Understanding the science behind timing and its impact on social media marketing performance. Featuring Jay Baer from Convince & Convert and Eric Boggs from Argyle Social.

1. Presented by Jay Baer & Eric Boggs
October 27, 2011
#socialtiming

2. Who are these people talking to me?
Jay Baer Eric Boggs
@jaybaer @ericboggs
convinceandconvert.com argylesocial.com
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3. Details
• Jay will lead Q/A at the end of the call.
• Tag your tweets/questions with #socialtiming.
• We’re recording this shin dig.
• We’ll send an email follow up to everyone.
• Eric is @ericboggs.
• Jay is @jaybaer.
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4. - The NOW Revolution: 7 Shifts to Make Your Business Faster, Smarter, & More Social
- ConvinceandConvert.com
- How Far Should You Open the Kimono?
The NOW Revolution:
7 Shifts to Make Your Business
Faster, Smarter, & More Social
convinceandconvert.com
How Far Should You Open the Kimono?
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5. 15-SECOND COMMERCIAL:
ON INFLUENCE
ERIC
Online influence matters. Or does it? How do you measure
what may or may not matter?
Thursday, Nov 10, 3pm EST
Sign up at ar.gy/oninfluence
#socialtiming

6. Why does timing matter?
Can timing help you cut through the noise?
Ken Bloch Photography
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7. DIVING INTO THE DATA
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8. Data Source
A slice of aggregate, anonymous Argyle user data.
• December 2010 through September 2011
• 250k+ posts, 5M+ clicks
• 500+ organizations
– All industries, all sizes
– Human-categorized into B2B and B2C
• Networks: Twitter and Facebook only
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9. Our Approach
Real statistics. Not just averages.
• In every category we look at two things:
– Posts: content published to FB or TW.
– Engagement: clicks per post per follower
– Ignored: likes, comments, retweets, conversions
• All results statistically validated.
– We normalized time zones.
– We conducted experiments.
– We ignored LOTS of flimsy “insights”.
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10. Disclosure
Your mileage may vary.
• Your business probably isn’t average.
The correct answer to most timing questions is
usually “It depends.”
• Make sure to calculate the pay-off.
1% lift is earth shattering for some, meaningless for
others…
• Hang around until the end.
We’ll help you put this stuff into practice.
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11. Question #1:
WHEN DO MARKETERS
POST?
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12. Post Timing
B2B
Post Volume By Day of Week
Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday
Weekday Post Volume by Hour
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23
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13. Post Timing
B2C
Post Volume by Day of Week
Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday
Weekday Post Volume by Hour
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23
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14. B2C
Post Volume by Day of Week
Marketers overwhelmingly post when
Sunday Monday
they’reWednesday Thursday Friday
Tuesday
at work. Saturday
Weekday Post Volume by Hour
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23
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15. Question #2:
ARE THERE SPECIFIC TIMING
CHARACTERISTICS FOR B2B?
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16. Weekday vs Weekend
B2B
Do weekdays or weekends produce higher levels of engagement for B2B
marketers?
Facebook Twitter
100% 50% 100% 50%
90% 40% 90% 40%
Engagement Rate Variance
Engagement Rate Variance
80% 30% 80% 30%
70% 20% 70% 20%
% of Brand Posts
% of Brand Posts
60% 10% 60% 10%
50% 0% 50% Significant! 0%
40% -10% 40% -10%
30% -20% 30% -20%
20% -30% 20% -30%
10% -40% 10% -40%
0% -50% 0% -50%
Weekday Weekend Weekday Weekend
Posts Engagement Posts Engagement
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17. Time of Day
B2B, Weekdays
What portion of the day produces higher levels of engagement for B2B marketers
on weekdays?
Facebook Twitter
100% 50% 100% 50%
90% 40% 90% 40%
Engagement Rate Variance
Engagement Rate Variance
80% 30% 80% 30%
70% 20% 70% 20%
% of Brand Posts
% of Brand Posts
Significant! Significant!
60% 10% 60% 10%
50% 0% 50% 0%
40% -10% 40% -10%
30% -20% 30% -20%
20% -30% 20% -30%
10% -40% 10% -40%
0% -50% 0% -50%
4am-9am 9am-7pm 7pm-4am 4am-9am 9am-7pm 7pm-4am
Posts Engagement Posts Engagement
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18. Day of the Week
B2B, Weekdays, Workday
What day of the week produces higher levels of engagement for B2B marketers
during the work day?
Facebook Twitter
40% 50% 40% 50%
35% 40% 40%
35%
Engagement Rate Variance
Engagement Rate Variance
30% 30%
30% 30%
20%
% of Brand Posts
20%
% of Brand Posts
25% 10% 25% 10%
20% 0% 20% 0%
15% -10% -10%
15%
-20% -20%
10% 10%
-30% -30%
5% -40% 5% -40%
0% -50% 0% -50%
M T W Th F M T W Th F
Posts Engagement Posts Engagement
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19. Some More Theories Tested…
B2B, Weekdays, Workdays
If I post in the first five minutes of Nope.
an hour, do I get better
engagement?
If I post during the last five minutes of Nuh-uh.
an hour, do I get better engagement?
Are there meaningful differences in As if.
engagement levels when you break
down hours into ten-minute segments?
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20. B2B Timing Lessons
• Our data shows no meaningful timing
considerations for B2B marketers on
Facebook.
• B2B marketers on Twitter achieve better
results on weekdays during the work day.
• There is no “right day” or “right minute” to
post.
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21. Question #3:
DOES TIMING DIFFER FOR
B2C?
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22. Weekend vs. Weekday
B2C
Do weekends or weekdays produce higher levels of engagement for B2C
marketers?
Facebook Twitter
100% 50% 100% 50%
90% 40% 90% 40%
Engagement Rate Variance
Engagement Rate Variance
80% 30% 80% 30%
70% 20%
% of Brand Posts
70% 20%
% of Brand Posts
60% 10% 60% 10%
50% 0% 50% 0%
Significant!
40% -10% 40% -10%
30% -20% 30% -20%
20% -30% 20% -30%
10% -40% 10% -40%
0% -50% 0% -50%
Weekday Weekend Weekday Weekend
Posts Engagement Posts Engagement
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23. Weekend vs. Weekday
B2C
Facebook Twitter
200% 200%
180% 180%
160% 160%
140% 140%
120% B2C marketers on Facebook get better
120%
100% engagement on weekends.
27% 100%
80% 80%
60% 60%
40% 40%
20% 20%
0% 0%
Weekday Weekend Weekday Weekend
Posts Engagement Posts Engagement
#socialtiming

