Are you wondering about the best time to post on social media? We were too — so we decided to crunch some data and find out.

The Hootsuite team partnered with data science agency Critical Truth for a comprehensive study. We analyzed over 1 million social posts — across industries and social networks — and we found the definitive best times to post for maximum engagement.

Below, you’ll find the data-based best times to post on social media from Q3 (July-Septmeber) 2024.

Psst: A Q4 update is coming soon!

Overall best days and times to post on social media in 2024

Generally, the ideal time to post on social media in 2024 overall is 8:00 AM on Wednesdays. But every network has its own sweet spot.

• The best time to post on Facebook is 7 AM on Saturdays.
• The best time to post on Instagram is 5 AM to 7 AM on Wednesdays.
• The best time to post on X (Twitter) is 10 AM to 1 PM on Mondays and Tuesdays.
• The best time to post on LinkedIn is 7 AM – 8 PM on workdays.
• The best time to post on TikTok is 3 PM on Thursdays.
• The best time to post on Threads is 8:00 AM on Tuesdays.
• The best time to post on Pinterest is 12:00 PM on Fridays.

Note: Time of day was localized across 118 countries where sample data came from, i.e. the stats and graphs featured in this post are accurate across time zones.

If you’re looking for industry-specific best times to post, check out our dedicated articles, where we dig into details on construction, hospitality, education, finance, government, healthcare, retail, and more.

• Best time to post on Instagram
• Best time to post on Facebook
• Best time to post on TikTok
• Best time to post on Linkedin

Best time to post on Instagram

The best time to post on Instagram is 5 AM – 7 AM on Wednesdays.

When to post on Instagram:

• Monday: 7 AM to 6 PM
• Tuesday: 7 AM to 6 PM
• Wednesday: 5 AM to 7 AM
• Thursday: 7 AM to 6 PM
• Friday: 7 AM to 6 PM
• Saturday: 7 AM to 11 AM
• Sunday: 8 AM to 12 PM

Best time to post on Facebook

According to Hootsuite data, the best time to post on Facebook is 7:00 AM on Saturdays.

When to post on Facebook:

• Monday: 4 AM, 9 AM, and 1 PM
• Tuesday: 5 AM – 7 AM
• Wednesday: 5 AM – 8 AM
• Thursday: 6 AM – 9 AM
• Friday: 5 AM – 8 AM
• Saturday: 7 AM
• Sunday: 5 AM – 7 AM

Best time to post on LinkedIn

The best time to post on LinkedIn is 7 AM – 8 PM on weekdays, according to our analysis. The platform’s userbase is consistently engaged throughout the week!

When to post on LinkedIn:

• Monday: 7 AM – 9 PM
• Tuesday: 5 AM – 10 PM
• Wednesday: 5 AM – 1 PM
• Thursday: 5 AM – 11 PM
• Friday: 7 AM – 9 PM
• Saturday: 9 AM – 5 PM
• Sunday: 9 AM – 1 PM

Best time to post on X (Twitter)

According to our research, the best time to post on Twitter is from 10 AM to 1 PM on Mondays and Tuesdays.

When to post on X (Twitter):

• Monday: 8:00 AM – 3 PM
• Tuesday: 10 AM – 1 PM
• Wednesday: 11 AM – 1 PM
• Thursday: 9 AM – 1 PM
• Friday: 10 AM – 1 PM
• Saturday: 11 AM – 1 PM
• Sunday: 10 AM – 1 PM (but keep in mind, Sunday engagement is the lowest!)

Best time to post on TikTok

According to our analysis, the best time to post on TikTok is at 3 PM on Thursdays.

When to post on TikTok:

• Monday: 3 PM
• Tuesday: 3 PM – 5 PM
• Wednesday: 3 PM
• Thursday: 3 PM
• Friday: 12 PM

Weekends are not a great time for businesses to post on TikTok, according to our data.

Best time to post on Threads

According to our data, the best time to post on Threads is 8:00 AM PST on Tuesdays.

When to post on Threads:

• Monday: 9:00 AM PST
• Tuesday: 8:00 AM PST
• Wednesday: 12:00 PM PST
• Thursday: 9:00 AM PST
• Friday: 2:00 PM PST
• Saturday: 12:00 PM PST
• Sunday: 1:00 PM PST

Best time to post on Pinterest

The best time to post on Pinterest, according to our data, is 12:00 PM PST on Tuesdays and Fridays.

When to post on Pinterest:

• Monday: 10:00 AM PST
• Tuesday: 12:00 PM PST
• Wednesday: 10:00 AM PST
• Thursday: 6:00 PM PST
• Friday: 12:00 PM PST
• Saturday: 1:00 PM PST
• Sunday: 4:00 PM PST

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What do experts say about the best times to post on social media?

We’ve interviewed the experts from Hootsuite’s very own social media team for additional insights on the best times to post. Here are their top tips for reaching your audience when they’re most active.

1. Instagram: Early mornings are best for brands, evenings for personal accounts

Eileen Kwok, Social and Influencer Marketing Strategist at Hootsuite, notes that the type of account you manage will determine the right approach:

If you’re managing a brand account, I think it’s always good to post on Instagram early in the day. However, I find that when it comes to personal accounts, your own Instagram account for example, most people prefer to post at night time — 8 or 9 p.m.

