What is the Best Time to Post on Social Media?

One of the most frequent questions we receive in regards to social media is about optimal posting times. When is the best time to post on this platform or that platform? How much does it matter? How can I figure it out?

We created a full-length deep dive into this subject in our digital ministry training hub, but wanted to offer 2 perspectives here to our blog readers on the topics “what is the best time to post on social media?” and “there is no best time to post on social media.” 

Click here for the Youtube video.

This is the first question, but for the full perspective, you really need to read or watch both. And, as always, for more information, jump into the Digital Ministry Training Hub to get the full picture.

So what is the best time to post on social media?

The best time to post on social media is…

The best time to post on social media is when your audience is most likely to see and engage with what you post.

Great – what time is that?

C’mon, did you really think this would be that easy? Did you think you’d be able to 9:23 a.m. exactly for every single person who reads this article? Done, that’s all you need, mic drop.

Unfortunately, it’s rarely that cut and dry when it comes to social media.

The time your audience is most likely to see and engage with what you post is going to be specific to your audience… 

• Who do you serve or speak to?
• Where are they located? Timezone is certainly a factor.
• When do they most frequently use social media?
• What platform are they using?
• What platform are you posting on?

Here’s a fun one – 

• Does this platform prioritize recent content or evergreen content?

Let’s talk about that for a second.

Because there are a lot of social media platforms out there and they don’t exactly all function the same way. What would be the point of having seven different types of Facebook, right?

If you are posting somewhere like Twitter, which is not necessarily where we tell faith communities to focus their time and attention… but let’s say that is the social platform up for discussion today.

Posts on Twitter have a much shorter life cycle than somewhere like YouTube.

This means that the time of when you post on Twitter will matter a little more, because people cycle through content much faster on Twitter.

A research study found that the half life of a tweet is 24 minutes… Twitter moves quickly. Within a day, your tweet is old news.

On platforms like YouTube, however, your content will be much more evergreen. This means, your content will be viewed weeks, months, and even years down the road. 

YouTube is a search engine, so as people search for content related to your video subjects, your content will pop up, no matter how much time has passed.

When Is My Audience Most Engaged?

So now that we understand that the way people find and engage with our content can be platform-specific, how do we figure out when people are most engaged on that specific platform?

Most platforms will give you some sense of audience activity analytics for free. 

For example, our YouTube analytics clearly show us the times our audience is most active on YouTube (at least over the past month, in this example). 

For deeper insights, you can subscribe to a scheduling tool like Later.com or Metricool. Even making use of a free trial might give you all the data that you need to move forward. (PS: we talk more about scheduling options in this video).

So once you know what days and what time of day your audience is most frequently online – then what?

Should you post when they are online? Just before? A few hours before?

Before we share our favorite tips, it’s important to acknowledge that there are a lot of different perspectives on this subject. 

We go over more of these in the full Hub video “How Important are Optimal Posting Times?” so that you can make the most informed decision possible, but if you just want to know our opinion, here it is…

Posting just before or at the start of when your audience is most online is a great practice. If you post when your audience is most active, it may even pop up as they are scrolling through their feeds (Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, etc!). 

This means there’s a high chance your audience will see your content.

But don’t feel limited to the exact time your audience is most engaged – some suggest posting just a little before peak hours as it gives your posts some time to gain traction. The idea is that by the time the bulk of your people are online, the post will already have some engagement on it that they can amplify, boosting it in the algorithm.

No matter when you’re posting, one of our favorite best tips for when to post on social media is to avoid posting at the top of the hour.

Your post made at 11:00 a.m. is going to have so much more competition than a post that is made at 11:03 a.m. or 10:54 a.m.

This concept can be carried into sending emails as well.

Have you ever noticed you have a slew of email subscriptions that send their daily/weekly message out at exactly the same time? When someone’s notifications go from 0 to 12 all at once, they’re going to be less likely to give time to each message.

Similarly, schedule or make your posts off of the hour but just before your audience’s peak time online to get the most interaction on your content.

Be Available

Finally, it’s ideal to make your posts a time when you can hang out and engage with any comments that may trickle in from followers who jump immediately on your latest piece of content.

This helps people feel like you are truly live and present, rather than automated. Although, if the only way you can make this happen is to automate and schedule, we’d suggest doing that.

Make time later to come back and engage with any comments or messages you may have received.

Quality Over Timing

Although this is the “best time to post on social media” article and not the “there is no best time to post on social media” article, we have to point this out…

Ultimately, the quality of the content you are posting is more important than the timing of it.

Every single one of my social media platforms could look into the future and magically hand deliver me an exact time each day to reach my audience that specific day, but if my posts aren’t engaging, eye-catching, or valuable to my people, timing does not matter.

Likewise, if I didn’t have access to any scheduling platforms and I could only post at 2 a.m. when I got home from a late night work shift, but my content was absolutely enchanting for my people, they’re going to find it.

So yes, dive into your analytics and watch our full Hub video  understand all of your options, but ultimately, make content that people want to see and engage with.

For more information on scheduling platforms, creating engaging social media posts, and connecting with your people online, be sure to sign up for access to the Digital Ministry Training Hub to grow your community online and beyond.