If only all of us had the inside secrets to this question for our own businesses. Mass surveys, polls and statistics can only provide us with one-way metrics to make some basic conclusions, but it really takes your own detailed analysis over time to determine when is the best time for YOUR Business to post on Facebook and Twitter.

Based on a former statistic done in 2010 (August 10, 2007 to October 10, 2010) by Vitrue, it was determined that most activity on Facebook took place during the weekdays, peeking on Wednesday and  between 11AM-3PM Eastern.

It may seem logical that one should be posting during this time frame only hoping to reach larger numbers of people and believing that they in turn will interact on your accounts. There is really nothing wrong with this initial thought, however…one must dig a little deeper and research whether such activity during that time frame is both from your target market AND are they paying attention to your posts. There are other variables to consider.

With so many changes having taken place on Facebook and Twitter since this survey was taken, new information should be considered before assuming that you should put all your posting energy into these old 2007-2010 results.

Remember, Fan Pages were fairly new to Facebook when the survey was taken. Facebook advertising had not been fully developed as it is now and with such robust measurements, and Twitter was just becoming mainstream outside of those early game players.

Facebook activity mostly included Friends to Friends with little or no interaction or awareness of Brands besides some minor notifications of your friends beginning to “Fan” business pages back then.

If you are a B2B or a B2C business, the former statistics do not provide enough information to determine the best time for you to be posting on Facebook and Twitter today.

Since so much has changed over the past 4-5 years, new information should be considered as well as your own metrics developed from your own surveys.

Take the KISSmetrics for an example. There are some overlaps in the statistics gleaned from this survey and it is very eye opening when compared to the 2010 survey results. Based on the provided infographic, the best time to tweet is 5PM EST with 1 to 4 tweets per hour as ideal and midweek and weekends. The best day to share on Facebook is Saturday and during the week around noon EST.

However it should be noted, this is only one survey result and cannot apply to every business situation. You must determine what is best for your business.

Don’t jump on the bandwagon because we pass along this information or you hear from someone else that you should be posting during the day since that may seem like when the most activity is occurring.

It is important for your business to conduct it’s own analysis over time and make adjustments based on the results. This will mean some trial and error experimenting on posts. One company may get better interaction in the evening and weekends where as another does fit best during the weekday.

You may discover that early morning posts hit a larger number of people interested in your services, or the 7PM time is perfect as people are finishing up with dinner.

I recommend creating a spreadsheet and begin gathering data you would like to concentrate on from your metric resources like Facebook’s Insights and another outside source like HootSuite. Keep track of the information for at least 6 months, and continue analysing over time as you experiment with different content, postings times and frequency. This is truly the only way to determine what is best for your business.

As your business’ marketing campaigns change and focus on different aspects of your business flucuate during the year, you will want to monitor results when you make changes or per campaigns. Don’t assume that one-size social timing fits all situation, let alone all business models.