Best Times to Post on Social Media in 2024 (Each Platform) (2024)

So, what are the best times to post on social media?

This is probably the biggest question every marketer asks themselves while creating their social media posting plan.

After all, posting your content at the right time when most of your audience is active is a great way to get maximum eyeballs on your content.

However, the exact answer is a bit complex since every social media channel has a different user base, demographics, and usage patterns.

So, we conducted a study on 50,000 accounts across every social media platform spanning various industries. Luckily, there are time ranges that have shown the best results for getting massive engagement, which can be used to find your personal best times to post on social media later.

Let’s giddy up and check out the timings!

Why Do the Best Times to Post on Social Media Matter?

It’s the algorithm effect. The algorithm of every social media platform has one common factor – Recency.

Recency is one of the major elements that play a part in showing your post on social media feeds. What’s recency? The most recent posts are prioritized to rank higher on the feeds over days or week-older posts.

So when you share your social media posts around the times when your audience is most active, the chances of those posts appearing in their feeds are much higher.

With the help of the different best times to post on social media, you can maximize the chances for your audience to both see and engage with your posts.

However, this doesn’t mean you will crack the engagement code just by posting at the best times.

The best times of day to post on social media will help you grab the eyeballs, but from there, your fate lies in the quality of content you provide to your audience.

When is the Best Time to Post on Social Media? – An Overview

Overall, the best time to post on social media is during the mid-week days (Wednesday and Thursday) in the mornings (7 AM to 9 AM), early afternoons (1 PM to 3 PM), and in the evenings (7 PM to 9 PM).

We have derived the above results after monitoring the engagement on over 50,000 accounts across every social media platform individually.

After interpreting the data, we noticed that mid-week and morning times are best to post across every channel. At the same time, Sunday stands out as the optimal day for sharing content on YouTube and Pinterest specifically.

While there are general patterns, the best time to post on social media varies with the platforms and many other factors. So, it is best to pick the posting time for every individual platform.

Here’s a quick look at the platform-wise breakdown of the optimal timings:

Facebook: The best times to post on Facebook are 7 AM to 9 AM, 1 PM to 3 PM, and 7 PM to 9 PM on mid-week days, specifically Wednesday and Thursday.
Twitter: The best times to post on Twitter are in the morning, 8 AM to 10 AM, and evening, 6 PM to 9 PM on weekdays, and early afternoon to evening, 11 AM to 5 PM on weekends.
YouTube: The best times to post on YouTube are generally between 2 PM to 4 PM on weekdays and 9 AM to 11 AM on weekends. The best day to post on YouTube is Sunday.
TikTok: The best times to post on TikTok are 2 AM to 9 AM on Tuesday, 9 AM to 7 AM on Thursday, 5 AM & 1 PM to 3 PM on Friday, 11 AM & 7 PM to 8 PM on Saturday, and 4 PM on Sunday.
LinkedIn: The best times to post on LinkedIn are 10 AM to 12 PM on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.
Pinterest: The best times to post on Pinterest are 3 PM on Friday, 8 PM to 11 PM on Saturday, and 2 PM to 4 PM from Monday to Sunday.

How We’ve Identified the Best Times to Post on Social Media?

We conducted a comprehensive study to determine the best times to post on social media, analyzing around 700,000 posts published from over 50,000 accounts per social media platform connected to SocialPilot. The study analyzed the performance of these posts, specifically observing how their engagement rates varied depending on the exact hours and days of the week they were shared. The findings pinpoint the best times to post on social media every day of the week.

So, now that you have a rough idea of the best times to post on these major social media platforms let’s jump to the detailed discussion of these platforms’ posting times.

Let’s get started with Facebook first!

When Is the Best Time to Post on Facebook?

Facebook is one of the most used social media platforms. According to the latest Facebook statistics, the platform has over 3 billion monthly active users. Its gigantic group of users makes it easy for anyone to grow their business from scratch to WOW.

