Related Posts
Podcasts
Social media is an essential tool for businesses, but understanding when to post is just as crucial as what to post. To ensure your posts receive maximum engagement, it’s important to know the optimal posting times for each platform. In this article, we’ll explore the best times to post on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube and TikTok.
In particular, we’re going to be covering the following:
How do we Find Out What the Best Time to Post is?
Ultimately, it’s impossible to give a single answer to this question. The best time to post differs based on a number of factors, including:
- Industry
- The type of content you publish
- Your target audience
- The social media platform you’re using
- Current trends, behaviours, and world/local events
As such, it’s just not possible to give you a single answer on what the best time to post is. However, we can make a pretty good guess. How do we do that?
- We look at what other marketers are saying. While all of the above-mentioned factors impact what time works best, it’s very possible that there are some generally good times to post, regardless of your industry, target audience, and content. Looking at what other marketers say is the best way to get our hands on as much data as possible without ever touching that data.
- We look at what scheduling tools like Sprout Social and Hootsuite have discovered. These tools ultimately have more data than any of us. As other digital agencies and businesses use their tools for publishing automation across social channels, these tools collect data on what times work best for posting. Therefore, hearing out what these guys have to say isn’t a bad idea!
- We look at our own data. The best source of data we can ever find is ultimately our own data. When you consider what times we’ve recommended below for every channel, we suggest you also look at your own data to test these theories. For example, if you read that 9 am is the best time to post, then you would start posting at 9 am and view the performance of those posts in terms of reach and engagement to find out if this time also works best for your business.
This is how we have come to our conclusions on the best time to post on social media channels.
Best Time to Post on Social Media Overall
When it comes to the best time to post on social media overall, we found that Tuesdays at either 9 am or 10 am is the best time to post, verified by Sprout Social.
When we compare this with our own data, we can see that 9 am is the best time to post for us, with no particular day working better than another. However, we also acknowledge that more testing needs to be done to find out what works best for us.
Best Time to Post on Facebook
Facebook is the largest social network with over 2.7 billion active users. It’s also a highly versatile platform, making it an essential component of any business’s social media strategy. From running events to getting direct and personal in 1 to 1 chats with customers, to broad paid media advertising, Facebook is on top of it.
Let’s take a look at the best times to post on Facebook.
Our Recommendation
Test each of the above times by the hour every day for a week. First, start by posting at 6 pm every day for a week. Then the next week, try 7 pm, then 8 pm, then 9 pm, then 8 am, and so on. By testing each of these times by the hour for a week each, you’ll have more than enough data to find out what works best for your business and specific goals.
For each of the metrics we explore below, we recommend doing the same. For example, on Instagram, if 12 pm – 9 pm is a great time to post, then you would want to test each hour on several different days to find out what works best for you.
Best Time to Post on Instagram
Instagram is a highly visual platform with over 1 billion active users. It’s essential for businesses that want to showcase their products and services in a visually appealing way. Getting your posting time right on Instagram is extremely important since the time you post is one factor that greatly influences your level of reach and engagement.
Here’s what we found:
In particular, we found:
- Most marketers agree that posting anytime between 12 PM and 9 PM is the best time to post, according to HubSpot. They also found that 64% of marketers agree that Saturdays are the best day to post and Mondays are the worst day to post.
- 11 am On Wednesdays is the best time to post, according to Hootsuite. Seeing as this is pretty close to HubSpot’s 12 pm mark, this seems pretty accurate.
- Sprout Social recommends posting on Instagram at 11 am on Mondays, 10 am-1 pm on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, and 10 am-11 am on Thursdays and Fridays.
Based on all of the above, we’d guesstimate that 12 PM is a great time to post on Instagram. But don’t rely on this timing alone. Remember, you want to test every time that’s been found to be successful in finding what works best for your business, so start testing each of the times mentioned above.
Best Time to Post on LinkedIn
LinkedIn is a professional networking platform with over 740 million active users. It’s an essential tool for businesses that want to connect with other businesses and professionals.
Approximately, 48.1% of Australia’s population have a profile on LinkedIn. But people are underestimating the content marketing power of LinkedIn.
