Is there really such thing as the best time to post on social media? Why does one post get more love than another?
For social media managers, working out the magical best time to post has long served as the holy grail. In video, this is especially trickier with new features debuting across social platforms on a regular basis.
Take your pick from the last month alone: Instagram advertisers can now promote their organic branded content to another channel, TikTok is testing interest-based ads and YouTube is giving viewers more rights over recommended video content. With over 4 billion social media users across all these platforms there is no doubt that there is a growing opportunity for many businesses.
Developments aside, there are a range of factors to consider when posting: your audience, your industry, what you’re selling, type of video content, length of content and of course, what social channels you are posting on.
In Sprout Social’s new report, a study based on social engagement across over 25,000 Sprout Social customers, you’ll find optimum timings by social channel. Here’s their summary in a nutshell:
As LinkedIn targets a more specific and niche audience, it’s no surprise that activity is high around workdays. Activity is high in the mornings, with engagement tapering off after 3pm.
- Best times to post on LinkedIn: Tuesdays 10 a.m. to noon.
- Best days to post on LinkedIn: Wednesdays and Thursdays.
- Worst days to post on LinkedIn: Saturdays and Sundays.
With over two billion active users, Facebook reigns as the most populated platform. Its algorithm has evolved over the years to emphasise friends, family and meaningful connection. This essentially means that content that drives genuine engagement is a winner.
- Best times to post on Facebook: Mondays through Fridays at 3 a.m., Tuesdays at 10 a.m. and noon.
- Best days to post on Facebook: Tuesdays through Fridays.
- Worst days to post on Facebook: Saturdays.
- For those in retail, the best times for consumer goods brands to post to Facebook are Wednesday at 1pm and Friday at 11am.
- High engagement times include Wednesday and Friday mid-morning through to lunch, and Thursday at 5pm.
- For non-profits and charities, the best time to post is Wednesday at 8-9am.
- For tech companies in B2B and B2C, Wednesday at 10am is the best time to post.
There are now one billion monthly active Instagram users, with a median 1.60% engagement per post. Last year saw the launch of IGTV, while Stories has grown significantly, allowing brands and influencers to create video content in short and long-form format.
- Best times to post on Instagram: Mondays at 11 a.m., Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., and Thursdays and Fridays 10 a.m. and 11 a.m.
- Best days to post on Instagram: Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
- Worst days to post on Instagram: Sundays.
- For retailers, the best time for consumer brands is Wednesday at 3pm.
- Although Sunday has the least engagement, there is a high engagement time period on Saturday mornings.
- For non-profits and charities, the best time to post is Wednesday at 2pm.
- For tech, post on Wednesdays between 6-9am. Wednesday 10-11am, Friday 7-10am and Saturday 7-11am are also popular times. Tuesday at 10pm also sees are fairly high opportunity for engagement.
Timeliness is key on Twitter. With 500 million tweets sent every day, Twitter makes for perfect social listening and presents an opportunity for brands to engage directly with audiences.
- Best times to post on Twitter: Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 9 a.m.
- Best days to post on Twitter: Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
- Worst days to post on Twitter: Sundays.
- Tuesday and Wednesday are the best days to post on Twitter, with Saturday getting the least engagement.
- For retailers, the best time for consumer goods to post is Sunday at 11am, with Friday being the day with the lowest engagement.
- For non-profits and charities, the best time to post is Wednesday at 7am.
- For the tech industry, Twitter is abuzz throughout the week. The optimum time is Tuesday at 9am, with other high engagement times to include the rest of the morning and Wednesday between 8-10am.
TIKTOK
This platform offers plenty of value for brands and businesses. Best times to post on TikTok have several different effective factors. While your choice of platform and your industry both matter, your audience activity plays the biggest role. So ideally, you should look at your post-performance to get valuable data about the perfect post timing for your business. You can also use Sprout Social’s guide on the best time to post as a starting point before you find what works best for your business and industry.
OVERALL THE BEST TIMES TO POST ON SOCIAL MEDIA
Each social platform has its own benefits depending on your goals, content type and audience. But here is a overall summary of which days and times are the most suitable for engagement.
- Best times to post on social media overall: Tuesdays through Thursdays at 9 a.m. or 10 a.m.
- Best days to post on social media: Tuesdays through Thursdays.
- Worst days to post on social media: Sundays.
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Nina Postans
Nina is Managing Director at Skylark Media. She has written for Marketing Week, Advertising Week and Creative Review.