Are you a brand owner, content creator, or marketer looking to reach the right audience on social media? Then, you’re likely always wondering what the best times to post on social media are.
In social media marketing, implementing a successful campaign depends on several factors.
Of course, you have to consistently create solid content that resonates with your audience. Also, you have to find the right platforms to showcase your content. You might even have to repurpose your content into different formats to amplify reach.
However, all these efforts will be in vain if you don’t identify and capitalize on the best times to post on social media.
So, when should you post on social media for maximum engagement and reach?
In this blog, we’ll dig deeper and find the answer to that question.
Table of Contents
Best Times to Post on Social Media (By Platform): At a Glance
- Best time to post on Facebook – 7 am – 9 am, 1 pm – 3 pm, and 7 pm – 9 pm, especially on Wednesdays and Thursdays
- Best time to post on Instagram – 7 am – 9 am and 11 pm – 2 pm on mid-week days
- Best time to post on LinkedIn – 10 am – 6 pm, especially on Tuesdays and Thursdays
- Best time to post on YouTube – 2 pm – 4 pm on weekdays and 9 am – 11 am on weekends (especially Sunday)
- Best time to post on TikTok – 10 am – 12 pm, especially on Tuesdays and Thursdays
- Best time to post on Pinterest – 4 pm, 8 pm, and 9 pm, especially on Sundays, Mondays, and Tuesdays
- Best time to post on X (formerly Twitter) – 9 am – 11 am, as well as lunch hours around 1 pm on Wednesdays and Thursdays
- Best time to post on Snapchat – 5 pm – 1 am on Weekdays and 9 am to 8 pm on weekends
Why Should You Care About the Best Times to Post on Social Media?
Whether you’re promoting a brand or creating your content, you want it to grab as many eyeballs as possible. Knowing the best times to post on social media can help your posts get in front of more people.
While social media platforms no longer rank posts chronologically, content recency still matters in social media marketing. Your audience will be more interested in a post uploaded 10 minutes ago than one uploaded two days ago.
That’s why understanding the best times to post on social media is crucial for maximizing reach.
If you publish a post at a time when most of your target users are active, it results in an instant boost in traction. As your post gains visibility, more users start engaging with it. It tells the platform’s algorithm that your content is worth showing to others.
That, in turn, results in more engagement and reach. If you’re lucky, your content might just go viral.
Timing alone won’t make your content go viral, but when you pair it with high-quality content, you’ll have a much better chance of standing out. Knowing the best times to post on social media enhances your chances of success.
Is There a Universal Right Time to Post on Social Media?
The short answer to that question—no.
There’s no universal rule for the best times to post on social media because every platform serves a different purpose in users’ lives.
The consensus is that posts uploaded on the weekends tend to receive lower engagement rates. That’s understandable, considering users likely spend more time interacting with their family and friends in person.
Having this information and knowing the best times to post on social media can make a difference in boosting your reach and engagement.
For example, LinkedIn, a platform centered around professional networking, has its peak engagement on weekdays. The best times to post on LinkedIn are typically during business hours when users are in “work mode.”
Instagram, on the other hand, is a go-to for entertainment. Reels and Stories get more views early in the morning during commutes or around lunchtime. The best times to post on social media here depend on when users get enough time to take a look at their phones.
Similarly, Facebook posts published on weekday mornings get more engagement because that’s when most users reach their workplaces.
Keep in mind that the best times to post on social media also depend on the type of content you’re publishing. Let’s say you post news updates on X. Your audience would be more keen to consume this content early in the morning (maybe while they’re having breakfast).
In a nutshell, mastering the best times to post on social media isn’t just about timing. It's about understanding when your audience is most active and ready to engage.
Best Time to Post on Facebook
With over 3 billion monthly active users, Facebook continues to dominate the social media landscape as the most widely used platform. That makes it a popular choice among advertisers and brand owners.
Image via Statista
Data from eMarketer shows that Facebook will account for more than 11.1% of US digital ad spending in 2024. Also, marketers will spend $1 billion on influencer campaigns on the platform.
