We all know the power of social media, but did you know the timing of your post is as crucial as the content of the post? Each social media platform has its own purpose and target audience. Likewise, the amounts and types of user engagement, as well as the best timing to optimise for engagement on the platforms would differ.
As more and more people are shifting to working from home in this pandemic, user engagement on social media platforms has also increased dramatically. Brands that are able to successfully capture the timings to release content on the platforms would also be able to fully utilise their social media strategy.
As the most used social platform in the world, Facebook boasts an impressive user engagement. However, different people use Facebook in different ways, and it is important to cater to the target audience. One way for a brand to improve its engagement would be to utilise Facebook Insight, which provides data on when its audience is most active, as well as posts that have the most engagement.
The following chart for SproutSocial shows the “best” times to post on Facebook as per data in 2021.
Source: SproutSocial
As observed in the chart, in general, weekdays, evenings and early mornings would be the best time to post on Facebook, while Saturdays are the worst time to post.
In recent years, Instagram has continuously updated its platform to include more features such as Instagram Reels, Instagram Live and even pushing discovery on its Explore page with Instagram Guides. With its multiple features, Instagram provides a platform for brands to experiment and publish different types of content. Typically, high-engagement content would include having high-quality photos and graphics to reinforce the brand’s visual identity. Brands would also appreciate the ability to share more in-depth information through Instagram Guides. These features all go towards helping facilitate user engagement on the platform. A chart from SproutSocial is shown below:
Source: SproutSocial
While not definitive, many studies have shown that the best time to post on Instagram would be Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday from 11 am to 2 pm, with the worst time being on Sunday.
However, rather than just following these ‘best times’, it is crucial to create content that would fit in with the tone and voice typical of your specific target audience. If you own a Business Instagram account, Instagram Insights is a source of information on when your audience is most active. According to Buffer.com, an Instagram business account would be able to access data such as the type content that led to profile visits and days with the most content interactions. For businesses that want to dive deeper into their account, there are plenty of free and paid Instagram analytics tools available.
As a platform focused on news and information, Twitter’s user engagement peaks during the weekdays, with increased periods of high engagement in the morning. This is likely because users tend to catch up with the latest news and tweets in the morning, especially news updates regarding current affairs and the pandemic.
Source: SproutSocial
As such, the best time to post on Twitter would be on Wednesdays to Fridays from 9 am to 12 pm, with the worst time being on the weekends.
Centred around professional content and career growth, LinkedIn provides an ideal platform for brand-to-brand marketing and professional development. This points to a higher user engagement during the weekdays as the majority of users would access and engage with such types of content on their working days.
Content types that are aimed at engagement, such as slides and polls, have also recently been popular on LinkedIn. Both corporate and personal brands might find it useful to take a look at engaging with audiences in these manners.
Source: SproutSocial
Rather unsurprisingly, the best times to post on LinkedIn would be from Tuesday to Thursday from 9 am to 12 pm, and the worst time being on Sunday.
So when is the best time?
In summary, it is important to consider the platform, audience engagement timings and the type of content suited for the target audience when posting on social media. A successful brand is one that is able to capture these 3 factors in the social media strategy.
However, please note that the time listed here is just a general guide, it might differ based on your target audience and other factors. In order to determine the best time to release content for your target audience, experimentation is required.
We hope that this guide would be helpful in the planning of your content calendar! If you require any further help, feel free to reach out to us at hello@growth.sg.