Why posting on social media at the right time is important for business
Knowing the best time to post on social media is important because it increases the likelihood of more people viewing and engaging in your posts, meaning your audience sees these posts, leaves their likes or comments and possibly shares your published content with their own connections. When your social media posts receive more engagements and interactions, you’re building awareness of your brand and establishing stronger trust with your audience. This helps you gain more followers who will connect with you online to learn more about your business through your posts.
These engagements often lead to followers taking action by visiting your website, signing up to read more of your content or contacting your sales team. This enhances your conversion rates, as more of your leads move to customers. By understanding which social media outlet is the best to post on at certain times, you’re able to schedule your posts for those specific times. This helps you confidently put your marketing budget toward posts you know are going to bring in more impressive audience engagement results.
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Best times to post on different social media outlets
Each social media outlet has a specific time and day that certain audiences tend to view and engage in different posts. The best times for you to post on certain social media outlets for each of your audiences include:
Exact times and days to post on Twitter according to audiences and eastern standard times (EST) include:
- B2B, software companies and nonprofits:Between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. Monday or Thursday
- B2C:Around 12 p.m. and 1 p.m. Monday through Wednesday
- Media:6 a.m. to 7 a.m., 11 a.m., 7 p.m. to 10 p.m.
It’s crucial to know the best time to post on this outlet. Since there are so many tweets moving through visitors’ timelines, you typically only have a few minutes to grab the users’ attention through a captivating post. There are numerous ways to interact with audiences through Twitter, whether it’s through direct messages or creating informative threads that intrigue and interest readers. Conduct extensive research on common Twitter trends and conversations happening in your industry on this outlet.
Many individuals consistently browse Twitter throughout the day, as it’s an outlet they briefly scroll through when they need a quick break. Most business professionals, including business-to-business (B2B), nonprofit and software audiences, browse through this outlet a few times throughout the day during the week to view posts that other businesses may publish on this site as well. Many media audiences retrieve their news from Twitter, so they’ll usually browse this site early in the morning, during lunch or after work when they have time to catch up on news.
Exact times and days to post on Facebook according to audiences and eastern standard times (EST) include:
- B2B, software companies and nonprofits:Between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday
- B2C:Around 12 p.m. EST Monday through Wednesday
- Media:Between 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. and at 5 p.m. Monday through Friday
The algorithm on Facebook constantly changes to better organize its paid and organic posts for visitors to more easily view. Most audience members visit their timeline throughout the middle of the week and spend less time on it over the weekend. Most users log in to gather regular updates on friends or family during their break in the middle of the day, so capturing their attention during this time is usually the best option. Luckily, Facebook offers many tools to measure your audience’s engagement to better understand specific times that they interact with your posts.
A lot of visitors share and receive much of their news through Facebook, so many media companies find success on this site, usually early in the morning and in the evening, before and after work. Many B2B, software and nonprofit companies find success launching campaigns on this site, as many consumers log on in the middle of the work week. Many people use this site when taking a break from work tasks, so it becomes less active at the end of the workday.
Exact times and daysto post on Instagram according to audiences and eastern standard times (EST) include:
- B2B, software companies and nonprofits:Between 12 p.m. and 1 p.m., 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday
- B2C:Around 8 a.m., 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday
- Media:Around 9 a.m., 12 p.m. and 3 p.m. Monday through Friday
Most companies find the least success in driving traffic to their website from this outlet compared to all the others. Most companies find ways around this by adding links to their websites in their bios and sometimes in their posts. You can get a lot of engagement through like and comments using this outlet. Many users browse this platform when they’re starting out their day or ending it in the evening.
This outlet is typically viewed more often by a majority of audiences in the evening and early morning times because it’s more accessible through their cell phone, rather than the computer like all the other outlets, so visitors are unable to pull the site up on their computer quickly when taking a short break at work, like they’re able to do with other social media outlets.
Exact times and days to post on Pinterest are the same for each audience. In EST, these dates and times include:
- Between 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. and 2 a.m. to 4 a.m. Fridays and Saturdays
Pinterest is typically an effective marketing tool to use if you commonly share images and graphics in your social media marketing strategies and campaigns. People often use this outlet in their downtime, so it’s usually best to schedule your posts over the weekend and during the evenings. These hours typically work best for every type of company and industry.
Businesses that find the most success from this platform are those that primarily have a female audience searching for creative inspiration. Companies within the food, eCommerce, fashion and retail industries will get the most engagement on this platform.
Exact times and days to post on LinkedIn according to audiences and eastern standard times (EST) include:
- B2B, software companies and nonprofits:Around 8 a.m., between 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. and around 6 p.m. Monday through Friday
- B2C:Around 12 p.m. Monday through Friday
- Media:Around 8 a.m. Monday through Friday
Similar to most of the other social media outlets, visitors commonly use LinkedIn when they’re taking a brief break from work to browse and update themselves on industry news. Since it’s mainly business updates and company information posted on LinkedIn, many B2B, software and nonprofit audiences use it to check in on any industry updates throughout the work day and week.
Many consumers get on LinkedIn when they have breaks from work to view any updates on their profiles or interactions to their posts, so they typically use this time to scroll through their feed. Some people read industry news and media updates when they first wake up in the morning, so many media companies find the most success using this outlet around that time.
Times and days businesses should avoid posting on social media outlets
There are a few days and times that your audience is rarely on social media. It’s important to post at the moments you’re confident users are logging into these platforms and viewing your posts to ensure you’re using your marketing and advertising budgets wisely.
Times and days to avoid posting on each outlet include:
- Twitter:Before 4 a.m. and after 10 p.m. each day, especially Saturdays
- Facebook:Before 7 a.m. and after 5 p.m. each day, especially Sundays
- Instagram:Before 6 a.m. and after 9 p.m. each day, especially Sundays
- Pinterest:Between 5 a.m. and 4 p.m. each day, especially Monday through Friday
- LinkedIn:Before 4 a.m. and after 8 p.m. each day, especially Sundays
Understanding which days and times are best for you to post on different social media outlets allows you to better target your audience. Be sure to conduct separate research on your specific audience’s activity on social media as well and use this to schedule posts your audience is guaranteed to see.
