There Is a Best Time to Publish on Social Media and You Can Determine When It Is You work hard to post good content. Don't let it be overlooked because of poor timing.
By Lesya Liu •
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
You constantly pump out great content, so it's only natural you want it to be seen by the most people possible.
Strategic timing of the posts and sharing updates at peak times are among the best ways to increase your exposure organically. So, when are the peak times to post on social media? Tons of studies by respected companies have yielded often inconsistent, and sometimes even contradictory, findings but I know how to learn the best times for your specific audience.
Related: These Are the Best Times to Post on Social Media
According to Hootsuite, the best time to post on Facebook workdays is between 12 pm and 3 pm. SproutSocial extends that optimal window to be between 9 am to 3 pm on most days. Yet, CoSchedule, after evaluating 20 studies suggests, that 1 pm to 3 pm is the best time for Thursday through Sunday.
To know what works and what doesn't on Facebook, go to the Insight tab on the top. Find "Posts" and there it is! A personalized graph of the days and times your audience is most active on Facebook. Post new content 10 or 15 minutes prior to the recommended times.
Related: Why There's No Perfect Time to Post on Facebook
CoSchedule and Hubspot rank Wednesday as the best day for engagement on Twitter. Yet, SproutSocial gives preference to Thursdays.
To figure out the best publishing times for Twitter for audience, go to Twitter Analytics and hit Tweets. The spikes in impressions will quickly tell you everything you need to know about optimal posting times for your audience.
You can also sign up for Klout (free). It will start gathering information about your audiences and will suggest the best times to publish based on your followers.
Related: 7 Ways to Set Your Twitter Feed on Fire
LinkedIn is very professional-oriented, so it comes as no surprise that the best times for exposure have to be during typical work hours. All workdays produce nice engagement results between 8 am and 5 pm. However, the best days are Tuesday through Thursday. (We are overwhelmed on Mondays and too relaxed to bother on Fridays).
LinkedIn's analytics include an overview of all the posts on your business page as well as a breakdown of your followers and follower growth. SimplyMeasured is a free tool for figuring out the best publishing times for LinkedIn. Or, if you have CoSchedule, you'll be able to see that data inside this scheduling tool.
Related: 18 Tips to Create Your Perfect LinkedIn Profile (Infographic)
The research I've seen unanimously agrees the weekend is the best time to publish on this inspirational and leisurely network. Interestingly enough, the best time to post is betweem 2 to 4 am.
Not feeling like staying up until 2 am just to post to Pinterest? You can access your specific statistics by going to analytics.pinterest.com. Click into Audience, and then, Demographics. Don't forget to verify your website by inserting a snippet of code to access analytics.
Related: Pinterest Marketing Tips: What You Can Learn From 20 Big Brands
Google Plus
Apparently, Google Plus people like to check the platform first thing in the morning, because the best time to publish on this platform is 9 am, especially on a Wednesday. The worst time is early mornings and evenings.
To find the best times for engagement, try Steady Demand. The tool is so good, you even gain insight into your competitors' performance.
Related: 5 Ways Your Company Can Utilize Google+
Here, all researches agree that the best times to post are during workdays, but differ on the best day. They also all agree that early mornings and right after work hours are the best. It's generally ok to post during the entire day, but beware of some sort of blackout around 3 pm.
If you have a business account with Instagram, access Analytics and easily figure out the best days and times to post for your audience. If you do not, however, have a Business account, try a few free tools, such as, SimplyMeasured and Union Metrics, which are one of the best in the market.
Related: 7 Marketing Tips to Help Grow Your Brand on Instagram
Bonus tip: if your audience is spread across a few time zones, don't hesitate to repost your best content occasionally. Chances are high that not all of your audience saw it the first time, so adjust accordingly.
It's nice to have insights into general statistics and metrics. However, you have an abundance of tools to know the specifics that work for your business. Don't just rely on a third-party research, know the ins and outs of your strategy.
