Want to better engage with your audience: figure our their time zone #socialmedia #kmers

As communicators we strive to create and craft content that is compelling, content that touches heads and hearts.  And as communication professionals we know that if our content does not travel well and reach its targeted audience it will be nothing more than a king without a kingdom.

The evolution of the communication landscape and the advent of digital and social media have transformed the way the audience consumes content. To remain relevant in a crowded space, it is imperative to revisit the way we create, package and disseminate content.

As I embarked on my social media journey, I soon learnt that content needs to be crafted in such a way that allows you to engage with the audience. This means your content should be talking with the audience and not to them. At the same time, I learnt that “less is more” and the secret to keep the audience attention and keep them focused is to be short and sweet.  Thus the beauty of a tweet and the importance of mastering the art to craft engaging and compelling tweets.

One of the many other beauties of digital communication is the fact it is open for business 24×7. This means:

• you can file your story as and when appropriate
• you can raise awareness about issues close to your heart with a wide spectrum of people
• you can talk with a global audience and not just the folks in your time zone

Last year while at UC Berkeley as a visiting scholar, I was posting content in a different time zone than my usual one. I suddenly saw a surge in number of interactions. Intrigued by this new development, I analyzed the content I was posting and soon came to the realization, that considering most of the active social media users and folks who cared about my content were in the America’s time zone, I was doing a better job reaching my audience.

With this new bit of information in my back pocket, I started to take full advantage of the power and potential of posting around the clock – thus better engaging with different audience groups.

To support you on this journey, I wanted to share a niffy tool which I came across a couple of weeks ago. Tweepsmap gives you a pretty accurate information on the geographic location of your Twitter audience. If you get a chance, give it a shot.

Next time you are posting content, take a minute to think who would be most interested in what you are posting – and schedule your post so that you can make sure you are reaching the right people at the right time!

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I am writing a series of guest blogs for @unsocial500 on how to boost engagement on social media. The purpose of the series is to share best practices and tips. The above blogpost first appeared on UN Social 500 site. If there is a specific topic you want more information and guidance on, please let me know so that I can put it in the pipeline :)