24. Time of Day
B2C, Weekends
What portion of the day produces higher levels of engagement for B2C marketers
on weekends?
Facebook Twitter
100% 50% 100% 50%
90% 40% 90% 40%
Engagement Rate Variance
Engagement Rate Variance
80% 30% 80% 30%
70% 20% 70% 20%
% of Brand Posts
% of Brand Posts
Significant!
60% 10% 60% 10%
50% 0% 50% 0%
40% -10% 40% -10%
30% -20% 30% -20%
20% -30% 20% -30%
10% -40% 10% -40%
0% -50% 0% -50%
4am-9am 9am-7pm 7pm-4am 4am-9am 9am-7pm 7pm-4am
Posts Engagement Posts Engagement
#socialtiming

25. Time of Day
B2B, Weekends
What portion of the day produces higher levels of engagement for B2C marketers
on weekends?
Facebook Twitter
200% 200%
180% 180%
B2C marketers on Facebook get very
160%
160%
140%
poor engagement on weekend
140%
120% mornings.
120%
100% 100% 27%
27%
80% 80%
60% 60%
40% 40%
20% 20%
0% 0%
Evening Morning Workday Evening Morning Workday
Posts Engagement Posts Engagement
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26. Saturday vs Sunday
B2C, Weekends
Does Saturday or Sunday produce higher levels of engagement for B2C
marketers?
Facebook Twitter
100% 50% 100% 50%
90% 40% 90% 40%
Engagement Rate Variance
Engagement Rate Variance
80% 30% 80% 30%
70% 20% 70% 20%
% of Brand Posts
% of Brand Posts
60% Significant! 10% 60% 10%
50% 0% 50% 0%
40% -10% 40% -10%
30% -20% 30% -20%
20% -30% 20% -30%
10% -40% 10% -40%
0% -50% 0% -50%
Saturday Sunday Saturday Sunday
Posts Engagement Posts Engagement
#socialtiming

27. Saturday vs Sunday
B2C, Weekends
Does Saturday or Sunday produce higher levels of engagement for B2C
marketers?
Facebook Twitter
100% 50% 100% 50%
90% 40% 90% 40%
B2C marketers get bumps 80% Sunday
on
Engagement Rate Variance
Engagement Rate Variance
80% 30% 30%
70% vs Saturday,20%
especially on 70%
Facebook. 20%
% of Brand Posts
% of Brand Posts
60% Significant! 10% 60% 10%
50% 0% 50% 0%
40% -10% 40% -10%
30% -20% 30% -20%
20% -30% 20% -30%
10% -40% 10% -40%
0% -50% 0% -50%
Saturday Sunday Saturday Sunday
Posts Engagement Posts Engagement
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28. Summary of Conclusions
Rules of thumb you can put to work immediately
B2B: B2C:
• Our data shows no timing • Weekends significantly
considerations for outperform weekdays on
Facebook. Facebook.
• B2B marketers on Twitter • Weekend afternoons and
achieve better results on evenings outperform
weekdays during the weekend
work day. mornings, especially
Sundays.
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29. Practicing:
SOCIAL TIMING SCIENCE
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30. First, the Wrong Way
Taking a random walk…
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31. More About the Wrong Way…
Numbers lie, variables matter, aggregates don’t matter
• Average people worry about averages:
– Avg (48, 52, 49, 51) = 50
– Avg (0, 100, 125, -75) = 50
• Changing variables changes the story:
– If you’re testing time, you should only change time
– Changing multiple variables invalidates the test
• The best time to tweet is 5pm…
– Not really. Your business is different.
– Be wary of rules of thumb.
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32. The Right Way
Use the Scientific Method!
• Start with a hypothesis
“I think that I will get more lift by scheduling my morning
posts at 8am instead of 10am.”
• Design and execute experiment
“If I tweet similar content at 8am and 10am everyday for 2
weeks, I’ll have enough data to know.”
• Analyze and conclude
“Hmmm! The data tells me that my hypothesis is correct!”
(…or not)
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33. You can pull this off with…
PLANNING
• …and a link tracker, a scheduler, and Excel.
• …or a tool like (ahem!) Argyle to helps with
campaign organization.
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34. Share our infographic!
Available at ar.gy/socialtiming
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35. Questions & Answers & Thank You!
Tom Webster
VP, Marketing
Edison Research
ON INFLUENCE
Online influence matters. Or does it? How do you measure
what may or may not matter?
Thursday, Nov 10, 3pm EST
Sign up at ar.gy/oninfluence
#socialtiming