Can Social Timing Get 200% More Twitter Clicks?

It’s easy to get tweeting, but is anyone actually reading? I came across a study performed by Leo Widrich of Buffer that indicated that the answer is, generally, “yes.”  That is, if you know when to tweet.

The Science of Social Timing

Buffer is a scheduling app. It’s a simple but clever idea that allows you to add content you find interesting on the web. Where it differs from a basic “hootlet” is that it picks the best time for your tweets to go out.

For the busy tweeter, it’s a great way to disseminate information, but what really strikes me about the study is the click rate increase.

“We took a large sample of 2000 Buffer users. We then looked at 3 weeks of their Twitter usage, before they signed up to Buffer and 3 weeks of usage afterwards. We determined that for a user to be representative, they had to have Tweeted at least 20 Tweets with links through Buffer  and 20 Tweets with links without Buffer before. After we determined that on average CTR on Tweets increased by 200%, followers increased by 100 and retweets doubled, we used the Klout score as proof that all of this increased engagement is actually relevant. Klout score amongst these 2000 Buffer users would rise on average by 3.5 points within the first week alone.”

To me, this speaks to something larger than Buffer, Social Flow, or any app that helps you to schedule. It speaks to the fact that there is a science behind tweeting.  As a company you have to find out when your users are most active. You need to split test in the same way you may test a website. Send things out at different times and see which times have the most oomph. Adding a simple reference to the end of the link is a trick we use here at MarketMeSuite to measure our own results.

For example, http://marketmesuite.com/?east tells us we sent it out targeting the eastern timezone. We are always testing to find the tweet times which have the best results and to which audience.

Frequency matters

You want to make sure you have a steady stream of information going out to your followers. The study indicated that the part of the reason of success with Buffer is the ease of being able to post. It is important you are constantly on the look out for interesting information for your audience. Another way to keep your tweet frequency up is by tweeting RSS feeds, but be sure to give credit where credit is due. Mark unowned RSS feeds as “RT @the person.” This helps your users realize you are merely pointing them to this info but not writing it yourself and also alerts the original author you are tweeting out their information, making it more likely they return the favor one day!

Don’t tweet blind

When you first start using Twitter, it’s acceptable to grapple around in the dark, hoping that if you throw enough tweets against the wall something will stick, but, chances are, if you’re reading this, you’ve moved beyond that point. Start approaching your Social media marketing as you would any other campaign. Set a goal and then work like mad to meet it. Step out of the dark. Success is very possible with the right combination of tools, organization, and a bit of old fashioned hard work.

-Sources: http://blog.bufferapp.com/new-data-buffer-users-increase-clicks-retweets-and-klout http://marketmesuite.com/blog/how-to-use-auto-the-rss-feed-module-on-marketmesuite/

-Image Source: http://blog.kissmetrics.com/science-of-social-timing-1/