Best Times to Post on Social Media in 2024

Global marketers understand the critical importance of creating a robust social media marketing strategy, with a fundamental aspect being the identification of optimal posting times.

The timeless wisdom that “timing is everything” resonates deeply within the realm of social media. The distinction between a post fading into oblivion and one skyrocketing to viral status often hinges on the timing of its dissemination.

In an environment where several social platforms host billions of users worldwide, breaking through the cacophony to make a meaningful impact has become increasingly arduous. To discern the prime moments for social media posting in 2024, we meticulously analyzed original data sourced from leading social media management tools.

It’s essential to acknowledge that the insights gleaned from these analyses yield diverse findings and recommendations. This consists of the dynamic nature of social media as an ever-evolving landscape. Ultimately, understanding the behavioral patterns of your specific target audience remains paramount.

Best Time to Post on Social Media

Social media platforms are an integral part of digital marketing. With nearly 500 million social media users in India, businesses are presented with the chance to directly connect with their potential customers. However, in these social media platforms, the audiences are also spread across different social networks, and the times they are active can vary according to the demography and location.

In addition, there are several tools that the platforms provide and not all formats of content presentation appeal to all segments of audiences. Brands must understand the importance of putting out their social media posts on the right platform, in the right format, on the right day, and at the right time.

By narrowing down the best time to post on Social Media, businesses can leverage the window of opportunity that social networks provide, and maximize their outreach to the target audiences on the platform they are and at a time that they are active.

Read on to know the best times to post on the four major social media platforms – TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Linkedin, and Twitter.

• Best times to post on social media: 9 a.m. – 2 p.m.
• Best days to post on social media: Monday and Wednesday.
• Worst days to post on social media: Saturday and Sunday.

The Best Times To Post On TikTok

Although TikTok is relatively new to the social media scene, it has quickly risen to prominence as one of the most adored platforms globally, attracting an increasing number of brands. With users spending an average of nearly 54 minutes per day on the app, TikTok’s grip on audiences is undeniable. Optimizing your presence there holds the potential to yield remarkable returns on your marketing strategies.

Determining the optimal posting time on TikTok remains a matter of debate that needs additional experimentation on your part to pinpoint the ideal engagement window for your audience. Among the sources consulted, Tuesday emerges as a favored day, with Wednesday and Thursday also receiving recommendations. Generally, midweek appears promising for testing TikTok content, although there are disparities in the data.

HubSpot suggests Friday as the prime day, yet underscores Saturdays and Thursdays for B2B brands and weekends for B2C brands. Contrarily, Sprout Social identifies Sunday as the least favorable day, while HubSpot indicates Monday and Tuesday as the weakest performers.

Furthermore, recommended time slots vary, which are early morning, mid-afternoon, and evening periods.

• Best time to post on TikTok: Inconclusive.
• Best day to post on TikTok: Tuesday.
• Worst day to post on TikTok: Inconclusive.

Best time to post on Instagram

In 2020, brands across the globe received high responses on posts that they put out at 5 a.m. on a Monday! But things are slightly different in the case of Indian audiences. While weekday posts at 11 a.m. garner good engagement, the best time to post on Instagram in India is Wednesday, 4 p.m.

But there are other time frames on different days of the week when the audiences are most active and a post is likely to receive good traction. Instagram’s personalized insights on post engagement for business accounts combined with the below information should help in analyzing the brand-specific best time to post on Instagram.

• Best times to post on Instagram: 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.
• Best day to post on Instagram: Wednesday.
• Worst day to post on Instagram: Sunday.

Best time to post on Facebook

India is one of Facebook’s largest user bases, which means businesses can reach a substantial number of audiences through the platform. Thus, it is all the more important that their post on this social network is precise. In general, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. are good times to post on Tuesdays through Fridays. But the best time to post on Facebook for maximum engagement is 8 a.m. to noon on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Brands should also avoid posting before 7 a.m. and after 5 p.m., those being the lean periods for engagement on the social media platform.

• Best times to post on Facebook: 8 a.m. – 1 p.m.
• Best days to post on Facebook: Weekdays.
• Worst day to post on Facebook: Sunday.

Best time to post on Linkedin

The user behavior on Linkedin is different from what we usually see on other social media platforms. For brands that are targeting business professionals and students pursuing higher education, LinkedIn is a good platform but the timings become slightly tricky.

The audiences would usually not be active during business or school hours unless they are visiting the platform for a specific reason. The platform’s algorithm, too, is such that it focuses on salience rather than recentness.