It is, however, worth noting that the platform’s user base has changed since it was launched. As of this writing, 25-to-44-year-olds occupy the largest share of Facebook’s user base. The platform also attracts a large number of users above the age of 45.
Image via Statista
Facebook is a suitable platform for connecting with millennials and older age groups.
But what’s the best time to post on Facebook?
The following are the best times to post on Facebook.
- Sunday: 8 am, 11 am, 4 pm
- Monday: 9 am, 12 pm, 7 p.m
- Tuesday: 8 am, 10 am, 6 pm
- Wednesday: 7 am, 9 am, 1 pm
- Thursday: 9 am, 11 am, 8 pm
- Friday: 7 am, 1 pm, 5 pm
- Saturday: 9 am, 12 pm, 3 pm
In general, posts published on weekday mornings perform better than those uploaded at other times. Moreover, posts shared on the weekends, particularly Sundays, get the lowest engagement.
It’s understandable, considering most Facebook users (between 25 and 44 years of age) arrive at work in the morning.
They likely check their feeds on the way to their office or just before they start working for the day. Also, engagement goes up on Friday as they wind down for the weekend.
If you’re planning to upload content on the weekends, like Saturdays, 12 noon to 3 pm is the window to maximize traction.
Lastly, 8 pm to 8 am is the worst time to post content on the platform.
Best Time to Post on Instagram
Instagram has about 2 billion monthly active users and offers peak engagement rates compared to platforms like Facebook and X. It’s a go-to choice for brand-building and influencer marketing campaigns.
Image via DemandSage
The platform’s user base is dominated by younger age groups, with 18-to-24-year-olds (Gen Z) occupying the largest share. Moreover, individuals between 25 and 34 years make up about 30.6% of the user base.
That makes Instagram a powerful channel for connecting with younger audience segments.
Here are the best times to post on Instagram.
- Sunday: 7 am, 11 am, 7 pm
- Monday: 7 am, 11 am, 2 pm
- Tuesday: 7 am, 10 am, 1 pm
- Wednesday: 7 am, 9 am, 4 pm
- Thursday: 7 am, 9 am, 2 pm
- Friday: 7 am, 11 am, 3 pm
- Saturday: 7 am, 12 pm, 3 pm
The data above shows that Instagram posts perform very well in the morning hours, driving high social media engagement rates.
Content uploaded in the late afternoon or evening on weekdays also gets good engagement. It’s only natural, considering users enjoy scrolling through their feeds during lunch breaks or after work.
On weekends, the best times to post on social media shift slightly, with optimal posting times extending into the evening, especially on Sundays.
Best Time to Post on LinkedIn
LinkedIn is the go-to platform for professional networking, with over 1 billion members across 200 countries and territories. Knowing the best times to post on social media is crucial if you want to make a lasting impact and reach your audience
Whether you want to recruit new team members or generate leads for your sales pipeline, LinkedIn serves as a valuable channel.
It’s also an excellent platform to build your brand as an entrepreneur, marketer, content creator, or any other professional, especially with its social media analytics tools.
For LinkedIn, here are the best times to post on social media:
- Sunday: 8 am to 2 pm
- Monday: 9 am, 2 pm, 4 pm
- Tuesday: 12 pm, 2 pm, 4 pm
- Wednesday: 10 am, 2 pm, 12 pm
- Thursday: 10 am, 2 pm, 4 pm
- Friday: 8 am, 1 pm, 3 pm
- Saturday: 4 am to 7 am
As a more professionally inclined social media platform, the best time to post content on LinkedIn is in the morning. However, on Tuesdays, engagement peaks from midday to late afternoon.
Weekends, on the other hand, offer shorter windows for posting. Your average LinkedIn user will most likely not check the platform when resting on weekends.
Best Time to Post on YouTube
YouTube’s user base comprises 2.5 billion monthly active users across 100 countries. In the US, the average user spends 48.7 minutes every day watching videos on the platform.
