Tag: Social Networking

Best Times of Day to Use Social Media

Social media is 24/7 but your customers/fans/followers are not on each social media platform all the time. So, the question becomes:

When is the best time to reach your customers using social media?

There a many factors that will determine the best time of day to use social media, including the platform you are using (i.e. Facebook or Twitter) and where your customers are located. The infographic below by Kissmetrics explains when the best time is to reach your specific customers.

Science of Social Timing Takeaways:

  • Over 80% of the U.S. population is located in the central and eastern time zones
  • Majority of Twitter users are more likely to Retweet after lunch and at the end of the work day. Customers are more likely to see your Tweet if it is scheduled for 5 pm.
  • Since Twitter is a real-time feed, it is important to Tweet throughout the day. This data suggests Tweeting 1-4 times an hour; however, this can be difficult when first starting social media. I suggest aiming for the following 4 times a day when customers are more likely to check their Twitter feeds:
    • Before 9 am
    • Lunch time
    • Around 5pm (the end of the work day)
    • Between 7-8 pm after dinner
  • Facebook posts can reappear in a customer’s feed as likes & shares increase of a post increase; as such, the time between posts can be greater.
  • Facebook posts have the most shares & likes during lunch hours and on Saturdays, these are both times when people are relaxed and have more time peruse Facebook.

Science of Social Timing

How often do you Tweet or post on Facebook? Do you think ideal posting times vary by industry? I would love to hear your thoughts, please leave a comment below.

How to Harness the Power of Hashtags

Twitter is a unique platform, in which you are only able to have a conversation with the world using 140 characters. So how do you make your tweets stand out from the rest, and be found by engaged followers? One word…#HASHTAGS.

Hashtags are one of the most powerful tools you can use to increase the visibility of your tweets. Twitter is a real time feed that changes every second, so it is crucial to create tweets that stand out not only in the feed but in searches, as well. Hashtags can help to increase the number of followers, and in turn increase traffic to your website.

So here are some basic rules for using hashtags:

  • Do not use more than three hashtags in one post, more than that and you start to fall into the category of a hashtag spammer.
  • If you have two words you want to use for hashtags, you should combine them to create one hashtag (example: #Summer #vacation becomes #SummerVacation)
  • Only use hashtags that are relevant to your post, do not add the top trending hash tag to your tweet just to gain followers. (Example: You are tweeting about puppies, but the top trending hashtag is #worldseries, do not add World Series to your tweet.)

Creating a Campaign Around a Hashtag
So, using hashtags seem pretty simply, right? Well…yes and no. While they can be a tremendously powerful tool to increase followers and website traffic, preparation for creating a campaign around a hashtag is a requireHow to Use Hashtags on Twitterment, in order to advert disaster. The main reason a brand would use a hashtag is to try to start a conversation with the online community and build brand awareness. Powerful but generic hashtags tend to be more successful for brands because there is less chance that it could turn into negative publicity or a hashtag hijacking. It is not recommended that the company name is included in the hashtag.

Coming up with the best hashtag for your company can sometimes be a challenge. I know I just said that a hashtag should be powerful, yet generic, but it is also essential that it is not too generic. You do not want a hashtag to be so generic that it could be hijacked and used by another company, or for the meaning to be able to be change entirely. As with all social media campaigns, it is vital to have a crisis management plan in place. It should include details on how you plan to respond if your hashtag campaign is hijacked, or if it spins off in a negative way.

When beginning a campaign around a hashtag it is important to be ready for constant monitoring of how the hashtag travels and evolves in the “Twitter World”. Setting up a buzz feed to show all mentions of your hashtag could do the monitoring.

Hashtags can be very powerful tool and should definitely be used. But, please don’t just throw them into every tweet. Hashtags should be relevant to your brand, post topic, and your campaign.

Image: Master isolated images / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Social Media Week 2012

Today I was able to watch two great live presentations from social media week 2012:

  • Moves Like Jagger: Customer Service Evolved- from Social Media Week San Francisco
  • Applying Big Data Analytics to Social Media Data – from Social Media Week New York Business and Innovation

At the end of this week, I will do a recap of all the tricks and tools I learned from the different speakers and panels.

If you are interested, you can watch all the presentations, panels, and events from all over the world live online. You can even tweet in your questions, and they will answer them while you watch. I recommend watching the Applying Big Data Analytics to Social Media Data panel discussion, some really impressive social media analytics tools were discussed. All of the past event videos, which were originally live streamed, are available at the bottom of each event page (ex: at the bottom of the SMW NY Business and Innovation page).

Click following LiveStream link to watch presentations for Social Media Week live from New York, Hamburg, London, Miami, San Francisco, Washington D.C., Paris, Singapore, Toronto, and Toyko. LiveStream

Also, check out the Social media Week Real Time Inforgraphic. It is very cool! Real time info on the top trending topics, check-ins, hashtags, handles, tweets, and events. Below is a screen shot of the global Social Media Week Real Time Infographic.

Use the following link to check out the: Social Media Week 2012 Real Time Infographic

Social Media Week 2012 Real Time Infographic

How to Brand Yourself Online and Offline

Brand strategy is not limited to businesses anymore; it is now expanding into the idea of branding yourself. I was introduced to the concept of branding yourself during my senior year at Tulane when everyone was getting ready to apply for jobs, specifically the idea of branding your online identity.

Personal Brand StrategyBut, when I thought about it a personal brand does not exist solely online. Actually, a personal brand strategy can be applied to networking (online and offline), applying for jobs, and career goals.

It is important remember when you are developing a personal brand strategy, that it is just as important for you to monitor your online brand as it is for companies.

Also, don’t forget to keep your brand information up-to-date (job position, promotions, or new skills) and to build an active community around your brand (make sure your Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook posts are relevant to your personal brand strategy).

If you are interested in developing your own personal brand strategy, check out this infographic about things to remember when creating your strategy.

How To Create Your Personal Branding Strategy? #infographic

Image: nokhoog_buchachon / FreeDigitalPhotos.net