Creating social media content that resonates with your target audience helps you better connect with them. It also increases the likelihood of receiving better engagement (likes, comments, and shares) on your posts.

But posting at the right time on social media can be the difference between your post going viral and getting lost in the sea of content. For instance, if your target audience is working professionals, posting during their lunch or after-work hours gives you a higher chance of reaching more of them than posting during peak working hours. Similarly, brands targeting stay-at-home parents may find success posting in the mid-morning or early afternoon when their audience has downtime.

However, if you're creating content for a broad audience, knowing the best time to post on social media can help increase your post's reach, improving the chances of getting better engagement.

In this blog, you'll learn the best time to post on social media based on data from research studies and recommendations by social media platforms. We will also share a few social media marketing tools to streamline content creation. Let's get started!

TL;DR:

• Creating social media content that resonates with your audience is key to engagement
• Posting at the right time can make a difference in reaching your target audience
• Factors like audience demographics, platform algorithms, and content type impact optimal posting times
• Consistent experimentation and analytics tracking are crucial for finding the best posting times
• Video content is gaining traction across platforms, and tools like Descript can help create professional-quality videos efficiently.

What's the overall best time to post on social media across all platforms? A cheat sheet

Wouldn't it be great if there was a magic hour when all social platforms aligned, and you could share your content everywhere at once? Sadly, it's not that simple. 

But if we analyze recent studies from Buffer, Hootsuite, and SocialPilot, we can create a quick cheat sheet to follow:

• The best days to post on social media: Monday to Wednesday (some studies also say Tuesday to Thursday)
• The best times to post on social media: 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.
• The worst days to post on social media: Saturday and Sunday
• The worst times to post on social media: Late at night and early in the morning (11 p.m. to 5 a.m.)

But this doesn't mean you should schedule all your posts for Tuesday at 10 a.m. These are averages, and the ideal time to post on social media may vary.

Is the best time to post on social media a myth or reality?

It's a bit of both. Your optimal posting time is a combination of general trends and your specific audience's behavior. Your followers may have unique engagement patterns, such as being active late at night or preferring certain types of content. 

Several factors come into play when determining your ideal posting time:

1. Audience demographics

Consider your target audience—busy professionals, college students, B2B buyers, or direct consumers. Their social media habits will differ wildly. Use your platform's audience insights features to understand your followers' age, occupation, and location. Creating audience personas and tailoring your posting schedule to their daily routines can help.

2. Platform-specific algorithms

Each platform has its recommendation engine that analyzes millions of data points to determine content preferences. Instagram's algorithm, for example, favors recency, while Facebook may focus more on the degree of meaningful interactions sparked by your content.

3. Seasonal and event-based adjustments

Your optimal posting time may shift with seasons. Your best posting time in summer might not work during the winter holiday season. Instead, holiday-themed content may see more engagement in the weeks leading up to the event, regardless of the time of the day it's posted.

4. Geographic and time zone considerations

If your audience spans multiple time zones, consider posting in overlapping slots when they're most active. Or create separate posting schedules for different geographic segments.

Pro tip: Like many global brands, you can have a dedicated social media handle for each country or region where you sell your products or services.

5. Content type and format

If you mostly share bite-sized video content, your lengthy text posts may get less engagement. Experimenting with posting different types of content at various times can unlock what works and what doesn't. 

6. Frequency and consistency

Posting frequency needs may differ by platform. LinkedIn users often recommend 3–4 posts per week, while X (formerly Twitter) may require more frequent updates due to a shorter content lifespan. If you see a drop in engagement when posting too frequently, reduce that frequency. If engagement stays steady, consider experimenting with increased frequency.

7. Competition

Use social listening tools like Sprout Social to monitor competitors' posting times and engagement rates. Look for gaps in their posting schedules that you could potentially fill.

8. Day-of-the-week variations

Weekends seem to be the lowest engagement days across platforms. You may be better off with a posting schedule that emphasizes mid-week content. 

Pro tip: Use social media analytics

While these insights provide a solid starting point, consistent experimentation and iteration are crucial for finding your ideal posting times. Most social media platforms offer native analytics tools, while third-party solutions like Hootsuite, Sprout Social, or Buffer can provide more in-depth data and cross-platform comparisons.

Track these metrics to find the best time to post on social media:  

• Reach and impressions
• Engagement rate
• Click-through rate
• Video views and watch time

Pay attention to when these metrics peak—your golden hour (or hours) for posting.

Remember: timing is just one piece of the puzzle. If your content isn't resonating with your audience, the best posting time in the world won't save it. 

The best times to post on each social media platform in 2024 

As we dive into the nitty-gritty of each platform, remember to use these insights as a starting point, then fine-tune them based on your analytics.

The best times to post on Facebook

These are the  best times to post on Facebook:

• 10 a.m. on Fridays (according to Buffer) 
• 7 a.m. on Fridays (according to Hootsuite) 
• 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. on Fridays (according to SocialPilot)

Almost all these studies consider Mondays and Tuesdays good days to post on Facebook, with weekday mornings generally showing higher engagement than weekends.

But here's the catch: Facebook's algorithm prioritizes posts from friends and family, so businesses have to work extra hard to show up in feeds. If you're a B2B page, you might find more success posting during work hours. For B2C, mid-day breaks or early evenings when folks are done with work could be your sweet spot.

Pro tip: Don't just post and ghost. Stick around to respond to comments quickly. Facebook loves that engagement and might give your post a boost.

