“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness.” Charles Dickens’ infamous words have been applied to almost every situation under the sun, but did you ever think it would be applied to finding the best times to post on social media?
Surely there have been times when your post on social media has attracted huge attention—ah the best of times. No doubt however, there have been times when your post has gotten little to no attention—the worst of times.
Social media managers, millennials and marketers alike have been debating since the dawn of social media when the best time to post for the most likes, clicks and overall engagement is.
Luckily, we’re here to make it easier for you.
Posting your content during peak hours helps your content to not only be seen by the greatest amount of users, but also boosts your chances of quality engagement. A tweet typically reaches 75% of its intended audience in less than three hours. With such a small window, getting your content out there at just the right time is more important than ever.
With so much interest in the best times to post on social media, many companies have taken it upon themselves to research the peak times for engagement.
For twitter, most seem to agree that weekdays are the best days to get the most engagement from your posts.
Kissmetrics reported that weekdays at 5 p.m. is the best time to get the most retweets, while Huffington Post suggests that 12 p.m. and 6 p.m. will also bring in high numbers of retweets. Huffington Post also reported the best days for businesses to reach consumers were on the weekends and on Wednesdays.
With so much going on within Facebook, from personal connections to business connections and everything in between, finding the best times to post on this platform may not be as easy.
Microsoft, Hubspot and Quick Sprout all seem to agree that posts on Thursdays and Fridays between 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. get the most views, clicks and engagements. As the work week goes on, people tend to get bored and check their Facebook more often.
During the week you can be sure to get higher engagement on your Facebook posts Mondays through Thursdays between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. according to Optimizely.
One of the most fretted social media platforms is Instagram. It leaves people wondering if the photo is sharp enough, if the right filter was applied and if enough people will see it to get optimal likes.
Instagram is meant specifically for mobile use, and because of that, users are constantly on the app, checking their feeds. This makes any time during the day a good time to post.
Hubspot advises against posting between 3 p.m. and 4 p.m. and reports that Mondays and Thursdays are best days for engagement. Quicksprout reported that business’ content was seeing more interaction outside of regular office hours, although the app is still very busy during those hours.
As a professional networking site, it only makes sense that LinkedIn sees a peak in use during the week, especially during office hours. While the typical 9-5 hours are a good time to post, AddThis reported that content posted Tuesdays between 10 a.m. and 11 a.m. receive the most clicks and shares.
Hubspot also reported that posts during lunch hour, and 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays see more engagement.
When it comes to Google+, Buffer found that people are looking for content, and that they want a lot of it. Buffer suggested posting up to three times a day on Google+ for maximum engagement.
Quicksprout reported mid to late mornings during the week to be the best times to post on Google+.
Although many sources have reported various answers about the best time to post on social media, it doesn’t have to be overwhelming. Try the times that were overlapped by various sources and track your results. If those times don’t work for your business or niche, try one of the other reported times.
This process still relies on trial and error, but it’s easier than going in blind, and will help you enjoy the best of times on all your posts.