Pinning at nine in the morning? Tweeting late into the night? You might want to think again. With social media, timing is everything, and the best time to post on social media may be a lot more scientific than you think. A new infographic from Social Marketing Writing rounds up the latest in social media timing. Let’s dig into some of the key findings below (all times in EST).
Best Times: 1 p.m. – 4 p.m.
Best Day: Wednesday
Worst Times: 8 p.m. – 8 a.m. (next day)
Worst Days: Saturday and Sunday
That Magic Moment: Wednesday afternoons
Best Times: 1 p.m. – 3 p.m.
Best Days: Mon. – Thurs.
Worst Times: 8 p.m. – 9 a.m.
Worst Days: Saturday and Sunday
That Magic Moment: Weekday afternoons
Best Times: 2 p.m. – 4 p.m., 8 p.m. – 1 a.m.
Best Days: Saturday
Worst Times: 5 p.m. – 7 p.m.
Worst Days: N/A
That Magic Moment: Saturday afternoon
Google+
Best Times: 9 a.m. – 11 a.m.
Best Days: N/A
Worst Times: 6 p.m. – 8 a.m.
Worst Days: N/A
That Magic Moment: Mornings
Tumblr
Best Times: 7 p.m. – 10 p.m.
Best Days: Mon., Tues., Fri., Sat.
Worst Times: 10 p.m. – 4 p.m. (next day!)
Worst Days: N/A
That Magic Moment: Evenings
Best Times: 7 a.m. – 9 a.m., 5 p.m. – 6 p.m.
Best Days: Tues. – Thurs.
Worst Times: 10 p.m. – 6 a.m. (next day)
Worst Days: Mon. and Fri.
That Magic Moment: Just before/after work Tues. – Thurs.
Notes on Social Media Timing
- Surprisingly, Tumblr has an extremely narrow window of opportunity, compared to the rest of the platforms evaluated – just three hours of optimal posting time with 18 hours of every day blacked out.
- Social Marketing Writing doesn’t comment on optimal days for Google+, but you can use Timing+ to optimize your posts.
- Pinterest users go later into the night than anyone else.
- LinkedIn users – also surprisingly – aren’t actually using the network as much as you might expect throughout the workday.
Keep in mind that these figures are statistical averages. Your results can – and will – be different. Use an analytics tool to keep track of your own engagement patterns, and build your personal “social media timing” philosophy around the data extracted from your handles.
Also, no matter how carefully you try to orchestrate your posts, you’re most likely addressing a national or global audience that’s spread out over multiple time zones. So, don’t worry about the factors you can’t control; keep publishing great content!
What surprised you about this new data? In your experience, what’s the best time to post on Facebook/Twitter/Pinterest?