Social Sprout, the marketing company, released a new study this week, The Best Times to Post on Social Media in 2021. Based on its own clients, the study shows some significant changes in the best posting times.
Of course, 2021 has been a unique year. Whole industries moved to “work from home” mode because of Covid. Normal business hours have expanded and the workweek now seems to be seven days long.
The study results didn’t include Pinterest, unfortunately. But if you post on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn, Social Sprout’s Best Times to Post on Social Media study results are useful.
We’ll start with a look at Instagram, a favorite for food writers.
The highest engagement times are in the middle of the weekday, but there’s decent engagement on weekdays from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. (Remember what we said about expanded business hours?) Instagram users stay up late; the platform is active until midnight.
The very best time to post on Instagram is Tuesdays, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. with Tuesdays the best day overall to post. Monday through Friday at 11 a.m. is also very strong.
Weekends are the weakest days to post on Instagram, with Sunday the worst day overall. But even weekends get good traffic from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.
If you’re looking for the best time to post on Facebook, what about 2 a.m. on Tuesday? The platform has a strong surge from 2 a.m. to 4 a.m. on weekdays. Go figure. It picks up again at 6 a.m. and continues with high engagement until 9 p.m. weekdays.
Facebook has decent engagement 20+ hours a day week days.
The best individual days are Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Saturdays and Sundays are the weakest days for posting on Facebook, but even then there’s decent engagement from 6 a.m. to 1 p.m.
The nature of Twitter means that the platform is best used for up-to-the-minute news. Announcements and reactions to real-time events are especially well suited to Twitter.
Twitter gets going at 6 a.m. and has healthy engagement until 9 p.m. weekdays. The best days to post on Twitter are Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
It slows down on Friday after 5 p.m. and stays on light duty Saturday but resumes engagement after 6 p.m. on Sunday, gearing up for the coming workweek.
The best time to post on LinkedIn reflects the traditional workweek, from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. weekdays. The very best time to post is 9 a.m. to noon Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.
Like Facebook, LinkedIn has extended engagement but LinkedIn is closer to 24 hours a day engagement.
The worst day to post on LinkedIn is Sunday, but even Sunday has good engagement from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Conclusion
Knowing the best time to post on social media can increase the reach of your posts. With the recent move en masse to work from home, engagement times have changed, expanding to almost 24 hours a day in some cases. Social Sprout’s latest study, The Best Time to Post On Social Media in 2021, reveals those changes.
Check out our related post The Ultimate Pinterest Guide for Food Bloggers.
