When is the Best Time to Post on Social Media?

These days, posting on social media is a big part of a successful content marketing strategy. However, not all posts are created equal. Posting at the right time can make a big difference as far how much engagement you see with your social media content, whereas posting at the wrong times will almost guarantee that your post will not be seen by your target audience.

Here are some tips for when to post on the most popular social networks:

• Facebook: The best times to post on Facebook are in the early morning, between 6:00AM and 8:00AM and in the afternoon from 2:00PM until 5:00PM. This makes sense because 80% of mobile phone users check their phones in the morning, so it is a good time to catch people. Also, most people are not likely to check Facebook during work hours. Weekdays tend to see more engagement than weekends. Keep in mind that you can also check Facebook Insights to see how people are interacting with your posts.
• Twitter: Research has found the best time to tweet to your followers is between 1:00PM and 3:00PM and on weekends. The worst time seems to be overnight, when your tweet can get lost among many others. Remember that Tweets are in real time, while the algorithms of other networks like Facebook or LinkedIn can choose to show a post in your fans’ timelines for a day or more after it goes live.
• Google+: Unlike most of the other social networks, the best time to post on Google+ is during business hours, between 9:00AM and 11:00AM.
• Pinterest: Weekends are best for Pinterest, since people tend to spend more time on there and often look for craft projects or potential recipes. At night between 8:00PM and 11:00PM also works well for this network. The worst time to post on Pinterest is between 5:00PM and 7:00PM and after midnight.
• LinkedIn: Early morning and late afternoon between 5:00PM and 6:00PM work best for LinkedIn. People are unlikely to check LinkedIn during work hours. In fact, the absolute worst times to post on that network are weekdays between 9:00AM and 5:00PM.

Of course, part of your reach on social media depends not just on the number of followers you have, but also the how many other businesses and friends are competing with you for your audience’s attention. Furthermore, we recently looked at the dramatic decline in organic reach for Facebook business and fan pages. The fact that there are so many challenges makes it even more imperative to make timing part of your social media marketing strategy.

Luckily, a number of apps exist that can analyze your social following and let you know the best times for your business to post. Furthermore, tools like HootSuite allow you to schedule your posts and tweets, according to the times that work best for your audience.

A common theme for successful engagement among all social networks is catching people during their downtime, when they are more likely to actually read and engage with content. By timing your social media posts correctly, you will be more likely to see higher rates of engagement and sharing, increasing both brand awareness and your social media ROI.