If your business isn’t already on social media, then it’s definitely time to get started. Knowing the best practices can be tricky, but we’re here to help. In this blog, we’re answering the question, what’s the best time to post on social media?
Using social media for business
Social media is a fantastic tool to use in your marketing strategy. Firstly, it’s completely free and can help you get your business out there in front of new audiences.
When planning a social media strategy, you need to think about how much time you have. It’s best to be consistent and post often. Consistency is essential in your posting schedule and your branding.
Social platforms
There are so many social media platforms that you could use. We’re going to let you know the best time to post on the most popular platforms.
You might be thinking, ‘How do I know which social media platforms to use?’ and there’s no one size fits all approach. The right platforms for your business depend on where your target audience is, we’ll let you know the main audiences of each platform.
Facebook is a popular platform that was founded in 2004. In the UK, it is estimated that 66% of the population has Facebook profiles. Those aged between 25 and 34 use the platform the most, followed by those aged 18 to 25 and 35 to 44.
Over the years, Facebook has expanded its offering by introducing Marketplace and other aspects. For businesses, the platform introduced the Meta Business Suite. More recently, the name has changed to Meta to highlight their intentions of progressing into the Metaverse.
Instagram is another popular platform that falls under the umbrella of Meta. This is a photo-sharing platform that was incorporated in 2010. Since then, the platform has expanded to include Reels and offers businesses the ability to add a shop feature to their pages.
Earlier in 2023, it was estimated that Instagram had around 35 million users in the UK. The platform is mostly used by those aged between 18 and 24, followed by those aged 35 to 44.
LinkedIn is a social media platform that business professionals often use. One of the biggest benefits of LinkedIn is that it offers the ability to share job opportunities easily. Personal profiles often act as portfolios which can help when trying to attract new talent for your business.
LinkedIn currently has around 34 million users in the UK alone, highlighting how great it can be for reaching new audiences. Those aged between 25 and 34 use LinkedIn the most, followed by those aged 35 to 54.
Twitter is a popular platform that was incorporated in 2006. It is mainly a text-based platform; however, images and videos are commonly used too. Twitter is known for being a quick platform, which is one reason why there is a low character limit on tweets. The aim of Twitter is to use hashtags to find topics of interest.
Those aged between 25 and 34 use Twitter the most, followed by 35 to 49-year-olds. It is estimated that there are around 19.05 million Twitter users in the UK.
TikTok
TikTok is a visual platform allowing users to share videos or slides. Content on the platform varies in length, with some videos lasting for a couple of minutes and some lasting just a few seconds. Aspects like trending audio are very important on the platform, as is tailoring your caption and hashtags to be found for relevant search queries.
Despite only being founded in 2016, the platform has 23.38 million users in the UK. TikTok is most popular among younger generations; however, those aged between 20 and 29, 30 and 39 and 40 and 49 each amount for around 20% of the platform’s users.
Best times to post on social media
The best time to post on social media depends on when your audience is most active. When considering this, you also need to be aware that this could change and could even vary depending on the platform.
In addition to posting times, you also need to consider how often you’re going to post on social media. Many businesses don’t have time to post every single day, and this may not always be the best practice anyway. Instead, you may find it good practice to post three or four times per week. This allows you to share a range of posts and means you have spare days to factor in anything else you think of or ‘breaking news’ posts.
If you’re going for a more holistic approach to your social media strategy, you might consider posting at the same time on each social network.
Generally, weekdays are the best time to post on socials. Some of your posts may perform best in the early morning hours, while others may do better in the early afternoon or after 3 pm. It all depends on the content style and who you’re trying to reach. If you know your audience is online in the evening hours – post then for more engagement!
Best days and times to post on social media
- Facebook: Best time to post is between 8 am and 2 pm, Monday – Thursday
- Instagram: Best time to post is between 9 am and 1 pm, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday & Friday
- LinkedIn: Best time to post is between 10 am to 12 pm, Tuesday & Wednesday (Due to LinkedIn being a professional platform, you’re definitely better off avoiding the weekend)
- Twitter: Best time to post is between 9 am to 2 pm, Tuesday – Friday
- TikTok: Best time to post is between 2 pm and 6 pm, Tuesday – Thursday
While these times and days have been recognised as high engagement times, they may not work for every business. You need to consider your own audience’s social media usage and the social media algorithms which can have an impact on engagement.
If you’re not sure when to post, we recommend trying out a few different times and days to see when your target audience has the most engagement. Don’t forget that many platforms will give you insight into your follower’s most active times, which should theoretically provide maximum engagement when combined with quality content.
Ensure you continue to monitor current and past data, as this will help you identify top-performing posts and higher levels of audience engagement.
Planning your social media calendar
Creating a planner with all of your future social media posts can be helpful. This helps you to stay organised. It’s unlikely that you’ll be able to create perfect social media timetables, as there are often new things that require posting about.
You should specify the date, posting time, and content within your planner. Remember to factor in various posting styles, such as Instagram stories and reels. When you post reels through Meta, they can be posted to Instagram and Facebook, making scheduling easier.
We hope this blog has been helpful regarding the best time to post on social media for the most consistent engagement. We offer a fantastic social media management service where we create striking graphics and engaging content. Once you’ve approved the posts, we’ll schedule them when your followers are likely to engage.
Contact our friendly team for all your social media management needs.