If I start listing down key ingredients for social media success, the social media strategy and best time to post will be the top factors to consider.
However, the best time according to me might not yield the same results for you. In fact, if you ask 3 different marketers about the best time to post on social media, you’re likely to get 3 different answers!
What’s surprising is that all 3 of them are probably correct considering the industry or audience group they cater to.
But to make things a bit easier for you, I have listed down multiple time ranges that can help you get massive engagement on social media. Let’s check them out!
By this point, you must have an overall picture of the ideal times when to post on each social media platform.
However, hang off before planning every social media post during these timeslots. It’s crucial to remember that the ideal time to post on social media may differ based on the demographic and social media platform you are targeting.
Now let’s get into the specifics of when posting on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and other platforms to get the best results.
Honestly speaking, there’s no cookie-cutter approach for social media posting times. Not all hour slots will generate the same results for everyone and magically improve engagement rates.
Hit and trial might actually be the best strategy for this case. Start experimenting with different times and note the performance as you go. However, this is only possible when you’re working on a very limited number of accounts.
To find the best social media posting times without any hassle, you can also head to Vaizle. A comprehensive marketing suite and a social media reporting tool, Vaizle deep dives into your audience’s past behavior and gives you the time frame that will generate maximum audience engagement and interaction.
Now, let’s explore best times to post for a few most popular social media in the US
If you check the latest Facebook statistics, you will find that Facebook is the most-used social media platform with over 3.05 billion monthly active users.
High MAUs also mean that the competition is enormously high when it comes to establishing a brand presence and driving traffic to your website. As such, it becomes crucial for you to figure out the best times to post on Facebook in general and for your page specifically.
Best times and days to post on Facebook on weekdays:
Best times and days to post on Facebook on weekends:
Here are some of the additional Facebook posting times suggested by social media experts:
But there’s a catch — these best times are based on general data and might not actually work for you!
To specifically find the best time to post on Facebook for your brand, check out the free Best Time to Post on Facebook tool by Vaizle.
Instagram is where the youth’s at!
The platform gets at least 31% of its users from the age bracket of 18 to 24. If you’re targeting users from the same age group for your brand, Instagram presence is non-negotiable. (But hey — don’t take our word for it. Check out the latest Instagram statistics!)
However, with more than 200 million businesses on Instagram, you need to up your content game to stand out amongst a sea of competitors. Following Instagram trends and wisely utilizing new features is one way to do the same.
For the next part, you must focus on knowing the best time to post on Instagram.
According to SocialPilot, you are more likely to get positive results for the below-mentioned timeframes:
Best times and days to post on Instagram on weekdays:
Best times and days to post on Instagram on weekends:
Here’s what other social media experts have to say:
However, relying on these posting times isn’t always the best-case scenario for your brand.
Find out the brand-specific best time to post on Instagram with the Vaizle free tool. Simply log in with your Meta account, select the profile to analyze, and check when your followers are more likely to engage with your content.
LinkedIn has recently crossed the 1 billion user mark and is currently a leading advertising, network-building, and lead-generation platform.
As a professional networking channel, it seems obvious that the best time to post on LinkedIn will be during business hours.
Let’s check out what Social Pilot has to say.
Best times and days to post on LinkedIn on weekdays:
But unlike other platforms, weekends aren’t suitable for LinkedIn posting as most professionals prefer to cut back on social media time. In fact, LinkedIn itself suggests you to not post during overnight hours (say between 10 PM to 6 AM).
So, when do you post on LinkedIn? Let’s hear from a few social media experts first:
To find the best time to post on LinkedIn specifically tailored for your account, you can use a free tool like Vaizle. All you need to do is log in with your account, select the page to analyze, and the Vaizle dashboard will show you the best LinkedIn posting times.
Since YouTube works both as a social media platform and a search engine, the algorithm works a little differently. Unlike other social platforms, you don’t have to focus on getting numbers in the first hour of posting.
The YouTube algorithm takes a while to rank content and then displays it to your audience’s feeds. Therefore, the best YouTube posting time might be a few hours earlier than usual user activity.
While there’s no single fixed best time to post on YouTube for everyone around the world, you can still work with average posting times.
Best times and days to post on YouTube on weekdays:
Best times and days to post on YouTube on weekends:
According to other social media experts, the best time to upload on YouTube is:
Additionally, Best Time to Post on YouTube by Vaizle is a great free tool to find the best time to release a YouTube video.
Pinterest is a leading visual search engine and if we check the latest Pinterest statistics, it is clear that the platform has been touching new heights recently. In the last quarter, Pinterest reached a record high with 485 million MAUs.
With rapidly growing popularity, now Pinterest is also swamped with competitors. As such, it becomes crucial for you to figure out the best time to post on Pinterest.
Let’s look at the best posting time for weekdays and weekends!
Best times and days to post on Pinterest on weekdays:
Best times and days to post on Pinterest on weekends:
As per other social media experts:
Right Time to Post on Social Media for Maximum Reach
We have already established that there’s no fixed best time to post on social media! (if there was one, everyone would post at the same time and your feed would be like digital mayhem, right?)
This leads to the question: so, when do you actually post on social media?
