It’s a question we get possibly more than any other; when exactly is the best time to post onto social media? What’s that magic timing ingredient that makes posts go viral and significantly increase your reach?

Unfortunately, ‘one size doesn’t fit all’, and there is in fact no one optimum posting time for all social media platforms (sorry for all of you fans of social media automation out there!). Fortunately for rest of you, by the end of this blog post you should know when the most suitable posting time is for your favoured social media sites.

Facebook

Businesses usually publish Facebook updates during weekdays (stands to reason as that’s when you’re in the office!), but if you’re selling a product or service to individuals, research has shown the best days to interact with them is towards the end of the week and at weekends.

Posts made on Saturdays and Sundays boost shares and likes by 32%. With the weekend in sight people also engage on Thursdays, and with the Friday feeling people potential engagement can be up to 18% higher!

Maximise your content by posting at lunchtime, even better during the evening from 7pm to 9pm.

So – weekends (we find Sundays are a winner) between 7 – 9pm. Got it!

Twitter

Focussing on businesses? Weekdays are going to be a winner for you, providing 14% more engagement than Saturday and Sunday.

We find the evenings between 7 – 10pm have always been the most engaging, although also try to focus on lunch breaks, when people have just gotten to work and of course, Friday afternoon when minds may be on social media rather than the work load!!

Trying to reach individuals? Engagement is highest at weekends and during the morning and evening commute. People are more likely to retweet from 5pm on the way home from work, in total this contributes to around 6% of the day’s total retweets across the UK!

Important thing to remember here; business owners are also individuals and potential customers in their own right; make sure you have a strong and even Twitter presence across the week if you’re looking to really gain from Twitter.

LinkedIn

With nearly 400 million members, when’s best to get a hold of them?

Unlike Facebook and Twitter, LinkedIn’s audience is primarily Business-to-Business (B2B), which means the most popular time to post is during business hours on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

Research shows posts made on Mondays and Fridays receive very low engagement.

The best time to engage with your audience is first thing in the morning from 7am to 8am before typical work hours and when people are commuting.

TIP: Share your news to business connections by publishing a post rather than sharing an update; they’ll get a notification about your news the next time they login! Great for engaging and spreading the word when used well.

Instagram

Although Instagram isn’t as popular with businesses when it comes to marketing, if your company uses the picture-sharing app the stats show the best time to post is out of office hours; mornings between 7am and 9am and evenings between 8pm and 9pm.

However, research has also shown users will still interact with posts regardless of when they are uploaded, so feel your way into it and find what works best for your own following!

Google+

The majority of people using Google+ don’t interact with content, but Google has indicated you can attract more social engagement by posting late morning on weekdays.

Time your posts tailored around customers and clients by using the Timing+ tool. It helps you decide when the best time is to post by analysing historical data and shows you which posts are having more impact with followers.

We don’t even need to tell you; they’ve got it all worked out! Or so they say!

For more information about how we can help you to gain more from your social media activity please give us a call on 01566 232323 or email hello@mihidigital.co.uk