What is the Best Time to Post on Social Media

As social media marketers, part of your job is to gain exposure for your business, attract more leads, and get more engagement on your posts.

As a professional, you must be working really hard to achieve your goals. But despite that, your hard work isn't getting the results that you thought it should have got.

So you must be wondering what went wrong. Well, it can be the timing of your posts. Many social media marketers don't consider the posting time as an important factor in their marketing strategy. As a result, their efforts don't achieve the desired results.

That's why understanding the right time to post on social media is important. It can not only help you get more engagements but can also help you get a major boost in your conversions.

So let's look at the best time to post on different social media channels. But before that, let's find out if there's a generic time to post across social media platforms.

Is There a Generic Time to Post

According to research, in 2020 alone, there were 3.96 billion social media users worldwide. These users are spread across different time zones around the world. Also, the purpose of each social media platform varies from the others.

For example, LinkedIn is a completely professional platform, and users use it to look for work opportunities, make professional connections, hire employees, etc. So the best time to get engagement on LinkedIn is during business hours.

But platforms like Facebook are more casual in nature and are used by people to socialize with others in a more informal manner. So you're more likely to get more engagement beyond business hours when people are in a relaxed mood.

As such, the timing and intent to log in to these two platforms will also widely vary.

However, marketers have studied the best time to post on different social media platforms. So let's check out what they have found.

1. Facebook

According to studies, there isn't a single best time to post on Facebook. As mentioned before, Facebook is an informal platform used by people to socialize with other like-minded users. So people are more likely to log in to it when they are traveling, relaxing or working from home.

This happens in the early hours of the morning when people are commuting to work, during lunch hours, or post-business hours.

But that's not the only factor that decides which time is best for you to post on Facebook. Getting more engagement also depends a lot on your business type and who your audience is.

Studies show 9 am and 2 pm EST on Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday is the best time to post on Facebook for B2B brands. B2C brands on the other hand, get the most engagement at 12 pm EST on Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday.

This means posting anything around 12 pm can give you the best results on Facebook because it's the common hour in both cases.

2. Twitter

Did you know that more than 5787 tweets are sent out every second? This makes it extremely difficult for your tweet to stand out against the remaining 5786 tweets. But you can easily do that by knowing the best time to get engagement on your tweets.

According to a study conducted by Hootsuite, 11 am to 1 pm EST on Monday or Thursday can be the best time to tweet for B2B brands. On the other hand, 12 pm to 1 pm from Monday to Wednesday can be the perfect time for B2C brands.

Now if you look closely at the timings, you'll find that 11 am falls as a common timing for both the brands. This means that posting around this time can get you more engagement, irrespective of what your business type is.

But it has been found that tweeting after 8 pm on weekends and after 3 pm on Friday can get you the least engagement. So try avoiding these hours for the best results.

3. Instagram

Just like on Facebook and Twitter, on Instagram too, getting engagement depends a lot on the time in which you post. This platform displays the latest posts in people's feeds. But in doing so, they don't do it in a chronological manner.

That's why it's important to post at the right time for more engagement. So what's the best time to post on Instagram?

According to studies conducted by Later, 9 am to 11 am is the best time to post on Instagram. But the research conducted by SproutSocial found a different timing. They found that posting at 11 am on Wednesday and 10 am to 11 am on Friday can get you the highest engagement.

They also found that the most consistent engagement happens from Tuesday to Thursday from 10 am to 3 pm.

The good thing about Instagram is that it lets you check the most active hours if you have a business account. You can do that by using the Instagram Analytics tool. So if you get confused about the best timing, do check out this tool for the best results.

4. LinkedIn

Unlike other social media platforms, people use LinkedIn to build professional connections, look for jobs, and do things that can help them grow professionally. No matter what your goals are, to get good engagement on LinkedIn, you have to post strategically in the peak hours when people are most active on the platform.

According to the studies conducted by TrackMaven, the best time to post on LinkedIn for both B2B and B2C business owners is Wednesday at 9 am. SproutSocial agreed to this time but they also got good results by posting at 12 pm on Wednesdays.

It is to be noted that both TrackMaven and SproutSocial avoided posting on Sunday. The reason stated for that is low engagement.

So that's it. Now that you know the best time to post on different social media channels, do your best to get the most out of the platform. But simply posting in the peak hours won't help. You also have to create good content to keep your audience engaged.