Social media is the life and blood of the marketing strategies for an organization, particularly for the small and medium-sized businesses. An active social media profile that has relevant, informative and engaging posts goes a long way in keeping the business at the top of the minds of the audience.
In this post you will learn about the best times to post content on different social media platforms as per the industry you belong to and how to find out the best suited time slots for your business.
However, simply posting a lot of content, pictures, or videos on all or any of the social media channels whenever you want to post does not really work that well. There are some time slots that work better than the others and these time slots are different for different platforms.
That brings us to the one of the most commonly asked questions –
When is the best time to post on Social Media?
To put it simply, the best time to post would be whenever your target audience is the most active on that particular social media platform. However, upon research, we were able to come up with some global trends and certain specifics that can be indicative of the best times you can plan your social media calendar around.
Here’s a little ‘TL;DR’ a.k.a “Too Long; Didn’t Read” on Best Times to Post on social media in 2020
If you are a little short on time and can’t get into the whole process, here’s a little something that will give you a quick peek into the way things work.
Once you have done that, I strongly recommend you bookmark this page, because it can act as your bible for developing an effective and carefully planned social media calendar.
Now that you have a brief idea and a broad timeline to help you plan your social media calendar let’s delve deeper into it.
What is the best time to post on Instagram?
It is only recently that Instagram has grown to a billion active users with a median 1.6% engagement rate per post. To say the least, Instagram is definitely on the rise among the myriad social media platforms today.
The 2019 Instagram algorithm prioritizes certain posts in a user’s feed for more authentic and personalized social experience as opposed to the reverse chronological order previously. Apart from the algorithm there are a bunch of new features that are changing the way Instagrammers are interacting with the platform. The features that have recently gained prominence include Stories and IGTV, which have encouraged the brands to create more video content of both, micro-length and long-form variations.
It is no secret that Instagram has quite a strong focus on retail and to leverage it in the best manner, the following stats can come in handy.
1. The best times to post on Instagram – Wednesday at 11 am and Friday between 10–11 am
2. Overall best day to post on Instagram – Wednesday
3. The safest times to post on Instagram – Tuesday to Friday, 10 am–3 pm
4. The least engaging day on Instagram – Sunday
5. The least amount of engagement – from 11 pm–3 am
What it really means?
The peaks in engagement on Instagram is mid-day, mid-week (quite like other social media platforms) there still are certain good slots in the evening and morning in the middle of the week. The safest times to post are the core weekday time slots, but certain brand niches might see their audience engaging with the platform first thing in the morning or late at night, just before they turn in for the night.
Except the little upcurve on Saturday midday, weekends are not so great for getting views on your posts. Also, the late-night users drop out as it gets late and the wee hours of the morning are not so great either.
Breaking it further down
Instagram is a visually driven platform which is not great for bringing in massive amount of traffic, but the kind of engagement it offers is pretty high.
Following is a breakdown of the best times to post on Instagram according to the nature of the business.
- B2C Businesses
When it comes to the businesses who are selling consumer products, the best time to post is typically before work, at the lunch hours, and at the times when people are relaxing at the end of the day. Particularly Wednesday 3 pm is the best time for Instagram posts in the B2C sector.
- B2B Businesses
The best time slots are pretty similar to those of the B2C sector with the maximum activity or engagement taking place around lunch and after work.
- Tech Businesses
The tech industry follows a slightly different trajectory as more of their audiences engage with the platform just before and a little after the lunch times. This peak needs to be taken into consideration while creating the social calendar. The best time to post on Instagram for tech businesses is also on Wednesdays.
- Healthcare Companies
If we look at the kind of engagement healthcare companies get from Instagram, it’s not really that great. However, since the platform pulls in massive engagement from a number of other industries, a big chunk of the audience including prospective patients are already on it. So, it is a good idea to expand your reach by planning the social media calendar accordingly. The engagements for this industry are highest in the non-peak times – in mid-morning and the early afternoon hours.
- Media Companies
Instagram is not really known for driving traffic, but it is a valuable platform when it comes to brand-building. This is why Instagram has been gaining popularity among media publishers as well. The best day for them on Instagram is Friday and the best times are – around 9 am as people are just getting into work, then at 12 noon which is probably around their lunch time and then at 3 pm when people are on their afternoon break. Yet again Saturday and Sunday see the least engagement.
- Higher Education
Institutes or businesses that offer higher education find the most engagement in the after the work hours ideally between 5 pm and 6 pm This might be due to the fact that people may be more responsive to the idea of upgrading themselves as they are leaving work or may even be contemplating a change of career.
What is the best time to post on Facebook?
There are multiple opinions about the iconic social media giant – Facebook. While some say that the two billion plus active user base means major potential for organic engagement on the platform, if you kept the current Facebook algorithm in mind.
However, there is a completely different view that says that marketing on the platform has become a lot tougher in the recent times and that the organic reach has been taking a tumble for a long time now. There is a popular opinion that claims that Facebook is gradually turning into a pay-to-play platform.
No matter which side of the spectrum you fall on, your organic efforts still play a big role in the way your brand fares on Facebook.