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That makes YouTube the preferred platform if you want the most engagement from video marketing. From product tutorials and customer testimonials to employee stories, you can upload a variety of content to attract your target audience.
With YouTube Shorts, you can even experiment with short-form videos to maximize engagement and reach.
So, when should you upload videos on YouTube to grab the most eyeballs? Data shows that the following are the best times to share your content on YouTube.
- Sunday: 9 am, 12 pm, 7 pm
- Monday: 12 pm, 3 pm, 7 pm
- Tuesday: 12 pm, 4 pm, 8 pm
- Wednesday: 12 pm, 2 pm, 6 pm
- Thursday: 12 pm, 3 pm, 8 pm
- Friday: 10 am, 1 pm, 9 pm
- Saturday: 9 am, 11 am, 7 pm
YouTube is a bit of an outlier when considering the best times to post on social media. Most of its peak engagement for most of the weekdays comes between 12 pm and early evening.
Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays are the only days where engagement is high in midmorning hours.
When considering the best times to post on social media, YouTube requires some careful thought about your niche, subject, and audience preferences.
For instance, if you create educational or informative videos for professionals, early afternoon hours on weekdays is a good time to post them. On the other hand, if you create content to entertain a younger audience, late-night time slots can be the right fit.
The best part—YouTube gives numerous video engagement metrics to help you understand how your videos perform. These insights can be incredibly helpful when determining the best times to post on social media.
Overall, the best times to post on social media often depend on audience behavior, and YouTube is no exception.
Best Time to Post on TikTok
Launched in 2016, TikTok has quickly grown to become one of the most popular social media platforms among younger generations. The short-form video platform boasts more than 1 billion monthly active users, with 25-34-year-olds being the largest demographic.
Image via Statista
Brands and marketers looking to connect with Gen Z audiences typically include TikTok in their social media marketing campaigns. They collaborate with influencers on the platform to build brand awareness and credibility.
Getting the timing of your TikTok videos right is particularly crucial. It’s because the initial spike in engagement helps maximize the chances of your content making it to the “For You” section of the right users.
However, the best time to post on this social media platform isn’t as predictable as others like Facebook and LinkedIn. It could be because the majority of the platform’s users don’t have well-defined work schedules.
The best times to post on TikTok are the following:
- Sunday: 7 am, 9 am, 4 pm
- Monday: 6 am, 10 am, 10 pm
- Tuesday: 2 am, 4 am, 6 pm
- Wednesday: 8 am, 9 am, 11 pm
- Thursday: 9 am, 12 pm, 6 pm
- Friday: 6 am, 1 pm, 4 pm
- Saturday: 11 am, 7 pm, 8 pm
As you can see from the breakdown above, TikTok engagement is a little more consistent throughout the week. It starts strong in the mornings between 6 am and 11 am and stretches into late evenings.
Posting as early as 2 am on Tuesdays and as late as 11 pm on Wednesdays can also drive engagement.
Given the unpredictable schedules of TikTok’s user demographic, uploading posts at different times and monitoring their performance using Agorapulse alternatives is a good idea. It’ll help you zero in on the timing that works for your audience and niche.
Best Time to Post on Pinterest
Pinterest might not be the first social networking site that comes to your mind. However, with 537 million monthly active users, it’s the go-to platform for finding new design ideas and inspiration.
Image via Statista
The visual-forward platform can help brands build an engaged audience, improve awareness, and drive traffic to their websites.
It can also help build a loyal community around your brand. Plus, with most marketers focusing on other social media platforms, promoting your brand on Pinterest can help you cut through the noise faster.
But how do you reach and engage more users on Pinterest? The secret lies in knowing the best times to post on social media.
Here are the best times to post on Pinterest:
- Sunday: 8 pm, 12 pm, 10 pm
- Monday: 8 pm, 4 pm, 9 pm
- Tuesday: 8 pm, 9 pm, 4 pm
- Wednesday: 2 pm, 4 pm, 9 pm
- Thursday: 8 pm, 6 pm, 9 pm
- Friday: 4 pm, 2 pm, 5 pm
- Saturday: 11 pm, 7 pm, 11 am
Pinterest engagement peaks mostly in the evenings from 8 pm for most of the days. The only time it’s ever recommended to post on Pinterest in the morning is on Saturday.