The best times to post on Instagram

After analyzing 5.5 million posts, Buffer suggests the best time to post on Instagram is 7 or 8 a.m. on weekdays, with Sunday being the worst day. SocialPilot's study of over 50,000 Instagram accounts also reveals a similar trend: the best times are between 7 a.m. and 9 a.m.

However, Instagram uses different signals to rank different content formats, so feed posts, Stories, and Reels may not have the same prime times. 

For Stories, try posting outside work hours when people have time to tap through. Reels seem to perform well any time of day—garnering the highest engagement of all formats—but especially in the evenings when people are looking for entertainment.

The best times to post on X (formerly Twitter)

X is one of the fastest-moving social media platforms, where news updates and trends play a huge role. However, different audience groups use the platform differently. Developers may scroll through their feed late at night, while finance folks might engage more during market hours. 

For higher engagement, in general, consider these best times to post on Twitter or X:

• Weekday mornings between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. and evenings between 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. (according to SocialPilot)
• 11 a.m. on Mondays and Fridays (according to Buffer)
• 7 a.m. on Monday, while Fridays through Sundays seem better suited for posting at 9 a.m. instead (according to Hootsuite)

The best times to post on LinkedIn

According to Buffer's research, the best time to post on LinkedIn is between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. on weekdays. The middle of the week seems to be great for engagement, in particular—SocialPilot recommends posting between 10 a.m. and 12 p.m. on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays.

Content type matters here, too. Text-and-image posts and "documents" (AKA carousels) tend to get more engagement than external links and text-only posts.

LinkedIn users often seek industry insights and career advice. Time your posts when they're in work mode, not weekend mode.

The best times to post on TikTok

Opinions differ strongly regarding the best posting times for TikTok. Hootsuite suggests 7 p.m. on Thursdays for maximum engagement.

But according to Buffer, the best times to post on TikTok are:

• 2 p.m. on Mondays
• 4 p.m. on Wednesdays
• 8 a.m. on Saturdays

SocialPilot also has a string of recommendations:

• 2 a.m. to 9 a.m. on Tuesdays
• 9 a.m. to 7 a.m. on Thursdays
• 5 a.m. and 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. on Fridays
• 11 a.m. and 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Saturdays
• 4 p.m. on Sundays

Due to the short-form nature of the video content on TikTok, the platform's algorithm cares less about when you post and more about your ability to hook viewers. Just remember, on TikTok, trends move fast. What works today might be old news tomorrow.

The best times to post on YouTube

Post on YouTube at these times to get the most views on your videos:

• 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Fridays (according to Buffer)
• 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. on weekdays (according to SocialPilot)

On YouTube, when you promote matters just as much as when you post. Your video might go live at 2 p.m. on Friday, but you'll want to promote it across other platforms at peak times for those platforms.

Also, niche matters on YouTube. You might see a spike in views around dinner time if you're making cooking videos. Workout videos? Early morning or after work hours might be better.

Unlike other platforms, your video can gain traction days, weeks, or even months after you post it if you've optimized it for YouTube SEO. So don't stress too much about immediate views—focus on making evergreen content that'll stand the test of time.

The best times to post on Threads

Threads is Instagram's latest text-based platform, modeled on Twitter. 

Early adoption patterns reveal that Threads is seeing high engagement almost around the clock. 

But if we had to pin down some trends based on Hootsuite's suggestions, the best time to post on Threads is 8 a.m., while Tuesday is the best day to post.

Remember that Threads is evolving rapidly, and so are user habits. While an algorithmic feed is the default, users can arrange their feed chronologically, so timing may be everything here. But Threads makes the chronological setting difficult to find, so older posts are also likely get some love.

Pro tip: Threads pulls your followers from Instagram, so your best posting times might align closely with your Instagram engagement patterns. Start there and adjust as you go.

The best times to post on Pinterest

Pinterest isn't built for endless scrolling and instant gratification, unlike other social platforms. 

This is why "the best times to post" matter less on Pinterest. So, while posting during peak hours might give you an initial boost, your Pin can keep delivering for years, depending on its relevance and quality.

Still, these are the conclusions:

• 12 p.m. on Tuesdays and Fridays (according to Hootsuite)
• 3 p.m. on Fridays, 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. on Saturdays, and 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. from Monday to Sunday (according to SocialPilot)

Pinterest reach and engagement is also affected by seasonal trends. For example, people may visit the social media platform to look for Halloween ideas in September or Christmas recipes in November. 

Here's how to ride the seasonal wave:

• Start pinning seasonal content about 30–45 days before the actual event or holiday
• Keep evergreen content flowing year-round—it'll pop up in searches when relevant
• Use Pinterest Trends to see what's popular and when searches for specific topics peak

Pro tip: Interactive video pins are gaining traction on Pinterest. Use Descript to repurpose your longer videos into bite-sized clips to give yourself more time to perfect your Pinterest strategy.

Finding social media success with Descript

Now that you've mastered social media timing, it's time to improve your content strategy.

While each channel prioritizes certain content formats, video content seems to be gaining traction across platforms and can elevate your social media game. Investing in video content can benefit you with higher reach, engagement, and memorability among your audience.

And the best part? Creating polished videos has never been easier.

Descript's text-based video editing tools can help anyone—experienced or amateur—create professional-quality video content in a fraction of the time.

Imagine being able to:

• Produce more content to test different posting times
• Quickly capitalize on trending topics
• Maintain a consistent posting schedule without sacrificing quality

With automatic and industry-leading AI-powered transcription, filler word removal, Studio Sound, retake removal, and more, Descript takes care of the mundane as you focus on what matters most: engaging your audience at the right moment with compelling content.