Posting your content on Facebook at the correct time can help you reach your targeted audience. In fact, some special hours and days can help you boost your post instantly.

Ideally, the time between 7 AM and 9 AM is considered to be the best time to post on Facebook to get maximum impressions.

However, there are different criteria for posting on weeks and weekends, which can help you get the highest click-throughs.

Best times to post on Facebook:

When Is the Best Time to Post on Instagram?

According to the latest Instagram statistics, about 6 in 10 Instagram users log in at least once daily. This means that if you post your content at the correct times on Instagram, you have a much better chance of increasing your shares and followers!

Instagram has a huge participating audience that engages users in the 18–30 age bracket throughout the week.

Our study has concluded that there are certain best times to post on Instagram throughout the week that will definitely help you get the finest results!

Best times to post on Instagram:

Monday: 9 AM to 10 AM
Tuesday: 9 AM to 10 AM
Wednesday: 5 am, 11 am, and 3 pm
Thursday: 12 PM and 5 pm
Friday: 9 AM to 10 AM and 5 PM to 6 pm
Saturday: 8 AM to 12 pm
Sunday: 10 AM to 2 pm

Best Days to Post on Instagram: Thursday, Monday, and Friday

Worst Day to Post on Instagram: Sunday

Key takeaways:

Similar to Facebook, the audience on Instagram shows consistent engagement during the morning hours, particularly between 9 AM and 10 AM. So make sure to grab their attention with engaging Reels and carousels in the morning.
Also, it is good to avoid posting on Instagram between 3 PM and 4 PM on all days of the week.
Fridays show engagement both in the morning (9 AM to 10 am) and late afternoon (5 PM to 6 pm). This shows that people use Instagram regularly throughout the day on Fridays as they prepare for the weekend.

Let’s take a look at what the social media experts have to say about the best times to post on Instagram:

TrackMaven recommends 9 pm-8 AM as the ideal times for posting pictures and videos. Actually, during these times, and specifically on Thursdays and Mondays, there are more chances to get a great response to your posts.
Hubspot favors the time between 2 PM and 3 PM (CDT) and Thursday as the best day to post.
Search engine Journal favors Monday, Tuesday, and Friday at 11 AM and Tuesday at 2 pm.
On the other hand, MarketingProfs says that 1 PM to 2 PM are the best times to post on Instagram.

Experience the convenience of our free AI-powered tool. It safely accesses and analyzes your Instagram analytics to determine the best posting times tailored to your audience and profile.

You can try it right now.

Tip: According to Instagram statistics, 81% of Instagrammers use the platform to research new products and services. So, post great content with relevant color schemes, hashtags, and emojis at the best posting times to drive greater traffic to your business.

Now it’s time for X Twitter on the list!

When Is the Best Time to Post on X (Twitter)?

A lot has changed for X (formerly Twitter) in the past few years. But the latest Twitter statistics prove that what has not changed is the audience’s love for coming on it to grab a daily dose of what’s happening around the world and share their thoughts on it.

That’s why X is an excellent platform for businesses and brands to reach their target audience by participating in relevant trending topics and cultivating a loyal community.

By focusing on the best time to post on X (Twitter), your tweets stand a higher chance of reaching a broader segment of your audience and potentially going viral.

Best times to post on X (Twitter):

When Is the Best Time to Post on YouTube?

With more than 2.7 billion active users, YouTube has become the second most used social media platform in the world. It’s no wonder YouTube is a hotspot for video marketing.

The video-centric platform is a perfect fit for marketers who want to showcase their products, demonstrate how they work, or tell a brand’s story.

