If I’ve said it once on this blog I’ve said it a thousand times, if your brand isn’t utilising social media it’s missing out, it’s as simple as that. As of January 2022, there were just shy of 4 billion social media users across all platforms, a number that will have only increased as the year progressed. While you won’t be able to reach all 4 billion users, even reaching a tiny percentage of them could be huge for any brand. However, it’s reaching these users where things start to get more difficult.
With approximately 4 billion users spread across numerous platforms, it can be hard to determine when and how to reach these individuals, therefore, timing is key. Understanding the ‘best’ time to share a post on each platform can have a huge impact on the success of your social media strategy. It can be easy to jump into things blind, however, there is a level of research that is required. Thankfully, the team at Sprout Social have reviewed the data and trends from their customers to help understand the ideal times to post for peak engagement.
This is something that I have previously covered on the Browser Media blog so it will be interesting to see how things have changed over the past few years.
**It’s important to note that all times are recorded in Central Time (CST) however it’s likely that these patterns will be reflected by UK users.**
The best time to post on Facebook
Facebook continues to be the most popular platform in the world meaning it’s important to get your Facebook strategy correct. According to Sprout, in previous years mid-morning was typically where the most engagement was seen, however, that has changed in 2022. Early morning hours have now taken the lead when it comes to engagement. That being said, you can’t expect brands to be posting at 3am, and it’s likely engagement is higher as there is less competition at this time.
Furthermore, there appears to be a much more even spread throughout each day and week on Facebook. Weekdays see consistent engagement during the morning which slowly fades throughout the evening. Weekends are typically quieter which is expected as users are potentially less likely to be online as they spend time with friends and family.
On paper, 3am on a weekday is the best time to post for engagement, however, it’s unrealistic to expect a brand to be posting at this time. Therefore, 10am-noon on weekdays is what I would consider the best time to post on Facebook.
The best time to post on Twitter
In comparison to Facebook, and Instagram which you will see later in this article article, Twitter has a much clearer ‘best’ time to post on the platform. Albeit we can’t always determine the facts from the fake, Twitter is typically the go-to platform for breaking news and real time conversations, something that helped the platform boom throughout the pandemic.
It’s clear when looking at the best time to post on Twitter that users were looking to get their Twitter fix early in the morning with 9am being the best time for engagement. This is a clear trend that carried throughout the week with 9am being the ‘best’ time each day. While overall engagement is lower on Sunday, it’s still clear that early to mid morning is the most popular time for users to be on the platform.
The best time to post on Instagram
Instagram has been one of the big success stories from the past few years with the platform booming throughout 2020 and 2021. However, Instagram is starting to see more competition from TikTok with both platforms looking to be the kings of short-form video content.
In the same way as Facebook, the best time to post on Instagram has become harder to determine with engagement spreading across each day of the week. Once again weekdays are typically the best time of the week to post with engagement dropping on the weekend. Mid-morning to early afternoon is again a popular time with 10am-1pm seeing the most engagement.
The best time to post on LinkedIn
Unsurprisingly, LinkedIn’s engagement times match relatively closely with the average working week. The professional platform seems to have a concentrated level of traffic spanning from 7am-5pm Monday to Friday with 10am-noon being the most popular time. Weekends and evenings see a significant drop in engagement on LinkedIn, and if we’re all being honest we aren’t surprised. How often do you check your LinkedIn outside of work?
So, when should you post on social media?
While the above will help to give you a starting point on when to post on social media, it’s important to consider the individuality of your audience. Spend time analysing when your followers are online and when they are engaging with your content. Run a couple of tests by posting and different times throughout the day and see which performs best. Additionally, a lot of platforms don’t run on a purely chronological basis, therefore, timing is less important than it was a few years ago. That being said, it’s still important to have a rough schedule and idea of when you should be posting to try and swing the odds in your favour.
