When should you time your posts for?
Stop guessing when to post. Here's what the data actually says.
Most of us are scheduling our posts with either Typefully or Buffer.io and often times, we don't really think too hard on when we post. Some of us try to post at the same time each week, and those of us who get more analytical, will squint at the posts and engagement ratings, but those are muddled up with other factors.
Example of factors that affect engagement:
✅ Does this post have a scroll-stopping visual?
🤔 Does this topic usually do rather well?
💡 New hook style / post structure I am experimenting with
💩 There has been a burst of sensational content (Politics, Trends) and my content is being drowned out.
Which makes it really hard to tell what is the best time to post. So here is the research done by big companies over their BIG DATAsets.
TLDR
Behind the scenes of content creation 🚀
For Twitter (X):
✅ Best time = EST 9AM to 3PM
✅ Best days = Tuesdays to Thursdays. Wednesday is 👑
Researched with NotebookLM
Which Days
Weekdays are usually the best. Think of it this way:
Monday 💀 Morning dread.
Tuesdays 😄
Wednesday 🤩🚀
Thursdays 🚀
Friday 🙂
Saturday 💀
Sunday 😑 Only good if you are doing Youtube or Pinterest.
Details
Instagram: The best days to post are generally Mondays through Thursdays, with Friday also being a peak day.
Twitter (X): Tuesdays through Thursdays are often cited as the best days. Buffer suggests Monday, Friday, and Tuesday as solid options
Youtube is a mess: Monday through Thursday are generally the best days. Buffer identifies Friday as the best day, followed by Thursday and Wednesday. SocialPilot suggests Sunday as the best day.
Which Times
Late mornings and early afternoons on weekdays are often recommended.
This one gets a bit complicated because we now have to look at time zones and generally I will be speaking in EST, that is the time zone that a lot of these social media analyst are looking at.
Details
Instagram (EST)
Overall Best Times: 7 am to 9 am and 11 pm to 2 pm
Best Days: Mid-week days
Monday: 7 am, 11 am, 2 pm
Tuesday: 7 am, 10 am, 1 pm
Wednesday: 7 am, 9 am, 4 pm
Thursday: 7 am, 9 am, 2 pm
Friday: 7 am, 11 am, 3 pm
Saturday: 7 am, 12 pm, 3 pm
Sunday: 7 am, 11 am, 7 pm
Twitter (X) (EST)
Overall Best Times: Morning (9 am to 11 am), and lunch hours (around 1 pm)
Best Days: Wednesday and Thursday
Monday: 10 am to 11 am
Tuesday: 9 am and 1 pm
Wednesday: 9 am and 3 pm
Thursday: 10 am and 3 pm
Friday: 11 am and 1 pm
Saturday: 9 am and 8 pm
Sunday: 9 am to 3 pm
YouTube (EST)
Overall Best Times: Weekdays (2 pm to 4 pm), Weekends (9 am to 11 am)
Best Day: Sunday
Monday: 12 pm, 3 pm, 7 pm
Tuesday: 12 pm, 4 pm, 8 pm
Wednesday: 12 pm, 2 pm, 6 pm
Thursday: 12 pm, 3 pm, 8 pm
Friday: 10 am, 1 pm, 9 pm
Saturday: 9 am, 11 am, 7 pm
Sunday: 9 am, 12 pm, 7 pm
Behind-the-Scenes: My Post Timings
My post timings are scheduled with reference to this research, but I have also added a bit of randomisation because I don't want to post at the exact same time as other people who have read these articles.
I followed the general principle of midday weeks have more posts, and then I considered my audience, because if you're reading about burnout, you are probably somebody who is a bit tired and already burntout. So Friday is going to be a rest and relaxation day.
If you are an aspiring content creator because you don't want to do your 9-to-5 job, then you are likely working on it in the weekends, so that is still a good time to post for me.
Ciao
It might seem like we are trying too hard, but even when I was in academia, there was this consciousness of when you should be submitting your paper to Arvix, so that more people are likely to come across it. In this new modern age of having a flood of content, marketing is arguably even more important than writing.
👋 Hope this helps! Would love to hear about your content strategies, if you are up for a chat or sharing back. Comment below or PM me.