When is the Best Time to Post on Social Media?

Being able to answer these questions will help you maximize your social media presence and deliver content that your audience wants to see.

A well-timed post can lead to more likes, shares, comments, and click-throughs. We were able to get the best time to post on different social media accounts.

  • Facebook: 9 a.m., 2 p.m.,
  • Instagram: 5 a.m., 11 a.m., and 2 p.m. -4 p.m
  • Linkedin: 7 a.m. –8 a.m., 12 p.m. then 5 p.m. -6 p.m.
  • Twitter: 9 a.m.
  • YouTube: 12 p.m. -3 p.m.
  • TikTok: 9 a.m. — 12 a.m.

What is the best time to post on Facebook?

The best time to post on Facebook: 9 a.m. till 2 p.m.
The best day to post on Facebook: Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday.

As with most things in life, there is no easy answer as to the best times to post on Facebook. There have been numerous studies on the subject, and they all come up with different results.
People are more likely to take notice of your Facebook posts mid-week, from mid-morning to mid-afternoon. Many people probably check their Facebook apps during their morning tea, lunch, and afternoon tea breaks.

What is the best time to post on Instagram?

The best time to post on Instagram: 5 a.m., 11 a.m., and 2 p.m. -4 p.m.
The best day to post on Instagram: Wednesday & Thursday.

As one of the platforms that have more than 1 billion users, Instagram is similar to Facebook when it comes to the peak publishing times on the social network. Active Instagram followers tend to check in on platforms in the morning during the week, while midday provides the perfect moment to check in again during lunch hour. By the late afternoon, when energy levels are low, Instagram can provide a great break before followers call it a day.
While the times and days suggested above only provide a starting pointing for small businesses new to social networks, establishing a social media marketing strategy will be crucial to targeting your followers with the content that they want to see.

Consider How the Instagram Algorithm Influences Post Reach

The time you choose to publish on Instagram matters, but so does the algorithm which will affect what your followers will see on their feeds. Because Instagram’s algorithm will evaluate your content’s engagement levels to determine whether or not it should be shown to your followers, you’ll need to make sure the content you are posting is like-worthy. Instagram’s algorithm prioritizes content from accounts you’ve previously engaged with, so even if you are posting new content all of the time, your followers may not see any of it, if they haven’t engaged with you previously.

What is the best time to post on Twitter?

The best time to post on Twitter: 9 a.m.
The best day to post on Twitter: Wednesday and Friday.

If you’re looking to engage and connect with your audience directly, Twitter will be your social network of choice. But you’ll want to ensure that you’re publishing posts at the right time to maximize engagement and get your follower’s attention. As one of the few platforms that still show content to users in chronological order, timeliness is critical on Twitter if you don’t want your content to get lost in the noise.
Publishing at peak times on Twitter increases the chances of your followers seeing your post as well as other people in your target audience, even if they don’t follow you. You’ll achieve this additional reach if people retweet, comment, or like your post because then that post will be shown to their followers.
Staying on top of your conversations on Twitter is much easier when you have a social listening tool to engage your followers authentically.

What is the best time to post on LinkedIn?

The best time to post on LinkedIn: 7 a.m. –8 a.m., 12 p.m. then 5 p.m. -6 p.m.
The best day to post on LinkedIn: Tuesday & Wednesday.

This platform works a little differently than the rest, mainly because of the niche audience that it attracts. For the most part, LinkedIn has a fan base of professionals seeking networking opportunities within their own industry and gain guidance on career growth. Therefore, based on several studies, users tend to be on the platform the most during working hours.
The good news for social media managers is that posting times matter considerably less on LinkedIn. The LinkedIn algorithm emphasizes content that drives engagement, which is why it’s not uncommon to see a post from several weeks ago at the top of your news feed. However, that does put a little more pressure on the content marketers reading this to create more high-quality content that attracts a B2B audience.
For B2B companies, LinkedIn presents itself as an ideal channel if you are looking to attract leads through organic posts. Using B2B marketing on LinkedIn means thinking outside of the box and tailor your content to center around thought leadership pieces.

What is the best time to post on YouTube?

The best time to post on YouTube: 12 p.m. -3 p.m.

Given YouTube’s reach and the heightened demand for video content, YouTube should be a part of any marketing strategy.
When you post on this platform, the time you post isn’t as important as the discoverability of the content. Unless you have a number of subscribers to your branded channel, users of the platform are unlikely to know when you’ve uploaded new content. So, make sure your viewers «smash the subscribe button below» when they watch your content.
Publishing videos on YouTube works best towards the weekend as subscribers become more likely to watch with Thursdays and Fridays being the best times to publish. This allows subscribers to view your videos throughout the weekend.
Now while publishing your video on a certain day will impact views, having your ads shown on certain days will also impact when subscribers see your ads.

What is the best time to post on TikTok?

The best time to post on TikTok: 9 a.m. — 12 a.m.

As the new social media channel on the block, TikTok now has over 700 million active users and is growing among Generation Z. The platform is known for setting trends and social media challenges.
One thing to remember about TikTok is that it is a channel where one size may not fit all. The creators and influencers you find on TikTok are different, and their audiences have different locations and demographics that play into when is the right time to post. However, TikTok does provide analytics to help you find out when your followers are most active on the platform. Make sure that you have a Pro Account to access TikTok’s analytics and find insights into when your audience is active and most engaged.

Look at your buyer personas

What does your audience’s typical day look like? Whether they are working or in school will impact when they look at their social media profiles. For example, if your target audience works regular 9–5 jobs, they’ll be looking at social media sites during their lunch breaks, while commuting, and over the weekend. Whereas, if your audience is university students, chances are they will be checking social media at different times and days of the week. Defining your buyer’s personas is the first step toward optimizing your posting times.

Look at what time your posts get the most engagement.

Looking at what times and days you are currently getting the most engagement on social media is an easy way to figure out the best time and day to post.
For Twitter, go into ‘Twitter Analytics’ and sort by ‘Top Tweets. ‘ Here, you can then look at your top tweets and analyze which time and day you see the most engagement.
For Facebook, you must check the ‘Insights’ section, to know which days of the week you get the most reach and likes.
On Instagram, if you have a business profile, you can look at Instagram’s analytics feature. In the screenshot below, you can see which weekdays have received the most interactions & highest reach.

Use a tool like Viral Post

One way to choose the best posting times on social media is with KI social engagement tool, Engage. Viral Post is a feature within KI Social Engage that looks at your most active & influential users on social media channels, and when they are engaging the most. It then recommends the best hours to upload your content based on this.

Experiment

Over time, you can experiment by posting at different times to see how much engagement your post gets. Remember the engagement of each social media post will also depend on the content itself. So make sure that you test each hour and day more than once.

How Time Zones Impact When Your Followers Are Online

If your followers are spread across several time zones, it can be difficult to figure out the one perfect time to publish your new tweet. But, as we’ve discussed, there isn’t just one perfect time to post and the ideal time varies based on your audience.
Instead of looking for one specific time to post, you may want to consider posting at times when your followers across different time zones may both be active. Or, you may want to publish twice a day — once in the morning and again in the late afternoon — to reach your audiences who do span different time zones.

Now you know when the best posting time on social media is or how to find out!

If you want to learn more about the simple tweaks you can make to optimize your social media strategy, contact the KI Social Team today for a free demo.