Covid-19 pandemic brought some changes in our daily routine and influenced our social media posting habit. We had no choice but to get stuck to a four-walled cubicle, which almost felt like a cage. As a result, we started spending more time with computers, for online office, entertainment, communicating with friends, video making and many more. We befriended social media more than ever during those harrowing times. It provided us an ample amount of time to delve deep into the pattern of our social media use and interactions. We are now more focused on learning the best times to post on social media.
The number of people using social media every month has crossed 4 billion. There has always been a rapid spike in the number of social media users. The power of social media is beyond doubt and still little understood and used by common addicts. However, the business units are making a good use of social media. With the number of people crowding social media increasing, manufacturers and marketers are using this platform to reach out to more audiences. And when consumers’ demands, needs and expectations are fulfilled, every aspect of the business enjoys benefits.
When Should I Post on Social Media?
Each social media site provides its users with unique benefits. However, the type of benefits and how much you will stand benefitted depend on your goals, content and audience. If you are not happy with the kind or volume of engagement on a particular platform, review your social media goals. A check on overall KPIs must not be ignored either. Knowing the best time for getting optimum engagement will take you towards your goals.
From extensive and incisive data interpretation, social media experts have now discovered a kind of consistency in the best times for the highest engagement that happens on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays at 9/10 a.m. Midweek morning has proved the top time on the most popular social media platforms – Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Linkedin. Interestingly, Sunday has been found the worst day to post across social media sites. The likely explanations could be people get busy with other works such as, visiting friends, hanging out with fiancé, watching movies or the likes and so, have little time to stay active on social media.
There are more to these quick stats. We have presented a composite picture only. Let us now take a close inspection of engagement on different social media sites. Each site registers a different range of engagement at different times throughout the week. And when industries are taken into consideration, engagement varies furthermore. Therefore, though Tuesdays to Thursdays at 9/10 a.m. is the best time for social media posting, a few additional factors need to be considered before scheduling any post.
Best Times to Post on FB
- Best days to post on Facebook: Tuesdays through Fridays
- Best times to post on Facebook: Mondays through Fridays at 3 a.m., Tuesdays at 10 a.m. and noon
- Worst days to post on Facebook: Saturdays
Facebook continues to be the most used social platform by companies. The trend is almost the same across the world. However, an interesting shift in terms of social media engagement has been found in 2022. Mid-morning engagement used to dominate the Facebook landscape in previous years. But it now seems morning hours have become a favourite with users.
Compared to the previous year, we have found few more “off” times for Facebook during data reviews. Early mornings and mid-morning on weekdays still show a consistent pattern and flow of engagement and have become more favourable times for marketers to look at their contents.
The best times mentioned in the article are according to the US Central Time. Therefore, besides the traditional US workday activities, early morning high engagement shows the usage pattern of FB’s global audience. This means Facebook displays opportunities in adopting and actualizing an international or multi-location social media strategy.
Best Times to Post on TikTok
- Best days to post on TikTok: Wednesdays and Thursdays
- Best times to post on TikTok: Tuesdays 2–3 p.m., and Wednesdays and Thursdays 1–3 p.m.
- Worst days to post on TikTok: Sundays
TikTok has become a new sensation in social media marketing and app usage over the past few years. The trend shows all signs to go north. The app boasts of more than 1 billion users. With that number on the rise, we can see more social media influencers coming up. There are reasons for users to stay hopeful about new features in upcoming years. This app us used for making and sharing short-form video clips and allows the users to find out new products and discover and follow the most popular and their favourite brands, content creators and influencers.
If you are not TikTok savvy, there is nothing to worry. This app is fairly easy to use. Start using the app and over time, you will learn how to engage your target audiences. TikTok offers ample opportunities to post a B2B, B2C or a digital content.
Best Times to Post on Instagram
- Best days to post on Instagram: Tuesdays and Wednesdays
- 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.
- Worst days to post on Instagram: Sundays
Instagram experienced a booming phase throughout 2020-21. By early 2022, the number of its monthly users crossed 2 billion. Though the TikTok has emerged as a favourite platform for short video content, Instagram is going strong for its time-to-time launches of new features and advanced versions of the existing ones. Insta videos have not got a 60-minute expansion and reels make it easier to create and discover videos on Instagram.
Similar to other popular apps on Facebook, the best Instagram post times expanded in the last year compared to previous years. Midday engagement on weekdays became higher with the best times ranging from 10 A.M. to 1 P.M. Evenings and weekend engagement also showed increased engagement opportunities.
