These days, it’s not enough for businesses to simply have a presence on social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin; now, business owners must also know when their distributed content will be the most effective. Even the most thoroughly-researched article or thought-provoking tweet will fail to produce the user engagement it deserves if it happens to be posted at the wrong time, which is why Alecan Marketing has developed this simple infographic based on our own social media research and practices. Make sure your business’ social media posts pack the kind of punch that will generate better user engagement, more widespread social sharing, and increased leads!

For your social media efforts to be most effective (i.e. reach the highest number of people), the Best Times to post are:

For Facebook – Between 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. (for the highest click-through rate).
For Twitter – Mondays-Thursdays, between 1:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m.
For Linkin – Tuesdays-Thursdays, anytime.

To reach the highest number of users, the Peak Time is:

For Facebook – Wednesdays at 3:00 p.m.
For Twitter – Mondays-Thursdays, between 9:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m.
For Linkedin – Tuesdays-Thursday at 12:00 noon and between 5:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m.

…And to reach the fewest number of users, the Worst Time to post is:

For Facebook – On Weekends, before 8:00 a.m. and after 8:00 p.m.
For Twitter – Any day after 8:00 p.m., Fridays after 3:00 p.m.
For Linkedin – Mondays and Fridays, 10:00 p.m. through 6:00 a.m.

Finally, here are some fun facts about User Engagement:

For Facebook – Posts that included pictures got 53% more likes and 104% more comments.
For Twitter – Tweets with images got: 36% more clicks, a 31% increase in visits, a 41% increase in retweets, a 48% increase in favorites, a 33% increase in visitors-to-lead-conversation rate, and a 55% increase in leads.
For Linkedin – Now, almost half of all users (41%) visit Linkedin from their mobile devices.