Study: Posting at End of Day, End of Week Means More Blog Readers

A recent study from social media consulting agency Buddy Media found that the highest engagement rates for posts—whether on a blog, corporate website, or Facebook Pages and Twitter feeds—occur after work hours during the week. However, the study also found that this fact is often ignored by most brands as they produce the greatest number of posts during work hours instead.

This means that it’s time for brands of every size to start considering the scheduling and presentation of their posts.

Posting After Work Hours Means Better Enagement

As Buddy Media’s data notes, posting after 4pm pays off: those brands that posted after general work hours saw engagement rates rise 20% as compared to during work hours postings.

Naturally, potential engagers of most brands participate right around dinner time and into the evening, so schedule those tweets, posts, and updates appropriately. 

Posts Made on Thursdays and Fridays Mean More Readers

The day of the week is also a crucial part of scheduling as well. According to Buddy Media’s results, the highest rates of engagement occur during the end of the work week on Thursdays and Fridays, while Saturdays see the fewest number of users engaging with content as compared to the rest of the week.

Variation from industry to industry occurs as well: the study found that while entertainment posts do better on weekends, finance content is best read mid-week.

Presentation Length and Type Influences Potential Readers

Buddy Media further found that length of posts can be an important factor in getting users to click as well. Facebook posts or updates consisting of  80 characters or less received 27% more engagement than those that were longer. The incorporation of a properly chosen preview image drove up engagement rates on Facebook as well.

The study further notes that readers are definitely attracted to specific, “industry-bred” keywords such as “post”, “comment” and “like.” In fact, direct calls to action such as asking  readers to “like” a post encourages better engagement rates as well.

Direct questions in posts also increased these rates as well. Buddy Media found that those posts ending with a question mark received up to a 15% higher engagement rate. Read about how to write a great post with these six writing tips.