Top 5 Tools to Better Time Your Tweets

Posted: November 10, 2011

When exactly are your best times to tweet? With over 200 million tweets posted each day, this is a very important question to tackle. When you better time your tweets, you’re better able to reach your followers. Furthermore, knowing when they’re actually online is incredibly important.

Let’s examine different tools that help determine Twitter metrics. Each tool takes a look at your own personal following to calculate best tweeting times. Below you’ll find the top five tools and how they can optimize your tweeting schedule.

1. WhenToTweet

This first tool is certainly my favorite in terms of simplicity. Drop your username into WhenToTweet and the app works out the stats for you. It will come up with a very easy to understand graph, detailing which time of the day you should start tweeting.

Your best times are determined by two key measures: the performance of your past tweets and when most of your followers will be online.

2. TweetStats

TweetStats is a comprehensive tool that provides more detailed best tweeting times. Among other things, the app tells you how many tweets per day you’re currently sending, what your tweet timeline looks like, and how many replies you send in comparison to original tweets.

The app also features a tweet density report. Whenever most tweets are hitting your stream it means your optimal tweeting times are reached. Try posting at these high density times to get better results.

3. Tweriod

My favorite in terms of algorithm is certainly Tweriod. The app takes into account a great number of different parameters, and calculates a very accurate result. Tweriod looks at both your tweets and those of your followers to provide the best times to tweet.

It is also worth mentioning that the app excludes automation tools, such as Twitterfeed, when determining whether your followers are online — definitely a big plus.

4. TweetReports

TweetReports takes a slightly different approach by gathering the tweet statistics from your top 25 influential followers into its “Follower Analysis” feature. The spikes indicate when these users are most active and, therefore, likely to see your tweets.

Additionally, the app allows for a very comprehensive keyword search. It analyzes the times at which certain keywords are talked about the most, and when you should participate in those discussions.

5. TweetWhen

This is a great tool from Dan Zarrella, which shows you the best times to tweet based on your previous 1,000 tweets. Similar to WhenToTweet, the process is super fast, meaning you will have your results in a few seconds.

Of course, because TweetWhen only looks at your past tweets, its algorithm may miss some important parameters.

What else is important other than timing?

Of course, success doesn’t solely depend on timing your tweets. My company looked at one million tweets from our users. These additional factors contributed to higher CTR and engagement rate.

Frequency of tweeting is nearly as important as timing. If you can consistently and regularly post 5-10 tweets with valuable content, well-spaced throughout the day, you will achieve maximum impact.
Tweet a variety of sources. This has equally contributed to increased engagement on Twitter. This means, the more varied the destinations of your links, the more trust you can build among your followers. If all you do is send tweets to your own blog or products, followers gradually drop off and stop clicking through.

These tools help to optimize one’s daily tweeting habits. More effective Twitter management is crucial to move forward fast and efficiently. How have these types of apps helped with your tweeting?

Biz Tip and Photos Courtesy of: mashable.com

Leo Widrich is the co-founder of Buffer, a smarter way to publish tweets and Facebook posts. He writes more about Twitter tips and tools on the Buffer blog. Follow him on Twitter @LeoWid.