If you’re looking to boost engagement on your brand’s Facebook Page, a new report from Buddy Media has some key findings for you. The social media marketing company collected data from 200 of its clients’ Pages* over a 14-day period and found that time is an important factor in determining the success of a Facebook post. The study reveals that more often than not, a Facebook post is ill-timed — in fact, office hours could be the worst time to blast content.

“While marketers may work Monday through Friday, Facebook is humming with activity 24-hours a day, seven days a week,” says Buddy Media CEO Michael Lazerow. And so, brands must adapt to their consumers’ schedules in order to optimize their engagement.

Here are the findings, along with tips about when and how to make the most of a Facebook post.

Be Timely
Brands that posted outside of business hours had 20% higher engagement rates.

Be Concise
Keep it short and sweek. Posts with 80 characters or less – a short tweet – garnered 27% more engagement than longer posts.

Ask For Engagement
If you’re looking to get Likes on a post, all you have to do is ask. Outright instructions — “Like us if … ” — are much more effective at getting a Like than a post with a long explanation of why you should “like” something.

Advice for Smaller Brands
For small businesses, it’s important to balance the data above with what you know about your own brand, based on Facebook Insights and your own experiences with your Page. “Small brands can take away some best practices from this, but remember that the data set is all large brands,” Ciarallo says. “Still, a boutique hotel owner could look at the hospitality section and see how it can help his Facebook marketing.”

To read more and to view stats on this data visit Mashable Business.

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Lauren Drell
Mashable