In the recent years Facebook’s algorithm has started focusing on friends, family and meaningful connections. This means that the content you put up on Facebook must be developed and then optimized to drive genuine engagement.
In addition to the type of content, the timing of posting this content is quite important, just like for Instagram (discussed earlier).
Let’s take a look at the best times to post on Facebook.
1. The best times to post on Facebook – Wednesday at 11 am and 1 pm
2. Overall best day to post on Facebook – Wednesday
3. The safest times to post on Facebook – Weekdays 9 am–3 pm
4. The least engaging day on Facebook – Sunday
5. The least amount of engagement – early mornings and evenings before 7 am and after 5 pm
What it really means?
It doesn’t really come as a surprise that the engagement on Facebook, like other social media is at its peak in the mid-week. The safest times to post are on every day of the week from the morning to mid-afternoon. When I say safe, I mean that in these time slots the engagement is more or less consistent.
In general, the stats show that people tend to check Facebook intermittently all through the middle of the day, but the engagement reaches its peak around lunch time when people have more time to scroll through the feeds and engage with posts that they really like.
Late nights, early mornings and the weekend experience relatively low engagement levels. Though there is little bit of a spike on Saturday midday, but it doesn’t really seem like it is a great idea.
Breaking it further down
Facebook may have gone a little fickle and tougher to crack, but it shouldn’t stop you from going the good old organic route. As a part of a holistic organic strategy optimizing the time slots for posting is important if you want to get better exposure on Facebook.
Following is a breakdown of the best times to post on Facebook according to the nature of the business.
- B2C Businesses
For consumer product businesses, like Instagram, Facebook too gets engagement intermittently during the weekdays around the break times, it may be the lunch hours or the afternoon break. So, the time slots that work best for B2C businesses are 9 am to 10 am then between 12 noon and 1 pm and then from 4 pm to 5 pm.
- B2B Businesses
For this category, the best times to get engagement for your posts on Facebook would be when the brain just needs a break from it all. So, here the perfect time is at 9 am and then between 3 pm to 4 pm.
- Tech Businesses
For the technology niche the best suited times are before work, after work, the mid-afternoon. The noon time however is the most effective. The time slots you should post on Facebook if you are from the tech industry are – 9 am, then at 3 pm and finally at 5 pm.
- Healthcare Companies
For the healthcare companies, mornings are the best times on Facebook. This is pretty logical actually, because the best time to catch people would be just as they are waking up. Later in the day, people are more inclined to go looking for entertainment as compared to think about their health. The time slots that would work the best would be 6 am to 7 am, then at 9 am and then between 11 am and 12 noon.
- Media Companies
According to the research, people tend to catch up on news and other events right when they are waking up, going to lunch, or just after they reach home. This is the best time to catch them for your posts on Facebook if you are a media company. The time slots that work best for a media company on Facebook are at 7 am, then at 11 am and finally at 6 pm.
- Higher Education
On Facebook, the target audience for higher education engages the most right at the start of their workday, at the lunch time, and finally during the afternoon break time. I see a pattern emerge, do you? however, here it would be a good idea to create some content, even in the times of less activity. The time slots that work best on Facebook for companies related to higher education are 8 am, 12 noon, and 3 pm.
What is the best time to post on Twitter?
Twitter is one of the most valuable platforms when it comes to establishing a strong connection with the audiences and managing the customer care and support.
Timeliness is really important when it comes to handling Twitter profiles. Only some of the posts on Twitter are highlighted out of chronological sequence on the basis of the user interests. In general, majority of the users are simply catching up on the latest posts from the accounts they are following. This clearly means that if you post in the non-peak hours, you are going to miss out on a massive chunk of your prospective engagement.
On an average day, around 500 million tweets are sent out. It is for this reason that Twitter is regarded as a treasure trove of social opinions which can help you shape up your own brand strategy and may even help you take key decisions.
Let’s take a look at the best times to post on Twitter.
1. The best times to post on Twitter – Wednesday and Friday at 9 am
2. Overall best day to post on Twitter – Tuesday and Wednesday
3. The safest times to post on Twitter – Weekdays 8 am– 4 pm
4. The least engaging day on Twitter – Saturday
5. The least amount of engagement – every day from 10 pm to 4 am
What it really means?
Twitter goes abuzz a little earlier in the morning, which may be because while Twitter users go about their day and take a moment to catch up on and mull over the major updates or events of the day related to their interests. The peak engagement times spill over to the lunch hour and start going down from late afternoon to evening and drops off as night approaches.
Quite similar to other social media networks, Tuesday and Wednesday are the best days to post on Twitter and the weekends hardly see any engagement to speak of.
Breaking it further down
Twitter is unique because of the massive volume of content that steadily makes its way through it. However, that doesn’t mean you wouldn’t have to optimize the timing of your posts on Twitter.
Following is a breakdown of the best times to post on Twitter according to the nature of the business.
- B2C Businesses
Due to the frequent and real-time updates, people are checking in to their Twitter walls all through the day. However, the best times to get meaningful engagement would be when the users are just waking up and as they are winding down for the day as this is the time when people engage the most with the web. The best time slots for the B2C businesses to post on Twitter are – between 8 am and 10 am, at 12 noon, and then between 7 pm and 9 pm.