Like every platform, YouTube also has certain time spots to leverage to get the most engagement. Take a look at the average best times to post on YouTube:

Best time to post on Youtube:

Monday: 2 PM to 4 pm
Tuesday: 2 PM to 4 pm
Wednesday: 2 PM to 4 pm
Thursday: 2 PM to 4 pm
Friday: 2 PM to 4 pm
Saturday: 9 AM to 11 am
Sunday: 9 AM to 11 am

Best days to post on YouTube: Friday, Saturday, and Sunday

Worst days to post on YouTube: Monday and Tuesday

Key takeaways:

Considering the fact that YouTube videos are indexed a few hours after posting, the data shows that evenings are the peak-watching time on weekdays. So, if you share your video between 2 PM and 4 PM on weekdays, viewers will see it in the evening after work hours.
Weekends, on the other hand, show peak viewing activity at noon. People tend to engage with YouTube content earlier in the day than on weekdays.

Moreover, check out the time suggestions from some industry experts and see if you can spot any similarities.

Frederator Networks recommends posting during weekdays from 2 to 4 PM (EST) and on weekends between 9 to 11 AM (EST).
Boosted suggests that Sunday at either 11 AM or 5 PM (EST) is the best time to post.
HowSociable favors posting between 2 to 4 PM (EST) and Thursday and Friday as the most effective days.
InVideo recommends posting on weekdays from 12 to 4 PM (EST) and on weekends from 9 to 11 AM (EST).

Tip: Unlike other social platforms, YouTube requires time to process and understand the content of the video before presenting it to the viewers in their search results or home screen. Hence, always upload your Youtube video 2-3 hours before your target audience’s optimal viewing time.

Speaking of video marketing, It’s time to discuss TikTok!

When Is the Best Time to Post on TikTok?

Riding high on short-form videos, TikTok has drastically changed the social media marketing landscape. The latest TikTok statistics prove it is the fastest-growing social channel, with over a billion active users monthly.

Businesses targeting Gen-Z users can’t risk ditching TikTok in their social media marketing strategy.

However, moving the engagement needle towards your business on TikTok is a tough nut to crack. Like all social media platforms, engagement on TikTok greatly depends on the best time to post.

Optimizing your posting time improves the chances of your posts getting stellar engagement and appearing in the “For You” section.

Let’s look at the best time to post on TikTok throughout the week.

Best times to post on TikTok:

Monday: 6 am, 10 am, 10 pm.
Tuesday: 2 am, 4 am, 9 am.
Wednesday: 7 am, 8 am, 11 pm.
Thursday: 9 am, 12 am, 7 pm.
Friday: 5 am, 1 pm, 3 pm.
Saturday: 11 am, 7 pm, 8 pm.
Sunday: 7 am, 8 am, 4 pm.

Best days to post on TikTok: Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday.

Worst days to post on TikTok: Saturday and Sunday

Key takeaways:

TikTok’s best-time data shows a varied number of peak times throughout the week. This tells us that TikTok users have diverse browsing habits and remain active at various times.
But if we have to point out some pattern, then we can say there is a trend of engagement during early morning hours, such as 6 AM and 7 am, as well as late-night periods, like 10 PM and 11 pm.

Here are the best time suggestions from some industry-leading websites that you can try out in your posting schedule:

Hootsuite recommends posting on Thursday at 7 PM.
Buffer has marked 2 PM on Mondays, 4 PM on Wednesdays, and 8 AM on Saturdays as the optimal times.
Sprout Social favors Tuesdays and Fridays from 4 to 6 PM as the best time to post.

Tip: TikTok is all about creativity, and you can’t promote your business like other platforms here. To achieve success on TikTok, you need to blend your content with the Platform’s innovative content features and use proper hashtags.

Let’s move on to Linkedin now!

When Is the Best Time to Post on LinkedIn?

LinkedIn is inherently a professional social media network. LinkedIn statistics show that people use it mainly for job searching, personal branding, and making professional connections, and they do all this during work hours.

That’s why you’ll get the most engagement on Linkedin between morning and noon. For a better idea, below is the list of the best times to post on LinkedIn for every day of the week.

