As our relationship with social media changes, the ideal times to post also changes. As a social media PR firm in Los Angeles we think the first step your brand or business needs to consider before deciding when to post is who you are trying to reach with your posts. Your target audience has specific time preferences on when they’re on different platforms that can’t be ignored when forming your strategy. While times may shift depending on some other factors, we’ve put together a list referencing Hootsuite’s advice and our experience as a social media PR firm in Los Angeles, of the general best times to post on each platform to see the most engagement and interaction with your followers.
Twitter
The high and fast frequency of content on Twitter, can make trying to find the best time to post a little bit tricky. Always consider the location of your target audience. Even the best drafted tweet won’t be effective if your following is still asleep in the morning. Try these recommendations and feel free to tweak based on your audience.
- The Huffington Post: “For maximum retweets, post at 5 p.m., 12 p.m., and 6 p.m. Additionally, 12 p.m. and 6 p.m. also deliver higher click-through rates. The best days to Tweet for business-to-business organizations is Monday through Friday, for business-to-consumer it’s the weekends and Wednesdays.”
- Hubspot: Between 12 p.m. and 3 p.m. from Monday to Friday, and between 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. on Wednesdays.
- Kissmetrics: Weekdays at 5 p.m., where the highest percentage of Retweets occur.
Facebook
Facebook has multiple pockets for when is the best time to post, but the broad times range between 9am and 7pm and to get a little more specific between 1pm and 3pm. Monday through Wednesday tend to have the lowest engagement rates, while Thursday and Friday are considered the optimal dates for posting.
- Quick Sprout: Thursdays and Fridays, either at 1 p.m. for the most shares, or 3 p.m. for the most clicks. As explained, “The less people want to be at work, the more they are on Facebook!”
- Optimizely: Mondays through Thursdays between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m.
- Microsoft: Thursdays and Fridays from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.
- Hubspot: Thursdays and Fridays from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.
LinkedIn
We can all agree that LinkedIn is often something you check at work, so this means that the best times to post are during work hours on Tuesday and Thursday, with 10am and 11am being the prime times. The most engagement occurs between 8am and 5pm Monday through Friday. To be more specific, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday between 7:30 to 8:30am, 12pm and 5pm to 6pm are the most effective times for engagement.
Instagram
As a social media PR firm in Los Angeles, we understanding that using Instagram can be a vital platform in gaining exposure for your business or brand. Instagram tends to get the most activity Monday through Thursday any time of the day except between 3pm and 4pm. The most effective time is Wednesday at 5pm. Here are some other recommendations for time:
- Hubspot: Anytime from Monday to Thursday except from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m.
- Latergramme: Wednesday at 5 p.m.
- Weekdays between 6 a.m. and 12 p.m.
