What is the Best Time to Post on Social Media in 2023?

Unfortunately, there isn’t one straightforward answer to this question. The best times to post on social media will depend on the platform you’re using, as well as the audience you’re trying to target. 

You’ll also need to take into account the country or region you’re targeting. If you’re targeting US audiences, for example, note that about half of the country’s population lives along the east coast and follow the Eastern Time Zone (EST). When combined with the Central Time Zone (CST), you’ll be targeting more than 75% of the total US population. In other words, in order to receive maximum engagement, consider alternating your posts between EST and CST.  

If you’re targeting users outside the United States, consider researching the most popular social media platforms in the target region. Such data is readily available from agencies like We Are Social’s digital reports.  

The best times to post on Facebook 

In 2019, Facebook tweaked its News Feed algorithm to prioritize “meaningful interactions” with friends and family over content from brands. This has made it much harder for brands to get their organic content in front of users without paying to boost it. In the last half of 2019, the average reach for Facebook posts was down by 2.2%. This meant that brands could expect their posts to be seen by about 5.5% of their Pages’ followers, according to data gathered by Hootsuite. Big brands with large followings could expect an even lower average reach. According to Facebook, posting consistency is a ranking signal that could impact how prominently your posts are featured on the News Feed. Now more than ever, you’ll need to be consistent with your social media posting schedule to maximize your audience reach and boost engagement. Aside from posting targeted, high-quality content, another viable way of ensuring that your content is seen by the right audience is to properly time your posts.  

Overall Engagement

People use Facebook across devices (i.e. mobile, desktop, and tablet), both at work and at home. On average, the best time to post content is at 9 AM during the start of the workday, according to Hubspot (using data gathered from CoSchedule). There’s another surge in click-through rates between 11 AM and 12 PM, during lunch breaks. Overall, the best days to post are Thursday to Sunday.  

B2B Brands 

The best time to post for B2Bs is between 9 AM and 2 PM EST, and the best days are Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, according to Hootsuite (using data gathered from Unmetric). 

B2C Brands 

The best time to post for B2Cs is 12 PM EST on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, according to the same Hootsuite study.  

According to Unmetric, the number of interactions per post is highest on Wednesdays for brands, even though brands post less on Wednesdays on average. Hence, brands that want to boost their engagement rate may want to experiment with posting more content in the middle of the work week.  

The best times to post on LinkedIn

Approximately 25% of American adults use LinkedIn for professional networking, with the highest engagement seen during weekdays and work hours.  

Unlike other social media networks, the timing of your posts isn’t as important as their quality and engagement. Hence, it’s not unusual to see posts appearing on the LinkedIn feed that are weeks old. This is because the site’s algorithm is designed to feature high-quality posts that spark conversation and user interaction.  

Overall Engagement  

The best times to post on LinkedIn are 7:45 AM, 10:45 AM, 12:45 PM, and 5:45 PM EST, according to Hootsuite.   

B2B Brands 

The best day for B2B brands to post content is on Wednesday (followed by Tuesday), according to Hootsuite.  

B2C Brands 

The best days for B2C brands to post content are on Mondays and Wednesdays, according to the same Hootsuite study.  

The best times to post on Twitter 

Unlike LinkedIn, the lifespan of the average tweet is pretty short at just 18 minutes—which means timing is extremely important to get maximum eyeballs and engagement on this platform.  

Similar to Facebook, people use Twitter across their devices, though engagement patterns vary by audience segment. Many people treat it like an RSS feed and tend to consume content during their downtimes.  

Overall Engagement  

As previously mentioned, people tend to consume content on Twitter during their breaks, which is why engagement peaks at noon (when everyone is on their lunch break) and around 5 to 6 PM (when people are done with the workday). There’s also a slight surge in engagement around 3 PM when many workers are on their coffee breaks. 

Other viable windows include 8 to 10 AM and 6 to 9 PM, which corresponds to morning and evening commutes. 

B2B Brands 

The best time to post for B2Bs is between 9 AM and 4 PM EST, and the best days are Monday and Thursday, according to Hootsuite (using data gathered from Unmetric). 

B2C Brands 

The best time to post for B2Cs is 12 PM to 1 PM EST, from Monday to Wednesday, according to the same Hootsuite study.  

The best times to post on Instagram 

Instagram is primarily geared towards smartphone users, and approximately 60% of US users engage with the app daily. Users tend to consume the platform’s content during breaks in their workday and during non-work hours. 

The platform’s current algorithm prioritizes the recency of posts, and though posts aren’t strictly served chronologically, it’s designed to serve users with fresh content that they’re likely to interact with.  

To optimize your Instagram posts, you’ll need to post your content when your target audience is likely to be online, capitalizing on its “freshness” factor. 