- B2B Businesses
There’s only a slight difference in the time slots that are best suited for B2C and B2B businesses when it comes to Twitter. For B2B businesses the time slots that get the most engagement are – between 7 am and 8 am, at 11 am, 6 pm and 9 pm.
- Tech Businesses
When it comes to tech businesses, the engagement is higher on Twitter when the users are in their work mindset and are taking a quick break from their tasks or are headed home. The time slots that work the best for tech businesses on Twitter are – 10 am, at 2 pm and then at 6 pm.
- Healthcare Companies
If you are in the healthcare industry, you would see that the maximum engagement you can get on Twitter is during the mornings and in the evenings. The best suited time slots here would be – at 9 am and at 6 pm.
- Media Companies
Media companies and bloggers are the biggest source of perennially streaming content on Twitter. Of course, it is important that the flow of content should be steadily there all through the day, but there are particular time slots that offer higher engagement. The time slots that work the best for media companies on Twitter are – 6 am to 7 am, 11 am, between 7 pm to 8 pm and then at 10 pm.
- Higher Education
Those interested in content on higher education tend to engage more with the platform during the morning and the evening hours. To be specific, the time slots that work the best here are – 8 am, then 5 pm, 7 pm and then 9 pm.
What is the best time to post on LinkedIn?
LinkedIn has a more targeted audience and caters to a certain ‘niche’ audience as compared to the other social media platforms I am talking about in the rest of the post. LinkedIn is growing and looks like it is going to continue doing so.
Don’t be fooled by the fact that there s only a niche audience on LinkedIn, the marketing power of the platform is not to be taken lightly. The platform users are quite motivated, which means you will get more leads, particularly for B2B marketing.
Let’s take a look at the best times to post on LinkedIn.
1. The best times to post on LinkedIn – Wednesday between 9 am and 10 am
2. Overall best day to post on LinkedIn – Wednesday
3. The safest times to post on LinkedIn – Tuesday to Friday 8 am– 2 pm
4. The least engaging day on LinkedIn – Sunday
5. The least amount of engagement – every day from 9 pm to 3 am
What it really means?
LinkedIn enjoys a good mix of corporate-oriented professionals, thought leaders, job seekers, and those looking for company page curation. Hence, the activity on the platform is dense during the workdays. Mondays are mostly spent rushing through the weekend backlogs, so LinkedIn observes the first spike in activity on Tuesday which then tapers down after 3 in the afternoon.
By the same logic, it is only natural that the activity levels and engagement is pretty low on the weekends when people try and take a step back from work and their devices.
Breaking it further down
Since LinkedIn caters to a niche of professionals, it is sometimes assumed that the platform will only be active on weekends and after or before work hours. However, as we discussed earlier, the case is quite contrary.
Following is a breakdown of the best times to post on LinkedIn according to the nature of the business.
- B2C Businesses
The platform is not really known for capturing consumers’ attention as much as the professionals, but there is a noticeable jump in activity around the lunch hour for B2C businesses as that might be when users may be scrolling through their feed for entertainment. The best suited time slot for posting on LinkedIn for B2C businesses is at 12 noon.
- B2B Businesses
The B2B businesses are more professionally focused which is why you can engage them before work, at lunch, and after their evening commute. The best suited time slots to post on LinkedIn when it comes to B2B businesses are at 8 am, from 10 am to 12 noon, and then again at 6 pm.
- Tech Businesses
The timing for tech businesses are pretty much aligned with the B2B businesses. The idea is to avoid the timing when they are entrenched deep in work. The best suited time slots to post on LinkedIn when it comes to tech businesses are at 9 am, between 11 am and 12 noon, and then between 5 pm and 6 pm.
- Healthcare Companies
The business of healthcare is a little different from any other vertical and the most engaging times for the niche are between mid-morning to early afternoon. The best suited time slots to post on LinkedIn for healthcare companies are at 10 am and then from 12 noon to 2 pm.
- Media Companies
It is almost a ritual to get your daily dose of news in the morning. It might be because of the old habit of reading the newspaper in the morning, but the engagement with media company related posts on LinkedIn is higher in the mornings. The best suited time slot for posting on LinkedIn for media companies is 8 am.
- Higher Education
This is one niche that doesn’t get much engagement on LinkedIn. However, mid-mornings seem to do just about OK for the category. The best suited time slot to post on LinkedIn related to higher education is at 10 am.
What is the best time to post on Pinterest?
As a marketing platform, Pinterest hasn’t really gotten the attention it deserves. Pinterest can be a great platform for you particularly if strong visuals are an important part of your content marketing strategy.
Timing doesn’t really play a very big part in the way a post performs but being consistent does.
Let’s take a look at the best times to post on Pinterest.
1. The best times to post on Pinterest – Friday and Saturday between 8 pm and 11 pm
2. Overall best day to post on Pinterest – Friday and Saturday
3. The safest times to post on Pinterest – 2 am to 4 am and 2 pm to 4 pm
4. The least amount of engagement – every day from 1 pm to 3 pm