Be social media smart — post on the best hours and gain more reach
Are you looking to increase the engagement in your brand’s social media channels? The answer is probably yes. It doesn’t have to be as hard as you may think — one of the first steps is namely to know when to post. We have put together a short but informative guide for you to use in those moments when you’re not sure at what time you should upload that great content.

But what does it mean to post on the “right time”? What is the definition of a successful social media post? First of all, organizations must have personalized marketing KPIs for each campaign. Also, the right audience should see the right message at the right time in their consumer cycle. In other words, there are many different components to keep track of. A key thing to remember is, however, that every audience is different. Because of this, there isn’t only one answer to what time is the best to post on social media. Customers don’t work on your schedule — you work on theirs.
While it’s nice to have followers and acquaintances liking videos of your cute cat, this probably won’t lead to what you are really looking for in the end — conversions. Because of this, you need to look at how your channels are performing in general and according to this set realistic benchmarks which will contribute to your company goals.
Often times, your ideal posting time has a logical explanation and the more you learn about your product and how people use it, it will make more sense when to make the posts. Despite this, there are still some statistics that can be useful to keep in mind when working with your brand’s social media.
According to research, the best time to post on Facebook, if you want views, clicks and comments, is between noon and 4 PM. Even though you would think that most people are at work during these hours, fact still states that Facebook usage peaks during these hours. Also, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays are the best days to post — statistics show that Fridays account for 17 % of all Facebook comments(!)
On Instagram, it’s a good idea to try stand of from the crowd. This is probably also the reason why the best time to post on Instagram turns out to be around 2 AM. Since everyone else is posting on Instagram during the day, content posted at that time are at risk of drowning. By posting at, let’s say, 2 AM instead you have the chance of catching your competitors sleeping, which will rack up engagement for your posts and make them end up at the top of users’ feeds in the morning. Smart, right?
In addition to this, lunchtime is also a good time to post on Instagram — simply because that’s when people are more likely to take a break from their busy day.
Twitter posts peak at a logical pattern — namely at noon, when most people are having lunch and at 5–6 PM, when most people leave work.
This channel is perfect for portioning out small pieces of easily accessible information, which makes this content perfect for people to consume during a lunch break or while commuting home from work. Because of this, posting on Twitter is usually best to do on work days — Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday are your best bet.
The routines users have with LinkedIn vary quite a lot. Some people have the daily routine of logging in and scrolling through their professional network every morning when they get to work, and some people do the same thing when they get home from work. The later alternative is, however, the most common one. Because of this 5–6 PM is the most effective time to post on LinkedIn.
The weekdays that people prefer to check their LinkedIn the most on are Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday — the middle of the week. Probably because during the other, weekend related days, people are busy thinking and dreaming about their weekends and don’t have time for work related stuff. These are obviously the best days to post on LinkedIn as well, if you want to maximize the engagement.
If you run an international business, it can also be a good idea to experiment with time zones. With, for example Facebook Ads, you can target ads to exact times in different time zones to narrow down your peak time, or you can create multiple identical posts and target them to different time zones to make sure they arrive at the exact right moment. This may be a bit too ambitious for some brands, but it’s still an example of how brand can work to optimize their ideal time for posting on social media.
Despite all of this, in the end, it all comes down to how well you know your target audience and their relationship with your brand and your product. When you know this, you will probably also know when the best times are for you to make posts in different social channels.
At Flowbox, we work with user-generated content, which says a lot about users and their interests. Want to know more about how you can get to know your audience? Get in touch!