Overall, Pinterest is fairly consistent, and that’s important when it comes to scheduling the best times to post on social media.
That means you can choose a mix of weekday and weekend time slots for your content calendar. It is, however, crucial to consider your audience’s content consumption habits to identify the optimal timing.
Best Time to Post on X (Twitter)
X (formerly Twitter) rose to fame as a microblogging platform. In 2024, it attracted 611 million monthly active users.
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Also, the platform has a large share of users in the age group of 25-34.
Many people use X to stay on top of the latest news in different industries. Plus, it’s an effective channel for reaching out to businesses for customer support. Several brands even have designated X accounts for customer service.
Besides connecting with the right audience, brands and marketers can also use X to understand their needs and pain points better.
So, when should you post on X for maximum traction? Below is a breakdown of the best times to post on X.
- Sunday: 9 am to 3 pm
- Monday: 10 am to 11 am
- Tuesday: 9 am and 1 pm
- Wednesday: 9 am and 3 pm
- Thursday: 10 am and 3 pm
- Friday: 11 am and 1 pm
- Saturday: 9 am and 8 pm
X is most active in the mornings throughout the week, with the best times for posting falling between 9 am and early afternoon. Activity picks up again in the afternoons, especially from Wednesday through the weekend.
Sundays are the only few days where posting at night brings significant engagement. Overall, just like most of the other platforms discussed here, weekends make the worst time to post on X.
Best Time to Post on Snapchat
Snapchat made its foray into ephemeral content and short-form videos long before they became the norm. Launched in 2011, the platform continues to attract 431 million daily active users.
Image via Statista
The platform attracts a predominantly younger demographic, with most users between 18 and 24 years of age. Also, it’s interesting to note that people aged 35 or above are less likely to use Snapchat.
Brands typically use Snapchat to showcase the more human side of their business. Authentic behind-the-scenes videos and real-time updates help establish a more personal connection with the audience.
That’s in contrast to the glitzy ads that users often come across on Facebook and Instagram. It makes Snapchat a powerful channel for building credibility and trust.
The best times to post on social media platforms like Snapchat depend on your audience. For a younger audience on weekdays, Snapchat works best in the late afternoon to late evenings (5 pm to 1 am). As for weekends, you stand a better chance of attracting engagement if you post between 9 am and 12 pm.
For older audiences, schedule your Snapchat posts for early evenings between 7 pm and 9 pm on weekdays. You can post any time of the day on weekends.
Again, it’s important to reiterate that the best times to post on social media vary based on your niche, audience, and content type. So, you should consider uploading Snaps at different times of the day throughout the week to see what resonates with your target audience.
How to Find and Harness the Best Times to Post on Social Media?
By now, you have a fair idea of the best times to post on social media for different platforms. But just because the data suggests a particular day or time is ideal for posting on a platform, it doesn’t guarantee results.
The best times to post on social media depend on several factors. These include the content format, niche, and your target audience’s preferences.
Here are a few tips to help you identify the best times to upload social media posts:
Look at the Data
Most social platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube, offer a ton of audience analytics. From age and gender to device type, you can access a variety of data to understand your audience better. Otherwise, you can use any Agorapulse alternative for the same.
What’s more?
You get insights into when your audience is most likely to be online. This information comes in handy to determine the best time to post content on each platform.
Identify Your Best-Performing Posts
Besides analyzing user behavior, tracking content performance is key to finding the best times to post on social media.
Monitor the number of likes, comments, and shares on your recent posts to identify the best-performing ones. If the platform offers an analytics section, check out metrics like reach, views, and engagement rates for different posts.
The goal? Spot patterns in when your content gets the most traction. Those moments might just be your best times to post on social media.
