The Best Times to Post on Social Media [Ultimate Guide]

What are the best times to post on social media?

Good question!

And luckily, a bunch of smart people have done a bunch of research to offer up answers.

I found the top blog posts from the last 4 months about the best times to post on social media.

These posts come from some of the top players in the social media space -- from Neil Patel to Search Engine Journal.

I will summarize their findings here, so you can quickly see what the experts are saying and then make updates to your own publishing schedule.

Ok, let’s do it!

Want to plan and schedule your social media content in advance? Here's your step-by-step guide!

The Best Times to Post on Social Media [Ultimate Guide]

Article #1: These Are the Best Times to Post on Social Media

Publisher: Entrepreneur Magazine + TrackMaven

Publish date: October 2016

For this article, TrackMaven analyzed 17.5 million social media posts by 17,737 brands. They came up with a best day of the week and time of day across all those posts.

Here are the best days and times for each social network:

TIP: use the time zone where the majority of your fans are located.

1. Facebook

Best = Thursdays

Best Time = 8pm

2. Twitter

Best Day = Thursday

Best Time = 5pm

3. Linkedin

Best Day = Wednesday

Best Time = 9am

4. Instagram

Best Day = Friday

Best Time = 7pm

5. Pinterest

Best Day = Friday

Best Time = 1am

Here’s the infographic from TrackMaven:

Article #2: The Best Times to Post on Social Media

Publisher: MariahAlthoff.com

Publish date: January 2017

In this article, branding expert Mariah Althoff reveals the peak times when the largest audiences are present on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and Pinterest. 

"Although your particular target-audience will most likely vary from these times, this will be a great a starting point as you begin to strategically schedule your social media posts to reach the largest amount of people as possible."

Here are the best days and times for each social network:

TIP: 80% of the US population lives in the eastern and central standard time zones (EST and CST), so if you’re fanbase is mostly American, you should craft your posting schedule in these time zones.

1. Facebook

Best Days = Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday

Best Times = 9am, 1pm, 3pm

2. Twitter

Best Days = Wednesday

Best Times = 12pm, 3pm, 5-6pm

3. Linkedin

Best Days = Thursday, Wednesday, Thursday

Best Times = 7-8am, 12pm, 5-6pm

4. Instagram

Best Days = Monday

Best Times = 2am, 8-9am, 5pm

5. Pinterest

Best Days = Saturday

Best Times = 2pm, 9pm, 2am

Here’s the infographic from Mariah:

Article #3: The Best Times to Post on Social Media

Publisher: NeilPatel.com

Publish date: October 2016

In this article, marketing kingpin Neil Patel dives into research from across the net (much like I’m doing in this post).

Here are the best days and times for each social network:

TIP: If you have an international audience, post 24 hours a day. On Twitter, post at a higher frequency (but only if your tweets are value-adding and engaging)

1. Facebook

Best Days = Everyday

Best Times = 9am-7pm and specifically 1pm and 3pm

2. Twitter

B2B

Best Days/Times = Weekdays (12-3pm) + Wednesday (5-6pm)

B2C

Best Days = Weekends

Best Times = 12pm & 6pm (for CTR), 5pm (for Retweets)

3. Linkedin

Best Days = Thursday, Wednesday, Thursday

Best Times = 7-8am, 10-11am, 5-6pm

4. Instagram

Best Days = Monday-Thursday

Best Times = Anytime except 3-4pm

5. Pinterest

Best Days = Saturday

Best Times = 8pm-11pm

Here’s how Neil sums it up: The best time to post on:

• LinkedIn – On weekdays, during office hours.
• Twitter – During commutes in evening and during afternoon slumps at office.
• Facebook – Afternoons, on weekdays during office breaks.
• Pinterest – Post 8 pm on weekdays and late night on weekends.
• Instagram – Anytime weekdays, except 3-4pm. Experiment with 6am-12pm.

Article #4: What’s The Best Time to Post Ads and Content on Social Media?

Publisher: Search Engine Journal

Publish date: October 2016

The best posting times in this article are presented in a sweet infographic from Matt Booth at AddPeople.

Here are the best days and times for each social network:

1. Facebook

Best = Thursdays and Fridays (when engagement is 18% higher), Wednesdays from 1-3pm (when traffic is highest)

2. Instagram

Best = Wednesdays at 5pm (for most Likes/comments), Everyday from 2-5pm (for most engaged users present)

Worst = Daily at 9am and 6pm (when people are commuting)

3. Twitter

Best = Weekends (when engagement is 17% higher)

Worst = 4-7am, 10am, 1pm (outside of school/work hours)

Here’s the infographic from Matt:

Article #5: Best Times to Post on Social Media: A Complete Guide

Publisher: Sprout Social

Publish date: January 2017

Great comprehensive guide here from Sprout Social. I encourage you to read this full article.I really like what the author, Matt York, says here:

"While it’s easy to guess or choose a specific time, it’s more effective to discover time frames rather than exact moments. Banking on an exact time can be a waste of time as every business’s audience varies. But knowing all the possible times in the day can make publishing simpler."

Here are the best days and times for each social network:

1. Facebook

Best = Daily 1-4pm (afternoons)

Worst = Daily 4pm-9am (evenings, nights, early mornings)

2. Twitter

Best = Daily at 12pm, 3pm, 5pm, 6pm (lunch, afternoons, early evenings)

Worst = Daily 9am-12pm, 4pm (mornings, late afternoon)

3. Instagram

Best = Daily at 8am, 5pm, 10pm, 2am (wakeup time, evening commute, late nights)

Worst = Daily at 3-8am, 9am-4pm (sleepings hours, working hours)

4. Google+

Best = Daily at 9am-12pm (mid mornings)

Worst = Daily 12pm-9am (afternoons, evenings, nights)

4. Linkedin

Best = Weekdays 8am-5pm (working hours)

Worst = Weekdays 5pm-8am, Weekends (non-working hours)

5. Pinterest

Best = Daily 2-4am, Weekdays 8pm-12am, Weekends 2-4pm

Worst = Weekdays 4am-7pm

What to do now??

I know what you’re thinking...

That’s sure a lot of contradictory information!!

Yes, it is.

So after reading all of the above and taking it all in and processing it, here’s my recommendation:

Forget it!

Then go to your audience analytics for your social pages and see when most of your audience is active/online.

Here’s what that looks like for a Facebook page (this is for my climbing page Free Solo):

I can see here that posting from 12am to 4pm is probably better than posting from 4pm to 12am.

So I can start with this in mind. You should get this info for your social profiles.

Then go out and test posting at all different times and days over the next 30 days. See what your data says, then make adjustments toward the times/days when you’re getting the most results on your posts.

Then hone it from there.

Eventually you’ll get to a place where you know your best posting times for the latest time period.

But never stop testing other times and validating your assumptions.Be data-driven. Always!!

Over to You!

How does this sit with you? Did I miss anything?

Do you have insights to share about your best times and how you discovered them?

If so, please chime in below and let me know.I promise -- I’ll be driven by your data!! :)