Social Media and Your Small Business

There can be no doubt that the rapid rise of social media has created a seismic shift in the way companies market themselves and communicate with their customers.

It could also be argued that this revolution has benefitted small businesses even more than their multinational blue-chip counterparts. The ability to communicate directly and immediately with an unlimited global marketplace was well beyond the budgets, resources and dreams of small business owners, before the advent of Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, et. al. Now, the world truly is our oyster.

However, although running a social media campaign may be extremely cost-effective in terms of your marketing budget; for the small business owner, without the luxury of having a dedicated social media / marketing team, social media can be a very time-consuming activity. And, as with any business, large or small, your time IS money.

The Optimal Times to use Social Media for Your Business

So, if social media is going to take up valuable moments of your working day, it surely pays to know the most effective times of day to engage with your audience. i.e. those times of day they will be more likely to see and respond to your tweets, updates and ‘conversation’.

Unfortunately, the answer to this question is not as simple as you might think. The optimum time to ‘reach out’ varies according to different social media platforms and, as ever, the differing lifestyles of different customer demographics.

As with everything concerning your marketing, knowing your customers’ needs, desires and lifestyles is at the heart of everything. At least it should be.

But, as a general rule…

Facebook

• Optimum time to post: Between 1pm and 4pm, with a peak at 3 o’clock Wednesday afternoons.
  
• Note: Once the preserve of teens and young adults (and they still make up a sizeable chunk of the world’s Facebook users), there is clear evidence that they are now migrating towards alternative platforms (Snapchat, Instagram). The biggest demographic of active Facebook users is now in the 35-55 age bracket. Typical Facebook users are getting older!
  

Twitter

• Optimum time to post: Between 1pm and 3pm
  
• Twitter users are typically more active from Monday to Thursday.
  

LinkedIn

• Optimum time to post: between 7am and 9am. And 5pm to 6pm. i.e. the morning and evening rush hours / commute.
  
• Also at 12:00 noon (lunchtime).
  
• LinkedIn users are most active between Tuesday and Thursday.
  
• For a platform aimed mostly at business professionals, this is completely to be expected.
  

Google +

• Optimum time to post: Between 9am and 11am, with a peak at 9 o’clock Wednesday mornings.
  
• Note: the fastest growing age group for Google Plus users is in the 45-55 year old bracket. As with Facebook, social media is not a young un’s thing anymore.
  

Pinterest

• Optimum time to post: Saturday mornings and Friday afternoons at 3pm.
  
• With an image-led platform particularly suited to fashion, crafts, photography and pastimes, these peak times make complete sense.
  

Turbocharge your marketing with images, graphics and video

And one final word of advice, it is well documented that tweets and updates with photos, images or video generate a much greater response than those without. 

If you need a helping hand managing your social media marketing, or need ‘content’ for your websites or blogs, give Sunflower a call.

Our first project has been to design a display unit for use at industry events, conferences and exhibitions. We look forward to working on a range of other marketing materials shortly.

Really pleased to mix business with pleasure.
After a 21 year "break" from theatre, I've taken a part in Bishop's Stortford Musical Theatre Company's upcoming production of Jesus Christ Superstar (I'm playing a very camp King Herod – don't ask!). 
I was delighted to get the chance to design their marketing materials to support the production and will shortly start work on the show souvenir programme.
I was particularly pleased to see my Last Supper image (thank you Leonardo Da Vinci and Photoshop) appear in the local press as part of the supporting PR campaign.

As well as refreshing the overall look of the site, we are creating a landing page video to showcase his voiceover talents and designing a hard copy CD showreel of his previous work.

Can't wait until the website goes live.

Sunflower is delighted to be supporting Traide, a small business exhibition taking place on February 19th 2014 at Bishop's Stortford college in Hertfordshire.

Showcasing a wide variety of businesses from the local area, all proceeds go to the Inspire Malawi charity.

Come and visit us at stand 29 – pop your business card in our sunflower pot and we'll automatically send you £300 worth of design/ creative vouchers.

To celebrate the launch of our new Presentation service, we are offering a 50% discount on any presentation development and design work (including animated videos) commissioned before the end of January 2014.
Don't miss out. Call now!