Once you’ve identified posts with high engagement rates, find out when they were published. Upload more posts at the same time and day for a few weeks. If you continue to get similar traction, you can tweak your posting schedule accordingly.
Ask Your Audience
Audience behavior and content performance data from social media platforms will give you a fair idea of the best times to post on social media. But wouldn’t it be great if you could check whether it aligns with your audience’s expectations?
The best way to do that is to ask your audience. Let’s say you publish bite-sized educational videos on Instagram. You can host a poll asking your audience to select their preferred time of the day for watching such content. Alternatively, you can upload a story with the questions and monitor the replies.
Don’t Hesitate to Experiment
Social media marketing keeps evolving at breakneck speed. What were the best times to post on social media months ago might not deliver the same results today. Audience behavior on social media changes quickly, so sticking to the same posting schedule for too long can hinder your engagement.
This is why experimentation is key. Upload a few posts outside of the suggested “best time” and see how they perform. If you’re lucky, you might spot a shift in your audience’s content consumption habits early on.
Use a Social Media Management Tool
Identifying the best times to post on social media isn’t enough. You also have to ensure that you consistently upload content at these times.
This might seem simple if you only post a handful of times every month. But when you have a full-fledged calendar with multiple posts every week, knowing the best times to post on social media can get tricky.
In such a scenario, it’s a good idea to use a social media management tool to schedule your posts. That way, you can ensure that you don’t miss publishing content on the right platforms at the best times.
Plus, social media management tools offer in-depth data on your audience and content performance. By analyzing these insights, you can refine your social media strategy and consistently hit the best times to post on social media for optimal reach.
FAQ
Q1. What are the best times to post on social media?
A. The best times to post on social media vary, depending on the platform and your audience’s content consumption habits.
Weekday mornings and lunch breaks are ideal for Instagram and Facebook. People scroll while drinking coffee or eating. Late evenings can also be good since people unwind with their phones. On LinkedIn, mornings work best, while on X, mid-morning and afternoons will get you the most attention.
The consensus is that the best times to post on social media can change, so check analytics. Experiment with different posting times to see what resonates best with your audience.
Q2. What is the single best time to post on Instagram?
A. The best time to post on Instagram is between 7 am and 8 am on weekdays. Posts uploaded at 7 am on Fridays get the maximum traction. However, you should keep your niche, content format, and audience behavior in mind before deciding when to post on Instagram.
Q3. What is the best time to post on social media in 2025?
A. Posts published on weekdays, particularly early in the morning, perform better on platforms like Facebook and Instagram. On the other hand, LinkedIn posts see high traction when published between 9 am and 5 pm on workdays.
Q4. Should you post on social media every day?
A. Posting content on social media platforms daily is an excellent way to expand visibility and awareness. But make sure you maintain consistency in terms of quality and niche.
If you’re posting daily, try to vary your content. Incorporate videos, images, and polls to keep things fresh. Find the balance between knowing the best times to post on social media platforms and providing ever-fresh content.
It’s a good idea to create a content calendar outlining post ideas for each day. A calendar helps you plan around the best times to post on social media for your audience. That way, you’re not scrambling at the last minute.
Q5. Should I post during the day or night?
A. It depends on the type of content you’re uploading and what your audience prefers. For instance, if you’re posting entertaining Instagram Reels or YouTube Shorts, your audience will prefer watching them at night. On the other hand, if you’re uploading education content on LinkedIn or company use on X, daytime is the right fit.
Q6. Does posting too much affect engagement?
A. Yes, there’s a chance that posting too much can do more harm than good. When you post too frequently, your audience might get overwhelmed or annoyed. They may start ignoring your posts, which can lower engagement. The key is finding balance.
Timing Matters for Social Media Success
Identifying the best times to post on social media platforms is crucial to skyrocketing engagement and visibility. It can make all the difference between a post that goes viral and one that drowns in the endless sea of online content.
However, it’s worth keeping in mind that timing isn’t everything. You must take into account other factors, including your audience’s content consumption habits and preferences, before deciding when to post on social media. Also, consider your niche, format, and style of content to get the timing right.
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