The popularity of Insta stems from its being an ideal platform for marketers who want to promote their brands, products and services. Expanding and new ecommerce features are making the app more useful for the marketers and also shaping up users’ pattern of usage. Nearly 45% of users use this app for their weekly shopping. For a brand, prime time post Instagram will earn it more followers and increase interactions, which will result in sale conversions. The platform is designed to allow users to share high-resolution photo; an app expansion to integrate ecommerce features makes much sense.
Brands should not stay idle on Instagram, especially if their target audience uses this app. As a marketer or company owner, you can leverage the power of Instagram to display your brand’s stand-out design or highlight products through infographics. Instagram offers unlimited opportunities to engage users by allowing them to post different contents pertaining to their marketing needs or passion in different niches. Make use of the prime time Instagram slot to enhance your Insta-based marketing strategy.
Best Times to Post on Twitter
- Best days to post on Twitter: Tuesdays and Wednesdays
- Best times to post on Twitter: Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 9 a.m.
- Worst days to post on Twitter: Sundays
Twitter has always been the most wonderful go-to platform for breaking news and in-brief conversations. It is also a good social media site to post stories or comments in threads if your content is too big to fit a small space. Pandemic did not affect its popularity. Common people, celebrities, brands – all are on Twitter. Brands can take part in trending topics but should sound sensible and stay aware of their brand value while engaging with others.
Compared to the last year, the peak post hours on Twitter registered a significant shift. The best hours for posting became denser during the middays and mid mornings throughout the week. The trend is a mirror to concentrated attention to news development and updates and also greater love for entertainment through viral memes and Tweets.
Twitter’s use is not limited to only viral content and sensational news. Brands can explore the power of Twitter as a part of their robust customer care and support strategy and as an alternative to telephonic conversations for the same purpose. Twitter has emerged as a powerful platform for the brands that have started believing that this social media handle can be exploited to forge, foster and better customer engagement experience through social listening and exchanges.
The focus areas indicate that brands can have several and sometimes, serious and challenging priorities on Twitter. The peak times to post on this platform might help you decide when you should prioritize publishing new contents vs, engaging resources for customer support or consider a multiple account strategy.
Best Times to Post on LinkedIn
- Best days to post on LinkedIn: Wednesdays and Thursdays
- Best times to post on LinkedIn: Tuesdays 10 a.m. to noon
- Worst days to post on LinkedIn: Saturdays and Sundays
Linkedin is a social media platform crowded by career-focused people. They could be brands, echelons, job seekers or low-rung employees. Everyone is there with their profile and clearly outlined purpose.
Linkedin engagement time has been consistent for the last few years. Peak time on Linkedin is midday throughout the week and does not spill beyond the US workday hours, just like what has been going on in the past few years. It is better to stay away from posting on the weekend due to a massive drop in engagement.
Linkedin content is highly dense around professional thoughts, career growth and leadership qualities. Hence, it is not surprising that a majority of audience is interested in midday posting and engagement throughout the working days.
Linkedin has become a specialized social media site. At the same time, it has increasingly developing branches to make room for contents that appeal to different blocks of audiences. It has strong presence in 200 countries with a registered account going to the north of 810 million. This platform is now gaining attention by attracting audiences with different types of contents.
Businesses on Linkedin are busy developing new ways for lead generation. They are using this platform to spot co-marketing partners, attract new talents and highlight company culture. However, these are only tiny slices of Linkedin features. The platform is easy to use and an ideal fit for employee empowerment and advocacy to advance their professional development or personal branding with published contents via their Linkedin accounts.
How to Find Your BEST Times?
Data is the real sauce in the entire episode of successful social media campaigns. Now keep in mind that at the core of every campaign, content is the real KING. A more engaging and effective content planning can be done when users have data at their fingertips. Obviously, you need to know the trends of top times to post on each of these popular social media sites for optimum engagement.
With evolving social media platforms in response to the changing attitudes and trends of how consumers and brands use these sites, you can find new ways for more effective interactions from time to time. New content trends and formation might aid you to reach out to your target audiences in unexpected yet more effective ways and even spot new personals and segments that never crossed your mind before.
Though posting during peak engagement times is a strategy not to ignore, an in-depth analysis of your target audiences’ social media behavioural pattern will help you find out and exploit less busy times when these particular blocks remain active but competitors are few and far between during the phase.
There are some tools to help you develop analytical skills and bespoke findings for accounts, which will eventually complement a wider breadth of data across industries these surveys are based on.
Some tools can identify the time duration when your target audience stay active the most and this slot is the best phase for peak customer engagement. These tools can save your time and effort from doing repeated analysis.
Final Words
Social media is a powerhouse. Knowing the required information about your audiences’ usage pattern and peak engagement hours will help you draft strategies for improved communication and conversions.