Every marketer posting on social media wants to know about the best times to publish their content for maximum impact and content engagement.
The data science team at Sprout Social, have put together an industry-researched report of detailed ‘Heat Maps’ specifying the best days and times for the four major platforms – Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn. We have summarised the findings into a quick snapshot below:
Best times to post on Facebook – general
Best times to post on Twitter – general
Best times to post on LinkedIn – general
Best times to post on Instagram – general
Source: Sprout Social
The key takeaways to remember:
There is no one size fits all solution
No magic time window will deliver the best results and what works for one brand or industry may not work for another. To break through the noise and build connections, test different times to determine what works for your business.
The best time to post will depend on the industry
For example, the tech industry mainly with a B2B focus, weekdays during work hours have the highest engagement, and weekends have the lowest. For consumer goods, depending on the platform, Instagram, sees the highest engagement on Saturdays, as opposed to LinkedIn, which sees the lowest engagement on the weekend.
A social publishing strategy is vital
In today’s competitive content marketing landscape, consumers expect brands to anticipate and meet their needs even before they ask. Social teams working with limited resources should focus their efforts on social channels preferred by their target audience to achieve the highest relevancy and return on investment.
Make the most of social media management tools
Managing social posts doesn’t have to be another daunting task marketers have to juggle. Using a social media management tool can be an efficient and effective use of time and resources while gaining valuable insights into audience behaviour and preference.
Using the Heat Map guidelines, along with insights from your own brand’s social engagement history will empower content marketers to be memorable, make authentic connections and provide the most value for consumers.