Keeping these in mind, researchers suggest that 9 a.m to 12 noon on Tuesdays through Thursdays are some of the best times to post on Linkedin, but Wednesdays between 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. and noon are the peak periods for posting, although engagement on a post in this social network is likely to escalate during the afternoon hours, before the end of the workday. 

• Best times to post on LinkedIn: 10 a.m. – 3 p.m.
• Best days to post on LinkedIn: Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.
• Worst days to post on LinkedIn: Weekends.

Best time to post on X (Twitter)

One of the best platforms to put out short, crisp, and engaging content, posting on Twitter is a different ball game altogether. It is not just one tweet but the thread of tweets that it initiates. There are two ways to go about this social media platform. One is being on your toes and tweeting insights, updates, and news pieces as soon as they are out.

The other one is to find the perfect window for your tweets to receive maximum engagement. With the latter one, of course, comes the question of what is the best time to post on Twitter! While tweets with the most clicks in the U.S. were posted between 2 a.m. to 4 a.m., noon to 1 p.m. is one of the most popular times to tweet.

But one may risk their tweets getting lost in the crowd of tweets. Nonetheless, being consistent on Twitter can shoot up a brand’s visibility multi-folds. 

• Best times to post on X (Twitter): 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.
• Best days to post on X (Twitter): Wednesday and Friday.
• Worst day to post on X (Twitter): Sunday.

The Best Times To Post On Snapchat

Snapchat, renowned as the trailblazer of ephemeral social media content and the inspiration behind Instagram Stories, presents distinct opportunities for engaging younger demographics. Setting itself apart from other platforms, Snapchat operates uniquely and favors real-time experiences and authentic behind-the-scenes content over polished marketing materials.

While Snapchat remains an advantageous yet often overlooked tool in digital marketing, its ongoing innovation underscores its relevance. Although various secondary sources on the internet suggest 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. as optimal posting times for Snapchat, we have encountered no recent original data to either confirm or refute this claim.

Consequently, we advise experimenting with different posting times and days tailored to the behaviors and lifestyles of your target audience. Subsequently, iterate based on your findings—a practice advisable across all marketing endeavors.

The Best Times To Post On Pinterest

Once regarded as a mere inspiration board-style website, Pinterest has evolved into an important player in the e-commerce industry. Businesses can use Pinterest to exhibit their products, drive conversions, and bolster brand awareness and sentiment.

Achieving success on Pinterest hinges on sharing brand-specific imagery, optimizing for mobile devices, and resonating with the aspirations and inspirations of your audience. According to our sources, Friday consistently emerges as a robust day for posting, alongside other weekdays, while Sunday tends to be the least effective.

In terms of optimal posting times, late afternoon to early evening, particularly around 3-6 p.m., appears to yield the highest engagement on the platform.

• Best times to post on Pinterest: 3-6 p.m.
• Best day to post on Pinterest: Friday.
• Worst day to post on Pinterest: Sunday.

The Best Times To Post On YouTube

Ranked as the second most visited site globally and the second most used social platform worldwide, YouTube presents an unparalleled avenue for brands and individuals to connect with audiences through video content.

With its ongoing expansion, marked by the introduction of features like YouTube Shorts, initiatives aimed at enhancing creators’ monetization opportunities, and its increasing popularity as a search engine, YouTube shows no signs of deceleration. Transforming from a mere video-sharing platform into a robust marketing tool, YouTube helps businesses amplify brand awareness and foster meaningful engagement.

Obtaining recent data on optimal posting times for YouTube posed challenges compared to other channels, and thus needs a cautious approach to these recommendations. While HubSpot identifies Friday and Saturday as prime days for publishing on YouTube, SocialPilot specifically highlights Sunday as the most engaging day—prompting experimentation across all three days.

Though SocialPilot doesn’t pinpoint the least favorable day, HubSpot advises avoiding Tuesday. Both sources advocate for afternoon posting during the week, with SocialPilot emphasizing the effectiveness of morning posting on weekends (between 9-11 a.m.), a detail worth considering.

• Best times to post on YouTube: 2-4 p.m. on weekdays and 9-11 a.m. on weekends.
• Best days to post on YouTube: Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
• Worst day to post on YouTube: Tuesday.

Conclusion

Social media platforms offer a variety of audience profiles and as such, the best time to post on the platforms varies. There is no one perfect formula to pinpoint one specific time frame for posting. But each of these platforms offers detailed insights on posts that can be put to good use to figure out what works best for a brand. To acheive the highest engagement and audience interaction on social media posts, businesses should mix up the posting times, experiment with the timings, analyze the different engagement rates, and strategically devise the best posting times on their social media handles.

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