Social media: when to post on social networks?

Social networks are constantly evolving, and user behavior changes with them. One thing that doesn't change: competition increases every day, and making sure your posts are visible is becoming more difficult.

Indeed, while you might imagine that on social networks you can publish whatever you want, whenever you want, there are actually rules to follow to get the most out of a given post. Even the best post can be overlooked if you don't publish it at the right time. If you want to maintain your reach and stay visible to your community, you need to know the best times to post on social media.

In this article, discover when to publish on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok and YouTube.

You can then use all this information to plan your posting calendar. Ready? Let's go!

Best times to post on Facebook

Facebook has more than two billion active users, making it by far the most populated platform. This enormous potential should be approached with a creative content strategy that builds a close connection with your audience, and entertaining posts published at the best times.

According to a Sprout Social study, the ideal times to post on Facebook are:

Saturday is the day that generates the least engagement. In terms of timing, avoid posting before 7 a.m. or after 5 p.m.

Although users often check what's happening in the middle of the day, peak times are around meal breaks.

Best times to publish on Instagram

Instagram is the social network that has nothing left to prove! With ever more features such as Reels, Stories or the "Explore" page, Instagram remains the go-to network if your activity is primarily visual.

And if you have an Instagram account, here are the best times to post your photos or videos:

As on Facebook, weekends are the days with the lowest level of engagement.

Regarding timing, some communities are very active early in the morning: athletes, those who promote a healthy lifestyle, or entrepreneurs. If your audience is more "food" oriented, aim for breakfast, lunch and dinner times.

Best times to tweet

Twitter offers brands a golden opportunity to communicate directly with their audience and better manage their customer service. However, a message's lifespan is very short, given how many posts are published.

If you want increase your visibility on Twitter, schedule your posts during these times:

Saturdays generate the least engagement for tweets, except for schools or universities. Indeed, these institutions post when students are on weekend to capture their attention and encourage interactions.

Best times to share your updates on LinkedIn

LinkedIn targets a more specific audience than other social networks. It is the quintessential B2B platform. Unlike Facebook or Instagram, LinkedIn is often consulted for work purposes or job searching.

Consequently, posting times align with office hours. The best times to publish on LinkedIn are:

Given theprofessional mindset of LinkedIncomposition of opinion leaders, job seekers and companies, it is not surprising that activity is much more concentrated around workdays. However, news feed browsing decreases after 3 p.m., as end-of-day work tasks take priority.

Best times to share on TikTok

TikTok now has more than 800 million active users worldwide, which makes this network even more international than the others!

Before trying to determine when you should post on TikTok, you will first need to get to know your audience. For that, check your TikTok account analytics where you can see who your audience is and when they are most active on the platform.

Even though this needs to be done case by case, trends still seem to emerge on TikTok, as on other social networks. The best times to post on TikTok appear to be:

It also appears that morning shares tend to perform better at the start of the week (Monday to Wednesday), while videos shared in the afternoon and evening gain popularity toward the end of the week and at the weekend (Thursday to Sunday).

Best times to share your videos on YouTube

YouTube is undoubtedly the most popular online video platform today. But beyond being a social network, YouTube is also the second most used search engine after Google For businesses looking to extend their marketing into video, YouTube is an obvious choice.

But what are the best times to share your videos on YouTube?

You may think that 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. is a little early to publish a video on a weekday. That’s perfectly normal! It’s indeed not the time when your audience will be largest, but this time slot is sufficient to give YouTube time to index your video and therefore allow it to appear in search results.

Conclusion

From now on, try publishing during these periods to increase engagement. However, never forget to analyze the performance of your own posts to identify when your subscribers are active!

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