It’s 7 a.m. – do you know what your social media campaign is doing for you? Time is a valuable tool for your social media strategy, if applied correctly. So, if you have been wondering what is the best time to update your business’s Facebook page, when to publish a blog, or post a tweet, there is a science behind not just “what” to post, but “when” to post. Timing your interactivity with various social platforms can dramatically improve your marketing campaign as a whole. We will explore both.

Learning how to manage and balance your social strategy can be tricky and it is important to remember what your purpose of using social media is, who your target audience is and what is the “voice” or “tone” of your brand. Having an account on Facebook or Twitter does not mean you have a digital marketing campaign ready to go. Simply sharing content via social platforms whenever you feel like it will not make for an effective strategy (remember: information is not marketing). It is imperative to understand who your audience is and what their motivations are for being interested in the type of content you have to offer. And consistency is key.

In order to begin this process, consider the following questions as an example of what you should be asking yourself every time you get ready to post or engage with your audience:

• 1. Is it relevant to the prospective or current customer you are targeting?
• 2. Is this content just about selling your product or service or providing value that would encourage engagement with your brand across several groups?
• 3. What is the call to action of your messages to the audience – is it awareness, engagement or transaction?
• 4. How does this single message fit with your larger marketing strategy, the consistency of your message and the tone of your brand?

Thinking in advance about the type of message you want to deliver, the desired outcome you’re seeking and who exactly you are targeting will help you determine the best social media marketing means. Now sprinkle a little timing into the equation and here is where it gets interesting.

Timing Tips for Twitter and Facebook:

• 1. Retweet activity is heaviest between 2 – 5 p.m. (EST). Tweet later in the day and later in the week for best results.
• 2. Saturdays and Sundays are amongst the highest days for Twitter click-through rate (CTR).
• 3. Weekends, between 12a.m. – 12 p.m. are the best time for sharing information on Facebook.

Timing Tips for Email Marketing:

• 1. Experiment with sending out emails during the weekend, as they tend to get more opens and a higher CTR on Saturdays and Sundays.
• 2. Early morning is when most people typically open and read their email. If your email is waiting for them, they are more likely to read it.
• 3. Send email more often with content that is more relevant should minimize the rate of unsubscribers. No one will see your content as valuable, if it arrives once a quarter.
• 4. Your newest subscribers are your best subscribers as they have a higher CTR potential.

Timing Tips for Blogs:

• 1. Blog post page views are highest on Mondays.
• 2. Comments for blog posts tend to spike on Saturdays and Sundays.
• 3. Blog posts published early, between 6 – 7 a.m. (EST), tend to get the most links.
• 4. Blog more frequently! Try blogging at least once a week as a good starting point.

Remember, it’s important to understand your purpose of each communication with your client and apply these key points accordingly. Construct a plan that will allow you to monitor, analyze and manage your efforts. Once you have a proven method of content that your audience is responding to, experiment with different times and days to get the most effective strategy for your campaign.

Want to read more timing tips? Follow the #TimeSci hashtag on Twitter to stay ahead of the curve.

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It’s no surprise that the issue of online privacy rights has been the topic of discussion in recent months, following the announcement of two new bills regulating the collection of data online. On April 12th, 2011, Senators McCain and Kerry introduced the long-awaited Commercial Privacy Bill of Rights, which covers the control of retention, collection, and use of online data. By May 9th, Senator John Rockefeller introduced the Do-Not-Track Online Act of 2011 (pdf).

Following a review of an interview with Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, David Vladeck, interesting points were raised during their discussion of Congress’ latest privacy bills, social networks, and the online advertising and marketing industry.
When asked about the FTC’s current stance in the newly imposed privacy bills, Vladeck addresses the support FTC has in legislation, but points out that the efforts of these bills anticipate a long process that the FTC has yet to take a formal position in.

It’s important to understand that the FTC pursues companies that violate their own privacy terms, and are therefore held liable for their deception. The FTC has built their framework on this foundation, but also brings to light unfairness and half-truth deception cases. Vladeck also mentions the importance of civil penalties on data breaches and stresses that data security is the FTC’s legislative agenda on privacy.

So, what does this mean for online advertising and marketing efforts? Where is the line drawn between fair marketing behavior and what kind of marketing behavior invades privacy? It will be interesting to observe the result of privacy protections and how it affects online marketing and customer relationship management, not to mention social networks.
There is speculation that industry professionals may face detrimental effects on their CRM systems, used to learn about the behavior and buying patterns of clientele. However it seems that this issue may not be as much of a problem as some may think. There is a strong level of support among those in the industry and many believe that privacy and data collection is already adequately regulated.

The industry has definitely began to move forward with these initiatives, and only time will tell whether self-regulatory and tracking innovations are moving in the right direction.

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The internet as a whole is trending toward a social platform, where consumer interaction and engagement are key to keeping people involved and loyal to their connections, brands and products. The biggest of these social trends is allowing customers to review, discuss and react to their experiences related to business engagements. Taking this trend into their own hands is the search giant itself, Google.

After a number of hairy starts in the social media realm, Google has launched the testing phase of +1, a way for users to socialize and engage with their search engine results. Essentially, +1 gives users a “like” button for sites, ads and even on page content. So, for example, if an individual searches for “recipes” and someone in their network (such as a friend or acquaintance whose opinion would matter to that individual either as a Gmail contact or Google Talk contact) “+1′d” a site or ad, that site will show up higher on the search results for that individual. In a nutshell, the site gets rank for being voted as useful by a friend. Google also mentioned that they are going to integrate into other social media tools, such as Twitter, to expand recommendation possibilities.

What will this mean for Search Engine Optimization?

As of now, Google’s +1 is an experiment to merely collect data on the efficacy of this tool and to watch the behavior of users who receive +1 recommendations. Additionally, positive ratings carry big implications for PPC ads. If users +1 an ad, then that can bring down the cost per click, raise the average position of the ad and make the ad stick out next to competitors because it has the +1 logo where others might not.

The real question is, what’s to stop a blackhat SEO company from making a bunch of Gmail accounts and +1-ing them? This question has yet to be answered. The algorithm that Google puts into place for +1 will have to take blackhat techniques into account and it’s still not certain how much weight positive clicks will give the site overall. Recently Google has taken online reviews into consideration when giving rank, making the user aspect more measurable and holding more weight.

Stay ahead of the curve on Google’s +1: update your content!

When was the last time you added new information about your services, products or industry? The most important tactic for your website, AdWords ads and blog postings is to be as relevant as possible. Stay on top of information and don’t forget to maintain a user-friendly website. If users find your site frustrating, disorganized, filled with errors or requires more than just a couple of clicks to get what they are looking for, then it’s time to update or have professionals come in and streamline your site for you.

Remember, Google’s business is to bring the best search results possible to the users, not to cater to advertisers and websites.

For more information on Google’s +1 or to find out how to enable +1 when you search, visit their informational content or contact Pop Labs today!

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