Maximizing the impact of your social media posts
There are a lot of great blog posts and infographics online that highlight the best times to post on social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google+. In general, posting midweek at times when people are likely to be commuting, having a coffee or lunch break tend to be best for Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. However, the best days and times can vary based on demographic, geographic and interest categories of your target customers, so it is important to track engagement of your posts for maximum impact. Website such as Hootsuite and SocialOopmph allow you to schedule your social media posts in advance, which can save time and simply the process.
Many social media sites have built-in analytics that allow you to track the time, day and types of posts have the highest engagement, so it is worth to try posting at different times/days and tracking engagement of your target customers. You can also track social media referrals to your site using Google Analytics by adding a tracking code to your links. Sites such as Bitly and Crowdbooster allow you to track clicks for all of your social media posts in one place. Google provides a free URL builder tool that allows you to add code to your links so that you can track referrals to your website using Google Analytics.
Many social media sites have built-in analytics that allow you to track the time, day and types of posts have the highest engagement, so it is worth to try posting at different times/days and tracking engagement of your target customers. You can also track social media referrals to your site using Google Analytics by adding a tracking code to your links. Sites such as Bitly and Crowdbooster allow you to track clicks for all of your social media posts in one place. Google provides a free URL builder tool that allows you to add code to your links so that you can track referrals to your website using Google Analytics.
The best times to post on different social media platforms
The best time to publish your social media post depends on the specific platform. The information below summarizes the best time to post based on 2016 data. If you are able to write your posts in advance, websites Hootsuite and SocialOopmph will automatically select the optimal time for posting on a given day. If you are trying to choose the best time to post, bBe warned that these trends can change over time, so the best time to post in 2016 might not be the best in 2017.
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Facebook
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LinkedIn
Google+
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Social media analytics
You can access the analytics functions built into each social media platform, as well as us Google's URL builder to monitor clicks to your website using Google Analytics.
Google URL builder
Google provides a free URL builder tool that allows you to add code to your links so that you can track referrals to your website. If you provide the website URL and information about the source, Google will automatically generate the link. Campaign source refers to the referring location, e.g., Facebook Jan 31 Post, Newsletter, Google Ad. Campaign Medium, Name, Term, Content are optional fields to add specific details about the source and allow you to differentiate different types of ads or posts.
For example, if I wanted to create a URL to track clicks from my first quarter newsletter to the Small Business Resources page:
Website: http://www.kjdfreelance.com/small-business-resources.html
Campaign Source: Q1 Newsletter
Automatically generated link: http://www.kjdfreelance.com/small-business-resources.html?utm_source=q1%20newsletter
Google will also generate a short URL for posting on social media: https://goo.gl/L8fg4s
If you use the links generated by the Google URL builder, you will be able to track how many people clicked on the link to visit your site and which pages the visited.
- Facebook: go to Insights from your business page and click Posts to review post engagement
- Twitter: go to Twitter Analytics and click Tweets
- LinkedIn: go to Analytics from your business page
- Pinterest: go to Pinterest Analytics
- Google+: track using Google+ Analytics
Google URL builder
Google provides a free URL builder tool that allows you to add code to your links so that you can track referrals to your website. If you provide the website URL and information about the source, Google will automatically generate the link. Campaign source refers to the referring location, e.g., Facebook Jan 31 Post, Newsletter, Google Ad. Campaign Medium, Name, Term, Content are optional fields to add specific details about the source and allow you to differentiate different types of ads or posts.
For example, if I wanted to create a URL to track clicks from my first quarter newsletter to the Small Business Resources page:
Website: http://www.kjdfreelance.com/small-business-resources.html
Campaign Source: Q1 Newsletter
Automatically generated link: http://www.kjdfreelance.com/small-business-resources.html?utm_source=q1%20newsletter
Google will also generate a short URL for posting on social media: https://goo.gl/L8fg4s
If you use the links generated by the Google URL builder, you will be able to track how many people clicked on the link to visit your site and which pages the visited.