The internet never sleeps so the best time to post on social media seems like it’s at every hour of the day. We’re going to demystify this myth so your social team can plan, prioritize and create a successful social media marketing strategy.
With nearly 5 billion social media users worldwide and across several platforms, social media presents many opportunities. Social media has become a much more cross-functional and collaborative channel in the last few years. Where it had once been used solely for brand awareness, now there is an impact of social media on business across several teams: customer experience, sales, product development, content and marketing.
We worked closely with our data science team to review findings and trends in social media usage over the past year from Sprout Social’s more than 34,000 customers and understand when their content was most and least frequently engaged with, broken out by platform and industry.
 

Best Times to Post on Social Media Overall

• Best times to post on social media:

• Best days to post on social media: Tuesdays and Wednesdays
• Worst days to post on social media: Sundays.

Each social platform has its benefits depending on your goals, content type and audience. If you’re noticing your engagement isn’t where you want it to be, consider revisiting your social media KPIs. Of course, knowing which days you get the most engagement helps you reach those goals as well.
While interpreting the data for each social network individually, we consistently notice that the highest times of engagement are Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays generally between 9 a.m. and noon. Midweek mornings prove to be a successful time across most social platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn. Pinterest and TikTok see higher engagement in the afternoons.
There’s more to posting on social media than this quick stat though. Each network sees varying ranges of engagement throughout the week and at remarkably different times. And once industries are factored in, engagement varies even more. So while Tuesdays through Thursdays between 9 a.m. and noon are generally the best times to post on social, consider other variables before you schedule any posts.

Best Times to Post on Facebook

• Best times to post on Facebook:

• Best days to post on Facebook: Mondays through Thursdays
• Worst days to post on Facebook: Sundays

Don’t look alarmed. Facebook is still the most used platform by marketers worldwide at 90%, and it doesn’t seem to be going anywhere. We’ve seen an interesting shift in most engagement times matching general business hours versus very early morning hours in recent years. What does this mean for marketers?
Optimal send times for Facebook are Mondays through Thursdays starting at 8 a.m. until early afternoon, generally 1 p.m. The only “off” hours for posting on Facebook are very early hours on Fridays through Mondays, generally midnight until 4 a.m.
With a solid Facebook marketing strategy, businesses can target the right audiences at the right time with their content. Keep in mind, engagement also has to do with how often you post on social media and what you post. Not all social content translates well across every social media platform. Posting the right content on the right platform makes a difference.

Best Times to Post on Instagram

• Best times to post on Instagram:

• Best days to post on Instagram: Tuesdays and Wednesdays
• Worst days to post on Instagram: Sundays

Where Facebook was the most-used platform by marketers worldwide, Instagram comes in second with 79%. Not surprisingly, Instagram is also the second most preferred platform for customer service after Facebook, for marketers and consumers. With the competition for short-form video between Instagram and TikTok still heating up, Reels account for 30% of time spent on the Meta-owned platform.
The best times to post on Instagram are Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m., generally. Similar to Facebook, the “off” hours are the early morning hours every day of the week, from midnight until 4 a.m.
Instagram has grown a long way since its photo-only days. The app, which has nearly 2 billion monthly active users, is now a platform to share images, videos, Reels, and live streams, just to name a few creative content types. It is also an avenue to collaborate and partner with other brands and provides a stream of revenue through its e-commerce capabilities.
The Instagram algorithm is unpredictable. To be successful on the platform is a balance of consistently posting high-quality content that will engage and entertain your audiences. That’s a lot to ask for with each piece of content published. But using that as a guiding post can help with your Instagram marketing efforts.

Best Times to Post on LinkedIn

• Best times to post on LinkedIn Company Pages:

• Best days to post on LinkedIn Company Pages: Tuesdays through Thursdays
• Worst days to post on LinkedIn Company Pages: Weekends

Unsurprising for this professional-focused social platform, LinkedIn engagement times are consistent with general business hours. High engagement hours are more concentrated midday and don’t extend too far out past the workday hours. You’re less likely to get eyes on your LinkedIn content on the weekend when engagement drops significantly.
Because LinkedIn content is centered around professional thought leadership and career growth, it makes sense that a majority of audiences engage with this content throughout their working day. By midday, there’s buzz on the platform, and the best times to post on LinkedIn are Tuesdays and Wednesdays between 10 a.m. and noon.
Yes, LinkedIn is a business and employment-focused platform, but it’s more than a job board and networking platform. LinkedIn provides a platform for professional storytelling and advocacy, from both employees and employers alike. Contributors of all levels can share their subject-matter expertise, create conversations that challenge “business as usual,” and uplift professional voices around the world.
With over 900 million members in 200 countries and regions, LinkedIn is important for a wide range of business opportunities. Businesses on LinkedIn are finding new ways to generate leads, find co-marketing partners, highlight company culture and attract talent. Because of these additional business opportunities LinkedIn provides, it makes sense that posting and engagement match with the business hours. 

Best Times to Post on Pinterest

•  Best times to post on Pinterest:

• Best days to post on Pinterest: Wednesdays through Fridays
• Worst days to post on Pinterest: Sundays and Mondays

Best Times to Post on TikTok

• Best times to post on TikTok:

• Best days to post on TikTok: Tuesdays and Wednesdays
• Worst days to post on TikTok: Sundays

As the youngest digital platform on this list, TikTok has grown significantly and made waves in half as many years as the others on this list. With the app now amassing over 1 billion active global users who spend nearly 20 hours on the app every month, TikTok has competitive staying power.
The best times to post on TikTok are Tuesdays from 2 to 6 p.m., Wednesdays from 2 to 5 p.m. and Thursdays from 3 to 5 p.m. Afternoons are when the highest engagements are on the platform; users are looking to fill their afternoon entertainment boost. However, generally, mid-morning through the afternoon (9 a.m. to 5 p.m.) on Tuesdays through Thursdays see higher engagement on the app.
With future market trends changing quickly, it’s important to understand how trends start, evolve and influence. Once you understand how these forces, moments or signals work, you can better create a TikTok trend strategy to implement rather than participating reactively.

Best Times to Post on Twitter

• Best times to post on Twitter:

+ Tuesdays from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
+ Wednesdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
+ Thursdays from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
+ Fridays 9 a.m. to noon

• Best days to post on Twitter: Tuesdays through Thursdays
• Worst days to post on Twitter: SundaysTwitter has consistently been the platform for up-to-the-minute conversations and breaking news. And 2022 didn’t stop with breaking news and trends on or about Twitter. Brands looking to participate in trending topics need to be timely but conscious of their brand values in the process.

How to find your own best times to post on social media.

Sproutsocial.com

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