This post by Mike Lowndes originally appeared on his site on 2/5/14.
What Is The Best Time Of Day To Market Your Books?
Marketers have known for decades that people respond better to offers at different times of day and on different days of the week. But the internet has made things a whole lot more complicated, as well as opening up fresh opportunities for clever timing-based targeting. So how do you know what to send, when?
There’s plenty of research available on the subject, but a lot of it contradicts itself. In our experience your best bet is to let your target audience drive timing decisions. Here’s some guidance to help you hit the nail on the head at a time the nail actually wants to be hit.
When is the best time to market to your audience?
Facebook news feeds go out of date in no time. Old news gets buried and unless people are on there all the time, it’s likely they’ll miss your gems of wisdom and amazingness. The recent introduction of Story Bumping means time decay matters less than it did. But it still makes sense to post stuff on Facebook when people are most likely to see it. And the same goes for other social media. Old messages are buried fast, so it helps if you know the optimum time to release them.
Some studies suggest engagement rates are 18% higher on Thursdays and Fridays – probably because people are at the end of their tether at work, looking forward to the weekend and more inclined to take a sneaky peek at Facebook than earlier in the week. Obviously there are variations, but as a general rule posting Wednesday to Friday seems to reach the most people and generate the best response.
Read the full post on Mike Lowndes’ site.