The Best Times to Post on this Top 8 Social Media Networks [Gifographic]

There is no denying it, we live in the age of social media. Not only does social media help connect individuals from different parts of the world, but it also provides a strong platform for marketing and publicity. Currently, social networking sites are considered to be some of the fastest and most efficient modes of communication.

The Importance of Posting at the Right Time

News travels faster through social media because these platforms have so many active users at any given moment. The timing of any posted content is essential to targeting a specific audience.

Posting at the right times, on the right social networks will help make sure that the right people see your content. It can also help drive more traffic to your site, and boost the results of your social media marketing campaigns..

Best Times to Post On the 8 Most Popular Platforms

1. Facebook – The News Feed algorithm makes determining the best time for posting on Facebook a little difficult. However, posting towards the end of the week, i.e., from Thursday to Sunday, tends to yield higher traffic. Click-throughs on posts also significantly increases between 12pm and 1pm on weekdays.
2. Twitter – Twitter, unlike Facebook, offers a shorter period of time for engagement. Therefore, if you wish to effectively advertise through Twitter, then you must be spot-on with your timing. Wednesdays are typically the best day to get the maximum number of people to notice your tweets within a short amount of time.
3. LinkedIn – LinkedIn can help you to drive up to four times more traffic to your website than Twitter or Facebook alone. It is the most popular professional networking site, and is mostly used during business hours. It’s advisable to avoid evenings, late afternoons, and weekend posting on LinkedIn as you’re less likely to get much return from it.
4. Instagram – Any content you post on Instagram appears in feeds based on the number of likes and comments it receives. Since it no longer features posts on home streams in chronological order as it did before, you want more people to see your posts so that it ranks better. The Instagram platform tends to get higher activity throughout the week around noon.
5. YouTube – Besides noting the ideal days of the week and the time to post content on YouTube, you can also keep track of the months in which it is most active. Viewership usually dips in May and September, and picks up during the winter months.
6. Snapchat – This messaging app is usually accessed by users throughout the day. So posting snaps on any day of the week tends to work equally. It is, however, mostly an evening to late-night app so you can expect more users to be active between 10pm and 1am.
7. Pinterest – This photo-sharing platform gets the highest traffic during the weekends. You can increase traffic to your website or blog by creating blog boards or lifestyle related boards on Pinterest.
8. Tumblr – This is a micro-blogging site which can also serve as an extension of your brand. You can watermark your posts with a link to your website, and also the Tumblr page to increase referral traffic from the posts. Tumblr, like Snapchat, is also mostly used during the night.

Check out this gifographic by Brafton for detailed information on the most effective times to post on social media.