The best times to post on social media are when your customers and followers are online. Of course, there are actual times that work best for your brand and we’ll dive into that in this article. Each social platform will have a different time that works best for the audience. For example, the best time to post on Facebook is different than the best time to post on Instagram. Plus, when you start taking into account different time zones it starts to get a little bit complicated. That’s why in this article we’ll break down specific times to send out your social media posts and share recommendations for social media management tools.

Which Time Zone Should You Consider When Posting to Social Media?

The more popular your brand the more time zones you’ll likely need to take into account. Some influencers and brands send out the same messages at different times of the day to account for different time zones. Ideally, you want to ensure the majority of time zones are reached without sending the same message. Aim to send no more than four of the same message the same day but scatter them at different times to reach as many time zones as possible.  

Which countries are your customers located in? If you’re targeting the United States and Canada you likely want to hit the EST time zone as that time zone has the highest number of people such as New York and Toronto. However, if your target audience is in London, you likely want to post within the GMT time zone.

You can use social media analytics tools to find data about where your customers are located. Using this data, you can better plan out which times work best for your audience based on their specific audience.

When to Post on Instagram?

The best time to post on Instagram is during lunch (11 a.m. to 1 p.m.) and evening after work (7 p.m. to 9 p.m.). Most Instagrammers tend to login via mobile. So they tend to avoid browsing during work hours.

• The best days to post on Instagram are Monday, Wednesday and Thursday. Sunday is the worst day to post on Instagram, though the best time to post on Instagram on Saturday is 5 p.m.
• Wednesdays get the highest level of engagement on Instagram.

When Is the Best Time to Post on Facebook?

For maximum exposure to your following, the best time to post on Facebook during the week is between 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. during work hours. That’s likely because many Facebook users browse on their desktops and check it during downtime at work. Although the best time to post on Facebook on a Sunday is at 3 p.m.

• The best days to post on Facebook are Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Tuesday is the worst day to post on Facebook.
• Weekends get the highest level of engagement on Facebook.

When Is the Best Time to Post on Linkedin?

The best time to post on LinkedIn is between 10 a.m. and 11 a.m. LinkedIn is a professional social network used by recruiters, salespeople, and businesspeople which is why it’s often used during work hours.

• Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday tend to be the best days to post on LinkedIn.
• Weekends and after work hours tend to be the worst times to post on LinkedIn for engagement and visibility.

Best Time to Post on Twitter

The best time to post on Twitter is during the lunch hour of 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. However, scheduling posts just before lunch works well too.

• Workdays tend to get the highest level of engagement on Twitter. Posting at lunch every day Monday to Friday can help you increase social media engagement.
• Wednesday is the best day to post on Twitter. Weekends are the worst days to post on Twitter.

Best Time to Post on Pinterest

The best time to post on Pinterest tends to be between 8 p.m. and 11 p.m. Mothers tend to use Pinterest actively which may be why they tend to post later in the evening.

• Saturdays tend to be by far the best day to post on Pinterest. Sundays work well too.
• Work hours tend to be less popular for Pinterest users. Posting during those times may result in lower levels of engagement.

Best Time to Publish Videos on Youtube

The best time to post on YouTube tends to be early afternoon between 12 p.m. and 4 p.m. That’s because most viewers watch videos in the evening resulting in videos being indexed by then.

• Thursdays and Fridays tend to be the best days to post on YouTube.
• Most viewers watch YouTube viewers towards the weekend so feel free to post on Saturdays and Sundays in the early morning around 9 a.m. and 11 a.m.

So, When Is the Best Time to Post on Social Media?

The best time to post on social media needs to factor in the social platform you’re using and the time zone the majority of your customers are in.

While the times listed in this article are averages, the reality is you might find your own audience best engages at different times. The best way to determine the best time to post on social media for your brand is to experiment. You can use social media management tools to schedule posts at various times over the span of several weeks to determine which times tend to work best with your audience.

Don’t forget about your competitors too. Track their progress and notice when they get high engagement on their posts. Chances are that these times could work for you also. Test it out or try posting when they normally are quiet, but remember that each platform is different so track each one separately to get the best results.

Conclusion

Regularly monitoring your social media engagement and analyzing your social data can help you find the best times to post on Instagram, Facebook or other social networks your brand is on. You can use our recommendations as guidelines when starting out but remember that every brand is different and even benchmarks can vary depending on the social media platform and industry. However, as your follower count grows you may find that your audience engages with you at different times. Each social media platform also changes their algorithms so you need to stay on top of these changes. So never stop testing or experimenting. Also, don’t be afraid to post on social media on less popular days, while you might not reach your highest percentage of followers, you might be able to reach people who would have otherwise missed out on.