The best times to post on social media in 2022

Updated on January 9, 2022

5 min to read

Content Writer

Published January 9, 2022

The best times to post on social media in 2022
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Timing is everything, when you do things determines success as much as how you do them.  Content has to be posted at the optimal time for maximum engagement and reach.  Your audience has to be active on the platform at the time you post, which is a hit and miss situation if you don’t have the right data. If you post at 2pm and your audience logs on at 8pm, your post will be far down their feed and they are unlikely to see it at all.  Putting out great content on social media is important, but if you do so at the wrong time and your audience does not view it then it is a wasted exercise.  Once you have posted algorithms determine how much airtime your post will get from the first few engagements, so if engagement levels are low in the beginning it makes matters worse. The good news is that we now have loads of data that tells us when to post for success. We know exactly when our posts will do well on which platforms and for which industry. 

Table of contents

Going from strength to strength

Social media has changed the way we socially interact and the way we market our services, starting in 1997 and rapidly expanding into today’s billion dollar industry with a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 24.0%.  The social media analytics market is set to be worth more than 9 billion dollars by 2026.  The potential is huge and it’s something you want to learn about going forward to secure your marketing efforts. Knowing the in and outs of when to post for optimal engagement will serve you well into the future. This is a moving target though, as these times change and fluctuate, so the best idea is to keep an eye on trends and developments on an ongoing basis.

The best time to post per platform

The best time to post is determined by consumer behavior and demographics.  Consumer behavior is understanding your audience’s actions, habits and reactions. When are they using the social media platform you are posting on and when are they most likely to interact with your post are two pressing questions in this context. What we do know is that this differs per platform.  Let’s look into optimal posting times per platform according to research.

Facebook

The best time to post on Facebook is between 9 am and 1 pm in the afternoon.  You will get the most shares at 1 pm and the most clicks at 3 pm. The best days are Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and the worst day is Saturday.

Reddit 

The best time to post on Reddit is between 6am and 8am on weekdays and on Saturday between 7am and 9am. Early in the morning is when Reddit users are the most interactive. The best days to post are between Monday and Thursday. 

The worst day/time to post on Reddit is in the evening, users generally don’t use the platform in the evening after their work day due to work fatigue. 

Reddit users will log on on a Sunday, the best time to catch them is after 8am on a Sunday until noon.

Instagram

The best time to post on Instagram is Tuesday 11 am to 2 pm and Monday through Friday at 11 a.m. The best day is Tuesday and the worst day is Saturday. 

LinkedIn

The best time to post on LinkedIn is from Tuesday and Thursday 9 am to noon, Wednesday 9 am to 2 pm and as LinkedIn is a platform for work and careers it’s best to avoid the weekend, especially Saturday. 

Twitter

The best time to post on Twitter is  9am, on all days of the week.

The best day to post is Wednesday, which sees seven hours of peak engagement. There is a significant amount of engagement until 9pm in the night. Friday after 3pm and weekends are the worst day to post on Twitter.

YouTube

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The best time to post on YouTube is between 2pm and 4pm.  It’s interesting as these are the best times for marketing purposes, although the most traffic on YouTube is between 7pm and 10pm. The best days are later on in the week (Thursday & Friday) and the worst days are earlier on in the week (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday). 

The best time to post per industry

This is of course a vast subject with the number of industries around, but here are some recommendations on a few:

Fashion Industry

Weekends are great for the fashion industry on Instagram with the same for Facebook. But on Facebook those fashionistas can get some traction with late night posting, between 10pm and 7am.  On Twitter they will do well in the early morning or late night. 

Food and Beverage

For the food and beverage industry on Facebook the best time to post is between 7am and 7pm on Sundays, Monday and Friday mornings. In the twitter-sphere overnight or during the day on weekends tops other time slots.  People looking to eat away their Monday blues go onto Instagram to find the right spot and the best time to post is Mondays between 10am and 7pm.

Financial Services

On Twitter, it’s best to post before or after the workday for the finance sector, and anytime on the weekends. On Instagram it’s best to avoid weekend posting, go with the usual after work slot and you are good. Therefore it’s surprising that Sundays are great for the finance industry on Facebook.  

Heath and Beauty

For the health and beauty industry, weekends are best on Instagram, with Facebook the same except for a great posting window on Monday afternoon between 1pm-4pm. Late night posting for the health and beauty industry on Facebook can reap some benefits. When to tweet is similar, the recommendation is to focus on Sunday and late night, and to avoid during the workday on Thursdays and Fridays.

Technology

To reach the technology industry, the end of the workday or weekend mid-mornings are great for Instagram. For Facebook the best times are early on weekdays or mid-day over the weekends. They don’t like workday tweets, and for Twitter and technology, it’s best to post on weekends or late nights.

Influencers

Overnighting is great for influencers, along with daytime between Thursdays and Sundays on Facebook.  On Twitter weekends outshine weekdays, but if you do post on a weekday, make sure it’s early.  For Instagram its weekends, with early morning and late night doing well. 

Next steps

Try Vista Social to best manage your social media accounts. You can miss it by a minute if you don’t post at the perfect time. Social media management is complex, simplify with the right tools.   

Social media calendar

Interested in reading more on the intricacies of social media management? Find more of the same here: https://vistasocial.com/insights/


 




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