run the show for you. Happy posting!