Best Times to Post on LinkedIn:

Monday: 11 AM
Tuesday: 6 AM to 8 AM
Wednesday: 12 AM
Thursday: 2 PM
Friday: 8 AM
Saturday: 4 AM to 5 AM
Sunday: 6 PM

Best days to post on LinkedIn: Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday

Worst days to post on LinkedIn: Saturday and Sunday

Key Takeaways:

On Linkedin, the engagement remains at its peak during the first half of the business hours. This behavior suggests that many professionals access their LinkedIn accounts at the beginning of their workday and during their noon break.
On Mondays, LinkedIn browsing starts a little late in the morning for most professionals. This is likely because they start the week by checking emails and planning for the upcoming week.
However, it is better to avoid posting on weekends because professionals may cut back their social media time on weekends for more social activities.
LinkedIn itself suggests that you should not post during the overnight hours (times) between 10 PM and 6 AM because your target audience will not be able to catch up with your post, resulting in fewer readers.

Now, let us know what social media experts have to say about the best times to post on LinkedIn.

According to Elle & Co., the best time to post is between 7.30 am-8.30 AM and 5 pm-6 pm.
Oberlo suggests the time frame between 10-11 AM on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday as the best choice.
Forbes suggested posting on LinkedIn between 8 am-5 PM on workdays to achieve the finest results on your posts.

Tip: Keep tracking your audience by using one of the effective LinkedIn analytics tools to understand the days and times when you get the highest engagement. Once you decide on the best time frames, schedule your post for the best times using our LinkedIn scheduling tool.

Last but not least, it’s time for Pinterest!

When Is the Best Time to Post on Pinterest?

Pinterest is a well-known visual discovery platform where audiences come to search for inspiration, ideas, and recommendations across a wide range of interests and topics.

The user behavior and demographics of Pinterest are different from other platforms as per Pinterest statistics. For the same reason, its best times and days are different as well. Check out the best times to post on Pinterest throughout the week:

Best times to post on Pinterest:

Monday: 8 PM to 9 PM, 2 PM to 4 PM
Tuesday: 8 PM to 9 PM, 2 PM to 4 PM
Wednesday: 8 PM to 9 PM, 2 PM to 4 PM
Thursday: 8 PM to 9 PM, 2 PM to 4 PM
Friday: 2 PM to 6 PM
Saturday: 11 AM, 4:00 PM to 7 PM, and 11 PM
Sunday: 12 PM, 4 PM, and 8 PM to 10 PM

Best days to post on Pinterest: Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday

Worst days to post on Pinterest: Thursday and Friday

Key Takeaways:

Our study has shown that Pinterest records the maximum number of engagements during weekends. This suggests that people use their free days on Pinterest, possibly to plan events, home improvement projects, or for leisure browsing.
Posts on Pinterest don’t perform well in the morning on weekdays, unlike other platforms. People prefer to use Pinterest more comfortably in the evening after work hours.

Let’s have a look at what the experts have to share on this:

According to Fannit, the best times to Pin are between 8 PM-11 PM and 2 PM-4 PM
Hubspot suggests that pinning between 2 AM-4 AM and 2 PM-4 PM is ideal for engaging with the audience.
SurePayroll acknowledges Saturday mornings as the best time to post on Pinterest.

Tip: Pinterest content has a long lifespan. Use appealing content with keywords in its description and Pin at the ‘specific time’ using our Pinterest scheduling tool to attract a more active audience. Pinterest’s own analytics tool is, again, very efficient in tracking your audiences’ behavior.

And it’s a Wrap!

Frankly, there is no single best time to post on social media.

But in a way, it’s a good thing. I mean, who would want to live in a world with only a single best time to post?

Whenever you put real effort into creating outstanding content, you always wish your content targets as many eyeballs as possible, isn’t it?

Well, now you can easily grab the chance!

With the help of picking the best times to post on social media, you can maximize the chances for your audience to both see and engage with your posts.

Moreover, you can use SocialPilot’s unparalleled scheduling features to automate your posting on seven social media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and TikTok.