As the organic reach on Facebook continued to reduce, most people ask “What is the best time to post on Facebook?” and this guide has the answer if you’re one of them.
One of the choices marketers are left with is to post when their target audience is on Facebook.
But how can you know that for certain?
Your conversion can really get better irrespective of your social media marketing strategy.
With some little investment in Facebook paid ads, your organic posts can complement the effort.
There are thousands of ranking factors on Facebook – all of which can be reduced to four key signals. Meanwhile, knowing when to post on Facebook is one.
Having a Facebook posting schedule can help you determine when to post and get high engagement.
For this reason, Facebook considers “recency” as part of what makes a post get exposure.
Posting when your audience is checking for updates on the social media network will make them discover your posts while they’re still fresh.
For example, Facebook posts have a shelf life of 5 to 6 hours.
So, if your post is old by the time your audience is online, the algorithm will prevent it from showing to as many people as possible.
For this reason, it is unprofessional to post on Facebook at random.
Table of Contents
Best time to post on Facebook
After several research, experts have concluded that there is a specific Facebook posting schedule you need to consider for certain industries and audiences.
As this will be discussed further in this guide, you should be able to maximize your reach and engagement with your Facebook posts at the end.
The three criteria to be used for this analysis are the Facebook posting times as suggested:
- Facebook marketing giants
- Facebook content types
- Industries
Now let’s go into details.
Facebook posting times as suggested by industry giants
Numerous studies have been conducted by top social media marketing giants to know the best times to post on Facebook.
A few of them are listed below:
- HubSpot: HubSpot says the best time to post on Facebook is 9am probably because that is when most people start work. You can also post on Facebook at 11 am and 12 pm (lunch break time). The best days to post are Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays.
- Buffer: Data from Buffer is different from HubSpot’s. They said the best time to post on Facebook is between 1pm and 3pm during the week.
- Sprout Social: The popular social media sharing tool Sprout Social agrees with HubSpot, saying that the best time to post on Facebook is between 9 am and 1 pm. At least, you must avoid posting on Facebook on Saturdays as that appear to be the worst days. This left Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays as the best days to post on the giant social media platform.
- CoSchedule: There was no best day stated by CoSchedule to post on Facebook, but 9am of any day can be the best time to post on Facebook.
Based on the above reviews, it is generally accepted that 9am is the best time to post on Facebook. And on rare occasions, you can still post around 11am and 12pm, or 1pm and 3pm.
You can post on Facebook during any of the suggested times on any day except Mondays and Saturdays that remain controversial between HubSpot and Sprout Social.
Best times to post on Facebook based on content types
Another factor that determines when to post on Facebook is your content type. Facebook has different content types you can use to engage your audience.
Text, infographics, and link posts had long ruled the industry until video sharing platforms gained prominence and marketers invented video marketing strategies.
If you still use text posts, it’s high time you start using other forms of posts to increase your reach and engagement on Facebook.
Since content performs differently, you can get the best exposure by posting different content types at different times on Facebook.
Examples are:
- Funny posts: People love to laugh. So, posting funny posts like jokes or comedy videos can show your viewers you care about them. Since 9am is the common time to post on Facebook, you can be sure that whatever content type you post during that time will be seen in your audience’s news feed. Meanwhile, funny posts can work any day.
- News-related content: Everyone loves to be current and social media platforms like Facebook are the best places to source trending news and relevant content. If you position yourself as a source of real truthful news and post as early as possible, you can boost your engagement rates. Since news comes out every day, this type of content also works any day.
- Giveaways: Giveaways are one of the best-performing content types on Facebook. People love to participate in giveaways because they might win something. Content types like this should be posted as early as 9am since people will want to be among the first people to participate and win. You can equally post such content during the weekends.
- Live streaming: Live streaming is becoming popular on social media platforms, especially on Facebook. Studies show that the best time to do a live stream video is between 1 pm and 3 pm on work days since people like to check their social media apps during their lunch breaks.
- Inspirational quotes and images: People love images and wise words quoted from what prominent people had said in the past. Posting this kind of content is really popular right now not only on Facebook but also on Twitter and Instagram. The best time to post content like this is between 9 am and 3 pm and on all days of the week.
