Best Times to Post Content on Social Media

When using social media it can be difficult to find the best times to post your content. First, you must ask yourself what you want to achieve. For example, do you what the greatest reach or higher engagement. This will play a big part in determining what time of the day and what day of the week you should be posting. The actual social media platform also plays a significant role in the best time to post. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram are four common social media platforms that your business is likely to use.

Best time to post on social media

It is also important to look at your previous posts and analysis them to ensure the best time for your business. For example, if you found that 6pm on Thursday night is the time that your post gets the most likes, then it is best to stick to that time.

Facebook timeFacebook

When posting on Facebook the best days of the week for Facebook engagement are Thursday and Friday. Engagement levels fall during the first three days of the working week. Saturday and Sunday are not usually the best days to post on Facebook because people are normally out of the house and busy. They don’t have time to constantly check their Facebook newsfeed. The best time to post on Facebook generally speaking is between 9am and 7pm. Don’t post content to early in the morning or late at night when your followers are likely to be asleep. For achieving the most shares 1pm is the optimal time and to get the most clicks the best time is 3pm.

Twitter

If you are a B2B company the best days to post on Twitter are Monday through Friday. Research suggests that there is over 10% more engagement on weekdays then weekends for these types of companies. For B2C companies the best days to post are Wednesday and the weekend as there is 17% more engagement on these days. If you are looking for the highest click through rate then 12pm and 6pm is the best time to post. The most re-tweets occur at 5pm, so that is the best time to post content if high re-tweets is one of your goals. 

LinkedIn

LinkedIn

As LinkedIn is for professionals, they usually use the platform during the working week and normal working hours. When posting a status, sharing a link or message, the best time is around midday or early evening. Midday is usually when business professional are on their lunch break and they are more likely to be checking their social media account. Early evening is usually when they are travelling home at the end of a work day and they are again more likely to be checking social media accounts.

Instagram

Engagement on Instagram is consistent throughout the week with a slight incline on Monday and a decline on Sunday. Research shows that most users are not active on Instagram during work hours. Therefore you are likely to see more engagement if you post before or after work while these users are travelling from or to their home.

Instagram time