What are the best times to post on social media and why?
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You’ve spent hours researching competitors, planning your content, creating your assets, and, finally, you’ve got the perfect post.
It’s got everything it could need. Well-made creative, engaging copy, tags, location…but it falls flat.
You were hoping for comments like ‘Give the social media manager a raise!’ to send to your boss, but all you got was 17 likes and a bunch of random comments.
This doesn’t mean your work is terrible, it could just mean that you’re not publishing your posts at the right time.
But when is the perfect time to send your creation into the world? With different audiences and user behaviour on each platform, it can be tricky to know when to post. We’ve done some research and put together a guide to the ideal time to post on each platform so your posts get the attention they deserve.
On Instagram
According to Sprout Social, Instagram’s audience is most engaged during the day on weekdays, with the best days to post being Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays and the worst day to post unexpectedly being Sunday. The optimum hours vary from day to day, but the consensus from Sprout is that 11 am-2 pm seems to work on weekdays, with some days extending to as early as 9 am and as late as 4 pm. The window of 11 am-2 pm indicates a lunchtime rush of people scrolling on their lunch breaks which would fall around that time.
If people are scrolling during work hours, they’re more likely to be engaged and focused on what they’re seeing as it’s still early on in the day. On the other hand, 5 pm onwards, more people will turn to scrolling as something mindless to do on their commute home, and during their evening, they will wind down, meaning they’ll be less engaged.
Full details can be found below and over on Sprout Social:
- Mondays from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
- Tuesdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
- Wednesdays from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
- Thursdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 2 p.m.
- Fridays at 11 a.m.
On Facebook
According to Sprout Social, Facebook has a bigger window of optimum posting times, generally peaking in the morning-afternoon (9 am-3 pm) and then picking back up during rush hour (5 pm). The best days to post are reportedly Monday-Thursday, and Facebook seems to follow the same pattern as Instagram with the worst day to post being Sunday.
Hootsuite said ‘The good news is that almost half of all users check Facebook multiple times a day, and they spend longer on this social media platform than many others, so you’ve got a few chances throughout the day to post during peak times.’ so the gap in weekday afternoons between 3-5 pm makes sense.
The full breakdown can be found below or over on Sprout Social:
- Mondays from 9 a.m. to noon
- Tuesdays from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 5 p.m.
- Wednesdays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 5 p.m.
- Thursdays from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 5 p.m.
- Fridays from 9 to 11 a.m.
- Best days to post on Facebook: Mondays through Thursdays
- Worst days to post on Facebook: Sundays
On TikTok
TikTok differs slightly compared to Meta in the way it pushes outposts, and how we as marketers must respond to and work around that. As TikTok uses an algorithm to decide which posts to put on people’s For You Page, posts can take longer than expected to reach your target audience, as TikTok needs to learn who that is first. Therefore, it’s recommended you post earlier than you normally would to achieve the results you want.
Unsurprisingly, the optimum hours to post on TikTok stretch further into the evening than Meta, reaching 6 pm every day, according to Sprout Social. Afternoons tend to have higher engagement as people are looking for easily digestible video content during the afternoon lull (and during the 3 pm diet coke break if you work in marketing). With TikTok, forward planning and patience are key.
The full breakdown can be found below or on Sprout Social:
- Best times to post on TikTok:
- Tuesdays from 4 to 6 p.m.
- Wednesdays from 9 to 11 a.m., noon, and 2 to 6 p.m.
- Thursdays from 9 to 11 a.m. and 2 to 6 p.m.
- Fridays from 4 to 6 p.m.
- Best days to post on TikTok: Wednesdays and Thursdays
- Worst days to post on TikTok: Sundays
On LinkedIn
With LinkedIn offering such a wide range of ad formats compared to Meta and TikTok, and primarily being a platform for longer written posts, it’s important to post the right type of content at the right time.
Trish, Social Marketing Team Lead at Hootsuite said ‘It’s best to post a variety of content types throughout the day on LinkedIn’. As ‘people tend to engage with videos and longer-form content later in the day, while they’re generally seeking readable material early in the morning.’ (as shown in the TikTok posting times).
With LinkedIn being a professional platform, you would assume work hours would be the only time worth posting on there. Whilst this is true for company pages (according to Hootsuite) there’s an opportunity for your personal LinkedIn posts to be more visible on evenings and weekends due to a lower volume of posts.
The full breakdown can be found below or on Sprout Social:
- Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 10 a.m. to noon
- Thursdays at 10 a.m.
- Best days to post on LinkedIn Company Pages: Tuesdays through Thursdays
- Worst days to post on LinkedIn Company Pages: Weekends
- Mondays between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m.
- Tuesdays between 10 a.m. and noon
- Wednesdays between 10 a.m. and noon
- Thursdays at 10 a.m.
- Fridays between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m.
- Saturdays between 6 a.m. and 4 p.m.
- Sundays between 8 a.m. and 2 p.m.
And finally, on X/Twitter
X follows the same pattern as Meta when it comes to optimal posting times, with the best times generally being during the day on weekdays and the worst day to post being Sunday. X is for short-form written content, so it makes sense that people would be looking for quick, easily digestible updates during their busy days. The full breakdown can be found below or on Sprout Social:
- Mondays from 10 a.m. to noon
- Tuesdays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
- Wednesdays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
- Thursdays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
- Fridays from 10 a.m. to noon
- Best days to post on X (Twitter): Tuesdays through Thursdays
- Worst days to post on X (Twitter): Sundays
If you need more help with planning and executing an effective social media strategy, our experts at Embryo are here to help. Contact us today to see how we can help your business succeed.