Overall Engagement   

It’s best to plan your Instagram social media posting schedule around people’s workdays, taking into account that they enjoy consuming bite-sized videos, images, and Stories during their breaks. Peak engagement periods include noon (when people are snapping pictures of their lunch) and after-work hours (when people are relaxing). 

The early hours of the morning are also great for engagement (5 AM onwards), as people tend to check their phones as soon as they wake up.  

Overall, the best days to post content on Instagram are Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, according to data gathered by Falcon.IO. 

B2B Brands 

The best time to post for B2Bs is 12 PM to 1 PM, 5 PM to 6 PM, and 8 PM to 9 PM, according to data gathered by CoSchedule.  

B2C Brands 

Overall, the best time to post for B2Cs is 8 AM, 1 PM, and 9 PM, according to the same study by CoSchedule.  

Listed below are the best days and time slots to post content, based on data provided by Hootsuite and Unmetric: 

• Travel & Tourism - Fridays, between 9 AM and 1 PM 
• Media & Entertainment - Tuesdays and Thursdays from 12 PM to 3 PM 
• Food & Beverage - Fridays at 12 PM 
• Retail - Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays at 12 PM 
• Non-profits - Tuesdays at either 10 AM or 4 PM 

The best times to post on Pinterest  

Pinterest has a smaller number of monthly active users and the overwhelming majority of its users are female. Despite its more niche appeal, brands can still reach a very targeted and engaged audience on this platform. 

Overall Engagement   

Overall, the best times to post on Pinterest are 8 PM to 11 PM, and from 2 PM to 4 AM, according to Hubspot. The early morning hours could indicate significant engagement in non-North American time zones, which provides significant opportunities for global brands.  

Hubspot further reveals that evening commutes are some of the worst times to post content on Pinterest, probably because many pins require users to navigate away from the platform.  

Leveraging analytics to identify optimum posting schedules 

Planning a viable social media calendar requires some research. And while it’s important to consult studies to discover the optimum times to post content, you should also consider digging into your own analytical data to discover your own unique trends in user engagement. 

You can use custom Google Analytics reports to measure your social media referral traffic. This will help you uncover the best times to post content on your social media channels. The resulting data could be used together with industry recommendations to optimize your social media posting calendar.   

Check out this helpful Google Analytics tutorial from CoSchedule to learn more.  

Another great tool for optimizing social media publishing is Sprout Social’s patented ViralPost® technology, which analyzes your audience data and identifies the best times for authentic audience engagement.  

Using social media calendars to schedule all of your posts in advance 

A successful social media strategy requires regularly publishing content and engaging with followers to drive positive results. Whether you’re trying to positively influence search engine optimization, lead generation, brand recognition, or some other KPI, consistency is the name of the game.  

Benefits of using social media calendars 

Planning your content using social media calendars offers numerous benefits, namely: 

• Long-term planning - Calendars help you keep your content organized, enabling you to plan out posts weeks or months in advance. This leaves you with ample time to work on upcoming promotions, seasonal campaigns, and more topical posts (such as breaking news and announcements). 
• Customizing posts based on the channel - Calendars also help you customize your posts based on the channel. This prevents you from flooding all of your social media channels with the same message and allows you to tweak your content based on the nuances found in each social network.    
• Tracking performance and tweaking your overall strategy - Without a calendar, it would be difficult to keep track of all of your posts across multiple channels. This, in turn, will prevent you from accurately measuring performance or examining the overall picture. With all of your posts carefully logged in your calendar, you can more easily identify your best-performing content and tweak your strategy accordingly.  

The best social media posting tools 

Listed here are some of the best social media posting tools for planning your campaigns: 

• Hubspot’s Social Media Content Calendar Template 
• Loomly (content planning and publishing platform) 
• Hootsuite (social publishing and content calendar) 
• Zerys (content creation and management) 
• Trello (project management and content/social media calendar). 

Delegate social media posting & calendar management to a highly experienced remote executive assistant at Sigrid.AI 

Managing social media calendars and posting content to multiple channels is a time-consuming process. To help you or your team stay focused on your core tasks—whether it’s client or operations management, strategy and business development, and other high-level tasks, consider outsourcing your social media posting and calendar management to an efficient remote executive assistant at Sigrid.AI. 

Our highly trained executive assistants deliver an array of recurring and ad hoc administrative, technical, and creative support remotely to our clients. If you’re looking for social media marketing support, our EAs can proactively manage your organization’s social media calendars using your preferred systems and processes. We’ll make sure that your posts are properly scheduled and posted at the correct channels for maximum user engagement and to drive profitable action.   

Moreover, if you need suggestions on the best automated social media posting tools or require specialized research to inform your social media marketing strategy, our EAs can perform the necessary research and provide you with actionable recommendations. 

Ready to start your journey with us? Book a consultation or test run our services. We currently offer the first 14-day period for free on all our subscription plans.