The team also believes that evening scrolling habits can be more beneficial for certain industries, such as real estate, retail, and entertainment:

People tend to house hunt, shop, and watch videos later in the day.

2. Facebook: Focus on time zones

Trish Riswick, Social Media Marketing Team Lead at Hootsuite, emphasizes the importance of aligning posts with your audience’s time zone:

Our biggest piece of advice is always to target the time zone where your audience is. For us, North America and the U.K. are our primary targets. If we’re posting things at 3 p.m. PST, that’s 10 p.m. in the U.K. We have to be a bit more morning-focused to make sure we’re reaching our U.K. audience.

That said, the nature of Facebook gives brands a lot of flexibility:

The good news is that almost half of all users check Facebook multiple times a day, and they spend longer on this social media platform than many others.

3. LinkedIn: Mornings are for reads, afternoons for videos

For LinkedIn, Trish suggests tailoring your content type to different times of the day:

We tend to post more written content in the morning and videos in the afternoon.

She also highlights the evolving audience on the platform:

4. X (Twitter): Timing is key for trends and news

The recency-focused nature of X means that mornings can often be the best time to post. As Trish notes:

We recently ran a poll that suggested we should be posting more readable things in the morning when people are just getting ready for work or on their lunch break.

However, keeping an eye on real-world events is crucial for X’s fast-paced environment. Eileen says:

It’s smart to keep in mind what’s going on in the world as a basis of when you should be posting. For example, if it’s the Super Bowl and social media will be really busy with content, maybe you don’t want to post on that specific time or even on that day of the week because you will get less engagement.

5. TikTok: Patience pays off

TikTok’s algorithm takes some time time to deliver content to the right feeds, which means patience is key. Here’s Eileen’s advice on managing expectations:

Don’t get discouraged if your post doesn’t garner a lot of views in the first couple of hours it’s posted. TikTok videos tend to need 24 hours to be fully pushed out, so we recommend keeping the post out even if it doesn’t receive high engagement right off the bat.

Trish adds that timing your posts earlier than you’d expect can help:

Sometimes TikTok can take a little bit to actually get your video out because it’s trying to figure out what your video is, whose algorithm it should fall on, that kind of stuff.

6. Pinterest: Focus on SEO over timing

Unlike other platforms, Pinterest prioritizes content through searchability rather than recency. Eileen’s advice is to focus on optimizing your posts for search:

What determines your best time to post?

Finding the best time to post to social media isn’t just about picking a random time and hoping for the best. It’s a blend of art and science, influenced by a variety of factors that shape your audience’s online behavior.

Let’s dive into what makes the timing tick.

1. Your unique audience

Your audience isn’t just a statistic; they’re real people with their own quirks and habits. Understanding who they are is the first step to figuring out when they’re most likely to be scrolling through their feeds.

When determining your personal best time of day to post on social media, think about your audience’s demographics (age, gender, location, interests), as well as their social media habits.

Are they night owls or early birds? Do they work 9-to-5 jobs or have flexible schedules? Knowing these details can give you clues about when they’re most active online.

But don’t stop there — use analytics tools provided by social media platforms to dig deeper.

Look for patterns in when your audience is most engaged. Maybe they’re more active on weekdays during lunch breaks or evenings after dinner.

By tapping into these insights, you can tailor your social media calendar to catch their attention at peak engagement times.

2. Your industry

Different industries have different rhythms when it comes to social media activity. What works for a fashion brand might not be the best social marketing strategy for a tech startup.

Take a moment to consider the nature of your business and how your audience interacts with similar businesses.

For example, if you’re in the fitness industry, you might find that your followers are most active in the early morning or late afternoon when they’re squeezing in workouts.

On the other hand, if you’re in the entertainment industry, evenings and weekends might be peak times for the most engagement when people are winding down and looking for something to do.

It’s worth keeping an ear to the ground in your industry, whether you learn tactics worth emulating, or just spot some pitfalls to avoid. (You might even consider adding publishing schedules to your ongoing social listening endeavors.)

3. The competition

Keep an eye on what your competitors are doing, too. While you don’t want to copy them outright, monitoring their posting schedules can give you insights into when your shared audience is most active.

Take a survey of their high-performing social media posts (or even do a full social competitive analysis) and see what patterns crop up, or perhaps reverse-engineer your competitors’ strategies.

Here at Hootsuite, for instance, we’ve learned to avoid publishing on the hour, because that’s when a lot of brands post.

Instead, we post on the :15 or :45 mark to give our social media content a little breathing room.

Hootsuite’s industry benchmarking tool within Analytics shows you how you stack up to the competition. It’ll even give you personalized tips for how to gain an edge against the leaders in your industry.

4. Time zones

Understanding your target audience’s time zones is crucial for ensuring that your posts reach them when they’re most likely to be online.

If your followers are scattered across the globe, you’ll need to consider the different time zones they live within.

