When and How Often Should Businesses Tweet?

Twitter is one of the most useful, yet confusing social sites available for use today. The site, by design, is open and searchable, and when used well it’s a timely and engaging platform. But while many individuals and brands alike have found Twitter to be a valuable communication and marketing tool, the very things that make it useful can also make it an overwhelming platform for businesses.

When discussing how to use Twitter, we tend to see two main questions come up: “How often should I tweet?” and “When should I tweet?” And as is often the case on social media, the answer we give often starts with the words, “It depends” – because there really isn’t a single answer to these questions. But there is a way to find an answer that fits your business, your brand, and your needs. And today, we’re going to help you understand how you can find the answer to both of these questions.

A: The short answer is, often! As with any site, the exact number of posts you should make on Twitter will depend, in part, on what you’re aiming to do on it. But while it’s advised that you reign in your post frequency on most social media – so that you avoid spamming and annoying your audience – it’s actually okay to tweet frequently!

Remember, Twitter traffic is both high-volume and low-value, as tweets have a very short lifespan. Studies have shown that the life of a tweet tends to be as short as 18 minutes, and rarely any longer than a few hours. This means that while more interactions can extend the life of a tweet beyond this average length of time, the average tweet will be lost in a flow of traffic relatively shortly.

To combat this, it’s recommended that businesses post at least three to five times a day on Twitter. That said, there is no reason to limit yourself to just three to five tweets. Twitter is the one site where regular, timely updates – whether they’re news or live event updates – are not likely to irritate your fanbase. This means that posting once an hour could be ideal for you, especially if you have an active Twitter following, or if you find that you have a lot to say and do on Twitter!

In fact, frequent tweeting could help to bring in more fans – assuming, of course, the content of your tweets is high quality. Remember, you are much more likely to lose fans because of boring content than you are from over-tweeting. So make sure that the things you’re tweeting about are things people want to read about – and don’t forget to take the time to respond to other tweets, retweet posts, and just generally interact and engage with other businesses, fans, and users. Doing this will help bump your “tweet count” up and will ensure that you’re using the site the way it’s meant to be used.

A: As with any other social platform, the answer to this question will ultimately depend on when your fans are using Twitter. After all, you want to try to post at times that yield the highest number of engagements. For some brands and business, this means posting consistently during the day. For others, it means updating early in the morning or in the evening, when fans are commuting to and from work. Others have gotten great results from posting on weekends.

To determine the best time to post for your business, try setting up an experimental posting schedule. For the best results, pick a timeframe and post all of your content within this timeframe. After testing one timeframe for a full week, begin posting during another timeframe. Eventually – after testing mornings, afternoons, weekends, etc. – you’ll be able to analyze your post data and determine which window of time yielded the best results for visibility and engagement.

That said, don’t ever just limit yourself to a single time for posting! Twitter is a “here and now” social site, and you should always try to use it as the site it’s designed to be. Meaning that if you have something to say about something happening right now, don’t wait to post until the “right” time. Remember, sometimes “now” is the right time, as a timely update can often yield better results than a planned update!

Now that you have the answers to these questions, it’s time to get ready, get set…and tweet!

While Twitter can seem like a complicated site to use, the final answers to questions about posting frequency and timeliness will be the same as any other social site. It all depends on your audience. If you’re still not sure when to post or how often to post, try experimenting a bit with your Twitter profile and see what sorts of results you get from shaking up your current routine. A little experimentation may quickly give you the answers you’re looking for!

Sources

• http://www.fastcompany.com/3029019/work-smart/the-social-media-frequency-guide-how-often-to-post-to-facebook-twitter-linkedin-a
• https://blog.bufferapp.com/best-time-to-tweet-post-to-facebook-send-emails-publish-blogposts
• https://todaymade.com/blog/how-often-should-i-tweet/
• http://sproutsocial.com/insights/how-often-should-you-tweet/
• https://blog.bufferapp.com/best-time-to-tweet-research