Just like dancing, Facebook posting is all about the timing – and some glitter never hurt, either. So if your business posts aren’t resulting in the engagement you had in mind, maybe it’s time to think about your timing. Your content might be spot-on, but, as any comedian will tell you, those words will fall flat if they’re ill-timed.

Timing.

When you’re ready to post on your brand’s Facebook page, the guidelines below can help you master the art of good timing:

Post when your customers are actually online: While, generally, Facebook gets a lot of traffic in the evenings and on the weekends, this might vary depending on your key audience. That said, many businesses make the mistake of posting solely during business hours, because, hey, that’s when you’re working, right? Try posting in the evening and on Saturdays and Sundays and see where your biggest hits come. Remember, your posts aren’t about your convenience – it’s about engaging the most fans and customers.

Don’t Post Again Too Soon: So you generated a lot of engagement on a post. Time to post again, right? Wrong. If you’re still getting traffic and engagement on a post, make like a Beatle and let it be. When you publish a new post while your previous one is still appearing in users’ feeds, your new post will likely get buried in the noise. Fail.

Step into the user’s shoes: While its marketing opportunities are endless, the average Facebook user doesn’t look at social networking as an advertising medium. So you need to stop thinking like an advertiser, and start thinking like the users you’d like to engage. Whenever you post, think about whether you would be engaged by the post if you were simply perusing your personal page. Is it provocative? Stimulating? Short and sweet? No one wants to look at ads or hear a lecture on Facebook.

Now go on and get started. Isn’t it about “time” anyway? (See how we did that?)