- Music-related posts: The best time to post content related to music on weekdays is between 1pm and 4pm. The best day to post about music is on Wednesday at 3pm. Likewise, such content will explode on Saturdays and Sundays between 12 pm and 1 pm.
- Sharing user-generated content: Most times on social media, we constantly see posts from users that deserve to be shared. You can adopt this strategy to share the thoughts of other experts in your industry at least when you are exhausted. The biggest advantage of this type of content is that it saves time on constantly creating new content as you can just share posts of other people in your industry. And the best time to post content like this will be the common posting time which is 9am and can be done any day.
To get the most out of the Facebook posting schedule as a practice, you need to fix different days and times for each content type you plan to post.
Best time to post on Facebook on industry
Because the benefits of using social media are many, you can barely see an industry that doesn’t exist on Facebook.
Having trouble knowing your industry, read how to choose and validate your niche market.
Irrespective of your industry, Facebook can give your business the best social presence to take your business to the next level.
You just have to learn the right strategy.
Meanwhile, you can find the best times to post on Facebook based on the following industries.
- Education: The best time to post is between 8 am and 9 am if you operate under this business category. You can also post on specific days like Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Meanwhile, Saturdays and Sundays are the worst days to post on Facebook if you are in this industry.
- Tech: Sprout Social reports that the best time to post tech-related content on Facebook is between 3 pm to 4 pm. And that can come up on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The worst day is Sunday.
- Healthcare: The best time to post on Facebook about health-related content is 11am on Monday to Friday. The best day is Tuesday and the worst day is Sunday.
- Media: The best time to post on Facebook about media-related content is on Fridays at 7 am. and Tuesdays from 6 am to 9 am. The engagement rate is higher on days like Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. The worst day is Saturday.
- Travel & tourism: The best time to post about tourism and travel is on Tuesdays from 9 am to 1pm, Wednesdays 9am to 1pm, and Fridays from 10am to noon (12 pm). The best day is Wednesday and the worst day is Sunday.
- Finance: The best time to post finance-related content on Facebook is on Wednesday from 9 am to 1 pm. You can equally get the best results on 5pm and 11am on Mondays and Fridays respectively.
- Restaurants and hotels (hospitality): Niches like food and housing are becoming more popular every day. As a restaurateur or hotelier knowing, the best times to post on Facebook can help your business a lot. According to Sprout Social, the best time to post on Facebook for restaurants is noon on Mondays and between 1 and 2 pm on Fridays. The best day is Friday and the worst day is Sunday. For the hospitality industry, the best times are 11am on Mondays, between 8am and 11 am on Fridays, and 4pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
No matter the content type, industry, or audience, what can be deduced from the above is that 9 am is the most favorable time to post on Facebook.
This doesn’t suggest that there is a universal time to post on Facebook. But at least, the practice can guide you on how to optimize your Facebook posting schedule.
For more effective posting schedules, it’s better you study your audience and use their behaviors and interest to determine your content and post when the audience is most likely going to engage with your posts.
Tips on knowing the best time to post on Facebook based on your audience
Building a career in digital marketing is simple. Whether as a social media influencer, marketer, or brand, you need as much information as possible about your audience.
Ultimately, knowing the best time to post on Facebook is one of the things you need to know so you can serve your audience better. And this is about resolving what works for you and your audience.
But because there is no standard rule for creating a Facebook posting schedule, the giants in the business didn’t agree to a certain time.
Each of them only said what worked for them and that can’t be a permanent solution as Facebook updates its algorithm very regularly.
So, if you want to know the best time to post on Facebook, you have to consider your present followers or people who are meant to see your posts.
You can use the Facebook audience insights tool to learn about your target audience. This is a free tool by Facebook to give you all the information you need for better targeting.
Read this guide on how to use the insights tool to know when your target audience comes to Facebook.
Conclusion
“What is the best time to post on Facebook?” is a question that is being constantly brought up while discussing Facebook post reach and engagement rates.
Everything you need on when to post on Facebook has been discussed.
Follow the tips to see progress in your ad performances and post engagement rates on Facebook.
Need more information about the topic or have questions about Facebook post times, leave a comment in the section below.
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