Knowing what to post on social media is just half the battle. When is the best time to share it with the world?

The best times to post on social media are when your customers and followers are online. Of course, there are actual times that work best for your brand and we’ll dive into that in this article. Each social platform will have a different time that works best for the audience.

For example, the best time to post on Facebook is different than the best time to post on Instagram. Plus, when you start accounting for different time zones, it starts to get complicated.

When to Post on Social Media: Which Time Zone to Consider

The more popular your brand the more time zones you’ll likely need to take into account. Some influencers and brands send out the same message at different times to hit all-time zones. Ideally, you want to reach the majority of time zones without sending the same message. Aim to send no more than four of the same message in a single day, but scatter them at different times to reach as many time zones as possible.

Where are your customers located? If you’re targeting the United States and Canada, you want to hit the EST time zone as that time zone has the highest number of people, thanks to cities like New York and Toronto. However, if your target audience is in London, you want to post within the GMT time zone.

You can use social media analytics tools to find data about where your customers are located. Using this data, you can better plan which times work best for your audience based on their specific location.

When to Post on Instagram?

If you’re marketing or selling on Instagram, the best time to post is during lunch (11 a.m. to 1 p.m.) and the evening, after work (7 p.m. to 9 p.m.). Most Instagrammers log in via mobile, so they tend to avoid browsing during work hours.

  • The best days to post on Instagram are Monday, Wednesday and Thursday. Sunday is the worst day to post on Instagram, though the best time to post on Instagram on Saturday is 5 p.m.
  • Wednesdays get the highest level of engagement on Instagram.

 

When to Post on Facebook? 

For maximum exposure, the best time to post on your Facebook business page during the week is between 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. That’s likely because many Facebook users browse on their desktops and check it during downtime at work. The single best time to post on Facebook on a Sunday at 3 p.m.

  • The best days to post on Facebook are Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Tuesday is the worst day to post on Facebook.
  • Weekends get the highest level of engagement on Facebook.

 

When Is the Best Time to Post on Linkedin?

The best time to post on LinkedIn is between 10 a.m. and 11 a.m. LinkedIn is a professional social network used by recruiters, salespeople, and business people which is why it’s often used during work hours.

  • Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday tend to be the best days to post on LinkedIn.
  • Weekends and after work hours tend to be the worst times to post on LinkedIn for engagement and visibility.

 

When to Post on Twitter?

The best time to post on Twitter for your business is during the lunch hour of 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. Scheduling posts just before lunch works well too.

  • Workdays tend to get the highest level of engagement on Twitter. Posting at lunch every day Monday to Friday can help you increase social media engagement.
  • Wednesday is the best day to post on Twitter. Weekends are the worst days to post on Twitter.

 

When is the Best Time to Post on Pinterest?

The best time to post on Pinterest tends to be between 8 p.m. and 11 p.m. Mothers tend to use Pinterest actively which may be why they tend to post later in the evening.

  • Saturdays tend to be by far the best day to post on Pinterest. Sundays work well too.
  • Work hours tend to be less popular for Pinterest users. Posting during those times may result in less engagement.

 

When is the Best Time to Publish Videos on YouTube?

The best time to post on YouTube tends to be early afternoon between 12 p.m. and 4 p.m. That’s because most viewers watch videos in the evening, so you’ll want to have your videos indexed by then.

  • Thursdays and Fridays tend to be the best days to post on YouTube.
  • Most viewers watch YouTube on the weekend so feel free to post on Saturdays and Sundays in the early morning around 9 a.m. and 11 a.m.

 

When is the Best Time to Post on Social Media?

The best time to post on social media needs to factor in the social platform you’re using and the time zone the majority of your customers are in.

While the times listed in this article are averages, you might find your own audience engages more at different times. The best way to determine the best time to post on social media for your brand is to experiment. You can use social media management tools to schedule posts at various times over the span of several weeks to determine which times tend to work best with your audience.

Don’t forget about your competitors. Track their progress and notice when they get high engagement on their posts. Chances are that these times could work for you too. Test it out or try posting when they’re normally quiet, but remember that each platform is different so track each one separately to get the best results.

Google Analytics Report for Social Media Reporting

Once you’ve built an audience and posted a few updates, you want to track your efforts. Google Analytics has all the data you need to decide the right times to post on social media. All you need to do is set up Custom Reports for each platform and start analyzing information.

Let’s walk through this process together.

  1. Click on Custom Report in the left-hand side toolbar on Google Analytics.
  3. Select ‘New Custom Report’ to start creating your report.
  5. Choose the information you want to see in your report. Below is a basic report for Facebook to show you how to fill in the appropriate fields but you can add up to ten
  7. Save the report and view your results. To view the hours of the day simply choose ‘Hour’ as your secondary dimension.
  10. Repeat for all-important social media traffic providers.
  11. Start crafting your social media schedule around your best times to post.
  12. Use custom reports to track progress and success.

 

Social Media Management Tools

After creating your social media schedule you can use social media marketing automation and management tools like Buffer, Later, and Hootsuite to schedule posts at a future time.

These tools can help you stay consistent when posting on social media, helping you reach followers even while you’re sleeping. They can also be used for testing different times to determine which times get the best engagement. You can also use these tools to schedule the same post several times to reach every time zone or drive traffic back to your website.

Summary of the Best Time to Post on Social Media in 2020

Regularly monitoring your social media engagement and analyzing your social data can help you find the best times to post on Instagram, Facebook or other social networks your brand is using. You can use our recommendations as guidelines when starting out, but remember that every brand is different and even benchmarks can vary depending on the social media platform and industry.

As your follower count grows, you might notice that your audience engages with you at different times. Each social media platform also changes their algorithms, so you need to stay on top of these changes.

Moral of the story: Never stop testing or experimenting. Don’t be afraid to post on social media on less popular days. While you might not reach your highest percentage of followers, you might be able to reach people you would have missed otherwise.