The answer lies in considering multiple factors like:
Some people browse social media during the morning while commuting to the office, while some prefer late nights after work. Similarly, professionals from different industries also exhibit varying content consumption behavior.
To summarize, we can say that:
Your best time to publish on social media platforms is… “yours”
And to help you find the same, the Social Media Competitive Analysis tool by Vaizle is an ideal option!
Here, you can add multiple competitors from the same niche and get a comprehensive graph detailing the best times to post on social media for the entire week.
Let us check the best times for different industries:
For B2C firms, the optimum time to post on Facebook is 9-10 AM, 11 AM to 12 PM, and 4-5 PM. This makes sense because these intervals are likely to coincide with work breaks or the end of the day.
For people in the retail industry, posting on social media is critical. People are using Facebook and Instagram to shop more than ever before. If you want to target a retail-oriented audience, pay attention to the best and worst social media posting hours.
Overall, DTC firms have realized that weekdays from 10 AM to 5 PM provide the most stable engagement.
B2B businesses show similar trends. The optimal times for these firms to post is around 9 AM and then again around 3-4 PM.
Overall, they have been found to be consistent on weekdays from 10 AM to 5 PM.
Because social media has become such a popular platform for the media and entertainment industries, it’s more important than ever to figure out the optimum time to post on social media in order to stand out and appear in users’ feeds.
According to Vaizle data, media companies varied from the rest of the pack in some ways. Indeed, their most popular media posts were timed to overlap with TV news broadcasts — 7 AM, 11 AM, and 6 PM.
Because global peak hours on social media for this industry highly fluctuate, the best posting times for tech might be difficult to predict. Focus on the time frames below to ensure social media interaction on tech posts.
Evening and night posting is not recommended, which is surprising given the reputation of techies.
Facebook is an excellent site for promoting events, while Instagram is the finest platform for completing your strategy. Twitter is a fantastic supplement to your nonprofit’s overall social media strategy.
According to Vaizle, the greatest time for non-profits to engage with their supporters on Facebook is Wednesday from 8–9 AM. Nonprofits are likely to receive consistent involvement between the hours of 8 AM and 5 PM during the week. Weekends and nights, on the other hand, are rather quiet, and it’s usually better to avoid those hours.
Although students are known for being night owls, it does not appear that they spend that time on Facebook. Indeed, higher education businesses appear to have the most success before class or during the breaks between classes. The hours of 8 AM, noon, and 3 PM are the busiest for higher education.
Our research takes a holistic approach to education. Wednesday at 9 AM and Saturday at 5 PM were the greatest times to post on Facebook. Weekdays between 9 AM and 3 PM are the most constant times for interaction (when people are at school). Saturdays between noon and 9 PM, on the other hand, produce acceptable outcomes.
The Healthcare Industry has seen a revolutionary change in social media usage during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Healthcare brand followers are mostly early risers. The majority of their posts were consumed in the morning. If you schedule your healthcare posts at 6–7 AM, 9 AM, or 11 AM–noon, you should do fine.
Because of the platform’s vast user base, publishing on Instagram is still relevant and worth enhancing for individuals in the healthcare industry. According to Vaizle, the prime time for social media posts for healthcare is as follows.
Professional social networking services frequently share educational content that includes links to videos, blogs, and other platforms. The initial post piques the interest of the followers, leading them to additional types of material.
During the Monday – Friday work week, the industries we serve (banking, legal, and financial services) see significantly greater activity on Instagram than outside of it. People in those industries appear to pay the most attention to work-related messages during the week and aren’t as engaged on weekends.
Social media users clearly enjoy viewing photos of delectable meals. It doesn’t take sophisticated analytics software to figure out that people are more inclined to engage with food photos during lunchtime. Because most professionals take a break in the middle of the day, it’s likely that engagement will increase during this time. Keep scrolling if you’re in the food and beverage industry to learn “What time is best to post on social media”.
Not everyone has the funds or desire to travel, but that doesn’t mean they won’t engage with the Instagram content you’re sharing about it. According to studies, the best time to engage with this specialty is between 11 AM and 1 PM on weekends. The optimum time to post on Instagram, according to travel and tourism firms, is:
It all depends on your Instagram audience, the countries from where your followers hail, and the time difference. To simplify — If most of your followers are asleep, you don’t want to be posting content.
To our dismay, social media doesn’t come with a fixed step-by-step guide for achieving more engagement and interaction. As new features come and as industries evolve, different aspects of posting content on social media also change.
For example: with more people working remotely than ever, social media usage has spiked even during business hours. Such cultural changes and user trends can keep you on your toes and looking for new social media posting times.
A sustainable way to deal with this is by conducting A/B tests where you post similar content at different times and observe the performance. But if you’re managing multiple accounts at once, using a tool to find the best time to post on social media is your best bet. Vaizle lets you find the best times to post on social media for your account by considering various factors like followers’ demographics and competitor analysis.
Arushi is a proficient SEO and ASO specialist with a 5-year track record working for B2B and B2C organizations. Currently, she is heading SEO strategy for Vaizle and helping businesses improve their online presence. A mountain girl at heart, she likes to recharge her creative abilities by taking long walks and listening to podcasts.
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