However, with its vast user base and focus on career and business, it’s more powerful than you might think. Get your posting times right and you may find your engagement rising.
Interestingly, there’s some agreement on the best times to post on LinkedIn. We found that the best times to post on LinkedIn are:
- 9 AM to 12 PM, according to HubSpot, with 25% of marketers agreeing with this. HubSpot also has verified that an additional 24% of marketers believe 12 PM to 3 PM to be the best time to post on LinkedIn, and an additional 16% of marketers see 3 PM to 6 PM as the best time to post. HubSpot also found that Mondays, Wednesdays, and Tuesdays are the best days of the week to post, in that order, with Sundays and Saturdays being the lowest-performing days.
/ - Hootsuite found that 9 AM on Tuesdays and Wednesdays was the best time to post.
- Sprout Social found that Tuesdays, Wednesdays, or Thursdays from 10 am to 12 pm were the best times to post and that Saturdays and Sundays were not good times to post.
With this, we can conclude that anytime between 9 am and 12 pm is probably going to be the best time to post on LinkedIn. Test each hour during this time range and find what works best for your specific case.
Best Time to Post on Twitter
We personally don’t push out our content on Twitter because it doesn’t align with our specific goals and targets. However, you might be using Twitter for your business, so let’s take a look at the best times to post on Twitter.
We discovered that the best times to post on Twitter are:
- 9 am to 12 pm on Wednesdays or Fridays, according to HubSpot.
- 8 am on Mondays and Thursdays according to Hootsuite.
- 9 am on Monday through to Wednesday, Thursdays, and Saturdays, with Sunday as the worst day to post.
While the best day to post isn’t consistent in their findings, it seems that around 9 am is the best time to post on Twitter.
Best Time to Post on YouTube
While Sprout Social and Hootsuite didn’t have any data on the best times to post on YouTube, HubSpot did. What’s interesting is that the findings make sense based on the behaviour of users on the platform.
HubSpot found that 6 pm to 9 pm on Fridays and Saturdays are the best times to post, with early mornings being the worst time to post. Considering YouTube is traditionally a platform that promotes long-form content, it makes sense that users would be more active and willing to watch YouTube videos in the evening on Fridays and Saturdays when they’ve finished work for the week and are ready to wind down.
In saying that, there’s still lots of testing to do on YouTube before coming close to a conclusion, so we would say test test test!
Best Time to post on TikTok
TikTok has taken the world by storm, paving the way for the future of content on social media. Because of TikTok’s rise, other platforms like Instagram and YouTube are following in their footsteps by introducing reels and YouTube Shorts. As short-form content continues to trend, TikTok is going to become more and more valuable for businesses trying to reach consumers they care about.
What’s the best time to post on TikTok? Let’s take a look at the data.
Based on the data:
- 6 pm-9 pm is the best time to post, according to HubSpot
- 7 pm according to Hootsuite and,
- 1 pm-3 pm according to Sprout Social.
The times are closely tied, suggesting that afternoons and evenings work best for posting.
However, there isn’t any consistency in what’s being said about the best day to post. We recommend testing each of the above times every day, to find the best day and time combinations for you.
So, what’s next?
Determining the best time to post on social media is essential to ensure maximum engagement and reach. By understanding the optimal posting times for Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, and TikTok you can create a social media strategy that reaches your target audience and maximises engagement.
Don’t be afraid to experiment and adjust your posting times based on the results you see, as every business’s target audience is unique. Use these times as a guide on what to test first, but as a marketer, you’re going to want to test everything and follow wherever the data is leading you!
If you enjoyed this article, you might also enjoy some of our other content marketing articles:
- Why Your Articles Don’t Generate Sales & How To Fix It
- How to Write Blog Articles that Rank & Generate Leads
- How Google’s New ‘Helpful Content’ Algorithm Update Changes the Way We Write Content
- The Best 5 Topics to Drive Traffic Leads & Sales
+ one of our featured podcasts:
- Featured Podcast: How We Generate 56 Pieces of Content in 30 Days
