Multiple sources all collate different pools of data to determine the golden times for posting on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook and the like, which is why an opportune time for posting on social media is never agreed on.
Here is an unshakeable truth: there is no best time to post on social media! There, we said it. 💣
That’s because what time is best to post on social media depends on a number of factors. ⬇️
Everything you need to consider when choosing when to post on social:
1. Your existing engagement 📉
If your DM’s are stale and your engagement is low, chances are that what time you post on social media is going to make little difference, unless you were to be really silly and post when everybody is asleep.
If you want strong engagement then you need to be employing strategies that actually generate engagement rather than fretting over which minute of the hour to publish your reel. Focus on this first before you define your ‘golden hour.’
Another thing to note is feed algorithms are not typically chronological, so whether or not your content is displayed will very much depend on your engagement rates and ongoing interactions. 🤦
2. Your audience location 🗺️
Analyse your audience – where do they live? If you have an audience made up of multiple continents, you need to consider when the biggest majority of them are all online, and preferably awake.
If a high percentage of your followers are based in London for example, chances are they will be commuting by tube at 8am and therefore able to check their phones making it an opportune time to press publish – but if your audience are largely in the Lakes and driving to work, commuter hour would not be the best time to post on social media! 🚉
3. Your customer base culture 🤌
Is your follower base largely in its early bedtime, young family era or are they Gen-Zers with endless freedom? Are they students in clubs or new parents nursing at 3am? All of these factors should play into when you should post on social. For example, a student is typically up later at night, whereas parents of young children generally start their days earlier (usually not out of choice! 🫠)
4. Your audience feelings 💗
Aside from demographics and lifestyle habits, how are your audience feeling? If they’re typically anxious, they might avoid their phones first thing in the morning, if they’re extremely busy and social touch points are fleeting, stories might be a better way of catching their attention.
5. Competition on feed 📱
Are you a niche category or mainstream? If you’re more of the latter, you might want to keep an eye on your competitors to check they’re not posting around similar times.
By posting earlier, accounts could benefit from less competition, while also tapping into traffic from users during their first scroll — even if that’s a few hours after the post was shared.
Many companies post just before a typical lunch hour hits, so it could get more competitive just before times of higher traffic, such as TV ad breaks.
6. Data 📊
Within Meta and Instagram Insights you will have access to data that you can utilise which tells you when your audience is most active.
7. Doing your own thing and experimenting 🕖
Keep track of what you post and when to see which times are favourable but remember that because the content you’re posting can differ, the results are skewed anyway.
Our standpoint
Your best time to post on social media will not be the same as the next business, nor will it stay the same day to day or week on week.
It is best to just be sensible (e.g., no posting at 3am unless you’re a late night takeaway brand) and go with which content drives the most engagement rather than the time it is posted. Although choosing when you should post on social media is important and you should consider audience factors when choosing when to post on social media, focus on interactions rather than timings.
Further reading 📚
More aspects to consider with marketing in 2024.
