WHEN TO POST ON SOCIAL NETWORKS IN 2021? IT’S THE RIGHT TIME!

E-commerce Trends
6 min readFeb 18, 2021

The best time to post on social networks is when your customers and subscribers are online. This ensures that you reach your audience and maximize your visibility. But what’s the best time to post new content? When is the best time to post on Facebook? What time should you post on Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, Tiktok, YouTube or Pinterest?

Indeed, the best time of publication depends on the social network: everyone has an hour that best suits his subscribers. For example, the best Twitter posting time is not the same as the one most indicated for posting on Instagram, because the usages are not the same. If you look at the different time zones, things get even more complicated. In this article, we shed light on the best times to post on social networks and the best management tools for social networks.

What time zones do you need to consider when posting on social networks?

If you are targeting an international clientele, you will have to juggle several time zones. Indeed, if you sell in several countries, it is likely that one potential customer gets up at the same time as another goes to bed! In response to this issue, some influencers and brands post the same message at different times of the day.

However, in an ideal world, it is best to avoid duplication of content and not repost the same message multiple times. If you can’t do otherwise, post the same message 4 times maximum and spread out the posts to reach as many time zones as possible.

Rather than thinking in terms of countries, you can think about the continent your customers are on:

  • If you are targeting the U.S. mainland and the U.S. and Canada in particular, it is recommended to target the East Coast time zone because, along with New York and Toronto, it will reach the largest number of people.
  • If you’re aiming for Europe, choose the CET (Central European Time) or UTC-1 time zone. This is France’s time zone.
  • If your potential customer base is in Asia, you can opt for China’s UTC-8 time zone. The country’s 1.4 billion people are all in the same time zone.

Don’t hesitate to use social media analytics tools like Google Analytics to find the data showing where your customers are located, so you can best plan the times that really match the behaviour of your target audience.

Best Instagram Post Time

An Instagram post is most likely to be effective (in terms of scope and commitment) when it is published on a favourable day and schedule. So what time to post on Instagram?

The best days to post on Instagram are Monday, Wednesday and Thursday. Sunday is the least favourable day. To hit your target, post weekdays instead of weekends.

But what time of posting on Instagram is the most favourable to get the maximum visibility and fallout? The best time to post on Instagram is usually lunch time (11am-1pm) and early evening (7pm-9pm).

Most Instagram users connect to the social network via their mobile and as such rarely do so when they are at work. Instead, they use break or travel times to view Instagram.

Verdict: Instagram time: 11am-1pm and 7pm-9pm on weekdays

Best time to post on Facebook

If you want your Facebook post to reach its target, it should be posted at a time when it is active on the social network. In general, the best time to post Facebook is on weekdays. Indeed, a large number of Facebook Users connect to the desktop, during the hollow moments. In this context, what is the best time to post on Facebook? The data shows that the right time of Facebook posting is between 1pm and 4pm for weekdays.

But Facebook users are also very active on weekends! In fact, it’s the weekends that meet the highest level of engagement on Facebook. Experts believe that the best time to post on Facebook on the weekend is Sunday at 3pm.

Verdict: Thus, the best days to post on Facebook are Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Tuesday is the least favourable day.

When to post on Twitter?

The best Twitter time is also around lunchtime, between 12pm and 1pm. But making a Twitter post just before lunch can also be effective.

Engagement on Twitter is usually at its highest level during business days. Indeed, many Twitter users make professional use of it. If you schedule your Twitter posting time during the Monday-Friday lunch break, you should create engagement.

It has been shown that the best day to post on Twitter is Wednesday. Weekends, namely Saturday and Sunday, are much less favourable.

Verdict: The best Twitter time: between 12pm and 1pm on weekdays.

When to post on Linkedin?

The best time for LinkedIn is in the morning, between 10 a.m. and 11 a.m. LinkedIn is a professional social network used by recruiters, executives and entrepreneurs; it is therefore used during office hours.

Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays tend to be the best days to post on LinkedIn. Evenings and weekends are the least favourable times for a LinkedIn publication. They generate much less engagement and visibility.

Verdict: When to post on LinkedIn? Between 10 a.m. and 11 a.m. seemed to work well

When to post on Pinterest?

The most favourable Pinterest release time is usually between 8 p.m. and 11 p.m. Indeed, mothers tend to be quite active on Pinterest, which may explain the late-night connection peak.

Saturday is usually the best day to post on Pinterest, as well as Sunday.

Regardless of the time of Pinterest publication, its users tend to be less active during office hours. If you publish at that time, you will probably get a lower level of engagement.

Verdict: Best Pinterest publishing time: between 8pm and 11pm and weekends

What time should you post on YouTube?

The best time to post YouTube is in the early afternoon, between 12pm and 4pm,because users usually watch videos in the evening, so they need to be indexed in advance.

But to define what time to post on YouTube, you first need to think about your strategy. If you plan to post a video on a weekend, following an event for example, prefer an hour of YouTube posting in the early morning, between 9am and 10am.

Thursday and Friday are the best days to post on YouTube while Saturday and Sunday garner the most views. Be aware that if you can create a lot of engagement, you can monetize your YouTube channel!

Verdict: What time to post on YouTube? Between 12pm and 4pm during the week, or between 9am and 11am on weekends

Conclusion

Keep a close eye on your audience engagement on your social networks and analyse the relevant data to find out what best time to post Instagram, Facebook, or any other social network you use to promote your brand.

Our recommendations may be helpful to start with, but remember that all brands are different and that even references can vary from platform and industry to industry. It all depends on the nature of your audience and their interests.

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