For example, if you’re based in Vancouver but have followers in New York, London, and Tokyo, posting at 9:00 AM local time might mean reaching your East Coast audience bright and early, but missing out on social media engagement from your international followers who are fast asleep.

At Hootsuite, our channels strive to catch people across North America (PST through EST) by posting in the morning or early afternoon, Pacific Time.

For channels that also want to catch the UK, the earlier in the morning, the better.

Meanwhile, brands with a substantial audience in a specific region might consider creating a separate handle for that audience. (This may have the added benefit of allowing you to post in a target language, too.)

To accommodate everyone, you’ll need to find a balance that maximizes visibility across multiple time zones.

This might involve scheduling posts at different times throughout the day or using social media management tools that allow you to schedule posts in advance and target specific time zones.

5. Platform algorithms

Social media platforms are constantly tweaking their algorithms to deliver the best possible experience for users. While the specifics are often shrouded in mystery, one thing’s for sure: timing matters. Social platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter reward content that generates engagement shortly after it’s posted. That means if you want your post to get maximum visibility, you’ll need to time it just right.

Pay attention to when your audience is most active and aim to publish during those peak periods. But don’t forget about the lifespan of your content either.

While some posts might have immediate impact, others — like evergreen content — can continue to attract engagement over time. Experiment with different posting times and track the results to find what works best for your audience and content strategy.

6. Current events and trends

Social media is a dynamic landscape, shaped by current events, holidays, and trends. Paying attention to what’s happening in the world can help you capitalize on timely opportunities to connect with your audience.

Is there a big industry conference happening? A national holiday or observance? A viral meme or trending topic? Incorporating these events into your posting schedule can help your content feel relevant and timely, increasing the likelihood of engagement.

Just be mindful of the context and tone of your posts — what might be appropriate for one event could be off-putting for another. Keep your finger on the pulse of what’s happening and be ready to adapt your strategy accordingly.

Paige Schmidt, Hootsuite’s Social Engagement Coordinator, has noticed that events and trends are big in 2024. “There’s a growing demand for relevant and timely content that aligns with pop culture events such as sports events, award shows, and music/movie releases. Brands that plan content around these events or mark them for scheduling stand to capture audience attention effectively,” she says.

7. Experimentation and analysis

At the end of the day, there’s no one-size-fits-all formula for the perfect posting time. What works for one brand might not work for another. That’s why it’s essential to approach your posting strategy with a spirit of experimentation and a willingness to learn.

Test different posting times, frequencies, and types of content to see what resonates most with your audience.

Use analytics tools to track key metrics like engagement, reach, and click-through rates, and use that data to refine your approach over time.

You should also take a look at your top-performing posts from the past, and see what can be mimicked or improved upon there. Take a close look at posts that did the best in terms of:

• Awareness (i.e., posts that have high impressions)
• Engagement (i.e., posts that earned the highest engagement rates)
• Sales/Traffic (i.e.,posts that attracted a lot of clicks)

Next, take a look at what time of day or week you posted successful content, and see what kind of patterns emerge.

Pro tip: Hootsuite Analytics’ Best Time to Publish feature pulls your unique posting history automatically, without any data-crunching, and suggests times to post in order to maximize your ROI.

Remember, social media is a constantly evolving landscape, so be prepared to adapt and iterate as you go.

How to find your unique best posting times with Hootsuite

Gone are the days of blindly tossing content into the digital ether and hoping for the best. Hootsuite offers two powerful tools – Best Time to Publish and Recommended Times in Composer – to help you schedule your posts at the best times for your audience.

Here’s how to take advantage of both.

Best Time to Publish

Imagine having your own personal social media strategist whispering in your ear, telling you exactly when to hit that “post” button.

That’s exactly what Hootsuite’s Best Time to Publish feature does for you.

Here’s how it works:

1. Tailored suggestions: Hootsuite analyzes your social media performance over the last 30 days to provide personalized recommendations for the best times to publish your posts.
2. Cross-platform compatibility: Whether you’re managing Facebook Pages, Twitter accounts, Instagram Business profiles, LinkedIn Pages, Pinterest, YouTube, or TikTok, Hootsuite can tell you exactly when your audience is most active on each individual platform.
3. Simple Implementation: Once you have your suggested posting times, scheduling your posts is a breeze. Just hop over to the scheduling tool in Hootsuite and plug in your content for those optimal times.

Recommended Times in Composer

Ever find yourself staring at a blank screen, wondering when on earth to schedule your next post? Say goodbye to that uncertainty with Hootsuite’s Recommended Times in Composer.

Here’s how it can simplify your life:

1. Smart recommendations: When creating or scheduling a post in Composer, simply select “Schedule for later” and let Hootsuite do the heavy lifting. You’ll be presented with recommended times based on your audience engagement data.
2. Continuous improvement: The more you post, the smarter Hootsuite’s recommendations become. As your engagement data grows, so too does the accuracy of your suggested posting times.

Get personalized recommendations for the best time to post on every network and manage your Facebook presence alongside other social channels with Hootsuite. From a single dashboard, you can schedule and publish posts, engage the audience, and measure performance. Try it free today.

The post Best time to post on social media: Q3 2024 data appeared first on Social Media Marketing & Management Dashboard.