My eldest nephew and his wife have two beautiful children, a girl and a boy. I love hearing these young parents discuss the differences between the two kids relative to teething, talking, eating, scooting, sleeping, walking. My nephew recently linked to a funny blog post that caught fire a couple of years ago about the various, and often contradictory, advice out there for new parents trying to get their little ones to sleep.  Among author/mom Ava Neyer‘s compilation of “expert” opinions:

You shouldn’t sleep train at all, before a year, before 6 months, or before 4 months, but if you wait too late, your baby will never be able to sleep without you. College-aged children never need to be nursed, rocked, helped to sleep, so don’t worry about any bad habits. Nursing, rocking, singing, swaddling, etc., to sleep are all bad habits and should be stopped immediately. White noise will help them fall asleep. White noise, heartbeat sounds, etc, don’t work. Naps should only be taken in the bed, never in a swing, carseat, stroller, or when worn. Letting them sleep in the carseat or swing will damage their skulls. If your baby has trouble falling asleep in the bed, put them in a swing, carseat, stroller, or wear them.

Opinions on when to post on social media are, at least, this consistent in their inconsistency.

Google “best times to post on social media” and you’ll see what I mean.

Rule of thumb: The briefer the article or infographic on the “best times” to post, the less useful it likely will be. It’s pretty easy to get continuity in data if the only thing the authors are tracking are high traffic times.

But consider: Do you want to post when everyone else is posting or do you want to post when your audience has time to read and respond to the information you share?

For many small businesses and non-profits, posting at high traffic times just means your message is more likely to get lost in the cacophony.

The best tips on when to post on social media begin with the words, “Know your audience.” From there, they will break down data based on which platform you are using (Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, etc.), the day of the week, and traffic, yes, but also when do most people share and re-Tweet? When do most people comment on the blogs they read?

Those are the infographics that I geek out over.

But let’s go back to the magic words, “Know your audience.”

Get a compelling piece of data about your business or organization. Maybe it’s a new product. Maybe it’s a sale. Maybe it’s the release of your annual report or expansion into a new area of service. Be clear. Be excited. Be authentic. Post the news at various times during the week and weekend and on as many platforms as you currently use.

Then track comments, hits, click-throughs, pins, reTweets and shares.

Do this a few times and you will find your audience’s sweet spot. They will let you know when they are willing to give your shop, church or charity a few minutes of their valuable time.

No infographic required.