The best times to post on social media

Each social media platform is a force in constant flux.

While there is always a “best” time to schedule a post, there isn’t necessarily a “perfect” time. No magic formula will guarantee traffic, but numerous studies offer insights to help craft a framework for maximum audience engagement.

Factors like target audience demographics, behavior patterns, and the specifics of your brand, service, or product are crucial. Understanding your industry and what resonates with your audience is key. Monitor your KPIs, analyze each platform’s data, and conduct A/B testing to pinpoint your ideal posting times.

Time zones are critical too, especially for platforms operating 24/7. For instance, if targeting a U.S. audience, it’s useful to know that around 77% reside in Central and Eastern time zones.

Here’s a breakdown of the best times to post on social media, across various networks:

The most frequently used of the social networks, Facebook’s lifespan sits at approximately 5 hours. Generally, the best days to schedule your posts are on weekdays.

As for the most suitable times, the most popular time to post is between 9:00 AM and 3:00 PM. Weekends might be suitable for certain types of industries. Still, based on our own experience in the B2B space, weekdays are preferable as people are enjoying their days off during weekends and might be less engaged online.

However, it’s critical to regularly analyze your audience engagement patterns and analytics data and adjust your social media posting strategy accordingly.

For more traction, pin a post to your timeline, or sponsor your post for maximum reach within the confines of Facebook’s algorithm.

In 2023, X (Formerly Twitter) updated its algorithm to personalize each user’s feed by suggesting content similar to the user’s engagement. This personalization is based on various criteria, including relevance, recency, variety, and multimedia content. The algorithm also prioritizes posts based on the user’s engagement (likes, replies, reposts), media content, and the account’s reputation.

Reliable times to post are generally weekdays between 9 – 4 PM.
B2B performs better during business hours, with B2C performing better on weekends.

Linking and re-posting your content, as well as pinning your posts will allow for a greater lifespan according to X algorithm.

LinkedIn is a social platform suitable for business professionals and It has amassed over 774 million users worldwide, making it one of the top social platforms in the world. 

The best times to engage your network are Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays between 8 AM and 9 AM; at noon (lunchtime); and 3 and 6 PM. Regarding a post’s lifespan, we’re looking at 24 hours.

Continued to have a predominantly female user base, the charming image-collecting network sees the best times to post between 8 and 11 PM on Saturdays, with the worst times being work hours. Saturdays and Sundays, in general, are the two days of the week that garner the most engagement.

Pinner quality is a main consideration in the Smart Feed algorithm. It analyzes the effectiveness of your pins by considering your pinning’s frequency, the level of engagement your pins gain, and the interactions with the audience. To enhance your pins quality, it’s critical to pin popular content regularly and focus on boosting your engagement with your audience. Pinterest analytics can assist you in detecting new and trending topics that align with your target audience’s preferences.

Want to expand your pin’s 4-month lifespan? Consider giving it a boost.

A platform that has become wildly popular, Instagram now boasts over 2 billion monthly active users worldwide. According to the insights collected by Search Engine Journal from different social media platforms, the ideal days and times to post on Instagram are during weekdays at midnight (between 3:00 AM and 9:00 AM), in the morning (between 10 AM and 1 PM), and in the evenings (between 8 and 9 PM). The slowest hours to post are between 3 – 4 PM on any given day. And with a post lifespan of 20 hours, timing is crucial.

As for Saturdays and Sundays, it can be a hit or miss. Save your best content for the weekday, but feel free to experiment with the weekend time slots. You can find further details on how to optimize your Instagram strategy here.

When it comes to publishing videos on YouTube, the key is to be consistent. Since most traction will come from your video subscribers, it’s best to establish a set time when your videos will be published. Again, this will depend on your analytics.

According to WordStream, it is best to post your videos on the weekdays during the afternoon (between 2 PM and 4 PM), and the weekends during the morning (between 9 AM and 11 AM). 

With a lifespan of approximately 20 days or even longer, this gives you some time to share the video multiple times across other channels.

TikTok is an excellent platform for building connections and increasing awareness, particularly for brands targeting millennials (16-24) and Gen-Z (25-44). It offers significant viral potential for content that resonates with these age groups.

The best posting times are between Tuesday and Thursday, between 12:00 and 2:00 PM, 4:30 and 6:00 PM, and 6:30 and 9:30 PM. Interestingly, the video lifespan across TikTok is between 0-2 minutes, which is considered the shortest, compared to all other social media networks.

In conclusion, the best time to schedule your social media posts will depend on your industry and the audience you want to reach.

Scheduling your posts ahead of time by using marketing automation platforms (like your friendly neighborhood VBOUT) will also help immensely.