The Best Time to Post on Social Media in 2021 [INFOGRAPHIC]

Knowing what to post on social media is just half the battle. When is the perfect 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 each platform and we’ll dive into that in this article. Each social media channel 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.

In this article, we’ll break down social media posting times and share recommendations for social media management tools

you can use to post your content.

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 overdoing it Aim to send no more than four of the same message in a single day, and schedule the posts for different times to reach as many countries 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 were marketing or selling on Instagram prior to the COVID-19 outbreak, the best time to post would be in the hours just prior to lunch on Wednesdays at 11 a.m. and Fridays from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. (Sprout Social, 2020).

• The best day to post on Instagram was on Wednesday.
• The worst day to post was on Sunday.

When To Post on Instagram During the Coronavirus Pandemic?

Data collected during the coronavirus pandemic showed significant changes in social media behavior. As people shifted both their professional and personal lives online and from home, social media usage increased dramatically.

This caused a change in the hours during which users were more engaged and interactive and consequently, the best times to post.

Because of COVID-19, the current best times to post on Instagram has expanded to three days a week on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Fridays. It continues to be the hour just before lunch at 11 a.m., and there’s even a peak in engagement on Tuesdays at 2 p.m. (Sprout Social, 2020).

When to Post on Facebook? 

Pre-COVID-19, the best times to post on your Facebook business page were on Wednesdays at 11 a.m. and between 1 p.m. and 2 p.m as activity on the platform increased in the middle of the week. (Sprout Social, 2020).

Tuesdays to Thursdays were also considered to be rather safe days to post on Facebook, especially during the day between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m. 

• The best time to post on Facebook was on Wednesdays at 11 a.m. and from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m.
• The worst day to post was on Sunday.

When To Post on Facebook During the Coronavirus Pandemic?

As Facebook usage grew during lockdown, so did activity throughout the week. This has led to larger windows during which to post on Facebook for more engagement. 

The best times to post on Facebook during the coronavirus pandemic are on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. Weekends continue to be the worst time to post, alongside weekdays after 5 p.m. (Sprout Social, 2020).

When Is the Best Time to Post on Linkedin?

Unlike Instagram and Facebook, LinkedIn is a professional social network used by recruiters, salespeople, and business people, which they use for work. 

Pre-COVID-19, the best times to post on LinkedIn were during the workweek and in the mornings (Sprout Social, 2020). Specifically: 

• Wednesdays between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. and at noon
• Thursdays at 9 a.m. and between 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. 
• Friday mornings at 9 a.m.

When To Post on LinkedIn During the Coronavirus Pandemic?

Behavior on LinkedIn has stayed largely the same during the pandemic in that users tend to be more active in the mornings on weekdays.

The best times to post on LinkedIn during the coronavirus pandemic are:

• Wednesdays at 3 p.m.
• Thursdays between 9 a.m. and 10 a.m.
• Fridays between 11 a.m. and 12 p.m.

Weekends and after-work hours tend to be the worst times to post on LinkedIn for engagement and visibility (Sprout Social, 2020).

When to Post on Twitter?

Twitter users tend to catch up on the latest news and tweets in the early morning. This is why the best times to post on Twitter for your business are on Wednesdays and Fridays at 9 a.m. (Sprout Social, 2020).

Usage patterns have remained largely the same during COVID-19 times. The only change has been to Friday mornings, which have seen heightened activity between 7 a.m. and 9 a.m. and peaking towards the latter hour (Sprout Social, 2020).

• Wednesdays and Fridays are the best days to post on Twitter. Weekends are the worst days to post on Twitter.

When to Post on TikTok?

 According to the 2021 TikTok marketing statistics, 90 percent of users access the app on a daily basis. This means you can post at any time throughout the week to get your message in front of people. In general, though, it’s best to post on TikTok in the morning and after work hours.

• In general, the best times to post on TikTok is early morning between 6 a.m. and 10 a.m. and the evening, after work (7 p.m. to 11 p.m.).
• It’s ideal to follow the Eastern Standard Time for your TikTok posting schedule, as a growing number of US teens use the video-sharing app. Interestingly, a growing number of US adults have also downloaded TikTok on their smartphones.

When is the Best Time to Post on Pinterest?

Mothers form a big group of Pinterest’s user base and use the platform actively, which may be why the best times to post on Pinterest tend to be later in the week and in the evenings (Coschedule, 2020).

• The best times to post on Pinterest are on Fridays and Saturdays in the late hours between 8 p.m. and 11 p.m. (with a peak at 9 p.m.) and then in the middle of the night from 2 a.m. to 4 a.m.
• The worst time to post on Pinterest is in the evenings during after-work commuting hours.

When is The Best Time to Post on Snapchat?

Snapchat is considered to be a nocturnal app that most people use during the night. So keep this in mind when posting snaps about your product or service. 

• The best time to post your snaps is late at night between 10 p.m. and 1 a.m. The majority of Snapchatter are active during these hours. (Amplifer, 2019)
• There’s no best day to post on Snapchat, as users actively use the app on all days of the week.

When is the Best Time to Publish Videos on YouTube?

The best time to publish videos on YouTube is in the afternoon between 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. That’s because most viewers watch videos in the evening. Between 7 p.m. and 10 p.m. is when YouTube receives the most traffic, so you’ll want to have your videos indexed by then (How Sociable, 2020).

• Thursdays and Fridays tend to be the best days to post on YouTube.
• Mondays, Tuesdays, and Fridays are the worst days to post on YouTube as people return to work and have less time to browse on YouTube.

When is The Best Time to Post on Tumblr?

 Teens and millennials mainly use Tumblr, and the vast majority of them access the platform through their smartphones. You can cater to them by posting images, blogs, videos, and other content featuring your brand.

• The best time to post on Tumblr is at night around 10 p.m. The majority of users access the platform after work hours. (It Still Works)
• The best days to post are Saturday and Sunday, as most Tumblr users are active on weekends.

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 most 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 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. The chances are that these times could work for you too. Test them 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 social media 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 Reports’ in the left-hand side toolbar on Google Analytics.
2. Select ‘New Custom Report’ to start creating your report.
   
3. 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
   
4. Save the report and view your results. To view the hours of the day simply choose ‘Hour’ as your secondary dimension.
   
5. Repeat for all important social media traffic providers.
6. Start crafting your social media schedule around your best times to post.
7. 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, Hootsuite or choose from this list of Instagram tools 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. Plus, you can leverage 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 2021

Regularly monitoring your social media engagement and analyzing your social data can help you find the best times to post on Instagram, Facebook and 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 its algorithms, so you need to stay on top of these changes. 

The morale 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.

Want to Learn More?

• How to Leverage Instagram Marketing in 2021
• The Ultimate Guide to LinkedIn Ads: How to Get Started With Your First Campaign
• 10 Social Media Trends Every Marketer Should Know in 2021 [Infographic]
• How to Get Followers on Instagram: From 0 to 10k Followers

Do you find a specific time works best for posting on Instagram and other social networks? Let us know in the comments!