Best Time To Post On Facebook – A Comprehensive Guide For Marketing
For social media marketers, there is one platform that will always be part of their marketing strategy – Facebook. It remains the king of social media and isn’t likely to soon fall out of favour. With that said, it can be difficult to determine the best time to post on Facebook. Fortunately, we’ve gathered relevant information and will guide you, giving you the best shot at posting at the right times.
With almost 3 billion users actively using Facebook and its associated apps, it offers a wide audience to brands. Globally, more than 2.5 million people are using Facebook every month, a 10% increase year-over-year. Facebook is continuing to grow and as a brand, you cannot miss out on using the platform.
If you know the best time to post on Facebook, you will be able to reach all the millions of people in your industry. If you don’t, you’re not making the most of your marketing possibilities.
We’d love to give you the best shot at using Facebook in your social media marketing campaign. So stay tuned, and learn from our comprehensive guide. With the knowledge shared here, you will get better reach and engagement.
Is There Really A ‘Best Time’ To Post On Facebook?
The simple answer to this is that there probably isn’t a ‘single best time to post on Facebook’. Many studies have been done to learn more about when to post on social media for the best results. Varying results have been shown but it seems that there are some that seems to have been agreed upon.
The best days to post on Facebook appears to be Thursdays and Fridays. The best time, according to a study by Buffer, is between 1 pm and 3 pm. But, other studies showed that 8 pm on Thursday or between 1 pm to 4 pm later in the week is the best time.
Actually, the ‘best time to post on Facebook’ depends on the industry that you’re in and the location of your audience. This will be different for every brand.
Why You Need To Find The Best Time To Post On Facebook
The competition has become very stiff these days. There is a lot of content shared on social media and Facebook is a big platform for content. About 1 500 stories can show up on users’ News Feed, on average. Users who have many friends could be exposed to up to 15 000 stories. This is a lot of content floating around, and the competition to have yours seen is intense.
With that in mind, getting more eyes on your stories or ads depends on when your content is shared. That’s when it is important to know the best time to post on Facebook.
However, that knowledge can make things more difficult rather than easier. If everyone knows the best time, they’ll be sharing their content at that time. This makes the competition to be seen at this time way denser. As a result, the ‘best time to post on Facebook’ could become the worst times.
As you can see, there is no clear answer. That does not mean there is no hope. There are some strategies that you can try to get the most out of Facebook.
Let’s take a look at some of the possibilities at your disposal.
Trust Your Data
Social media and digital marketers will know that the best data to analyse is your own. Facebook offers users great data to scrutinise and learn from. You can get a comprehensive understanding and get an idea of how to proceed when you study your data.
When you understand your audience and the way your content performs, you’ll have better success with your marketing strategies.
Relevance
This is a bit trickier to determine, but posting content when it is relevant can be the best time. Some content simply does better if it is shared when it is the most relevant. For example, if you have advertisements on television, having Facebook ads running at the same time that it is broadcast is a good idea.
Use Page Insights
For this, use the Page Insights of your brand to learn when to share content. There is a lot of data at your disposal from your insights. You can find out when followers and fans are online and the most active. This can give you a better idea of when is the best time to post on Facebook. Use the information to determine when you will get the most engagement and reach.
Schedule your posts for times determined by the information you’ve learned from your data. Keep an eye on how successful your content is by studying your Page Insights. You’ll be able to see when you get the most attention from users.
To schedule your content, you can make use of a tool such as SocialPlanner. With this scheduling tool, you can find and post entertaining and trending content very easily. This tool allows you to easily find top-performing content whatever your niche, topic or keyword. You will also be able to plan your content’s publishing schedule with just a few clicks. Your content will be published on multiple social media platforms, as you desire.
More Data On The Best Time To Post On Facebook
We’ve gathered information shared by Sprout Social, which also focused on the best times to post content on Facebook. According to the study by Sprout Social, the best day to post on Facebook is Wednesday. Apparently, the worst day to post is Sunday. In general, the best time is between 11 am and 2 pm. The study used information based on the Central Time Zone.
Best Time To Post On Facebook Based On Industry
We’ve decided to get share information based on the specific industries that make use of Facebook for advertising and content sharing. Perhaps you can get a better idea of when you should be posting on Facebook after taking a look at the data we’ve gathered.
Software And Tech Companies
Whether you want to target B2B or B2C companies, a social media presence is necessary for software and tech companies. For these companies, Wednesday is considered the best time to post on Facebook. Posting on weekdays, in general, is suggested, as that is when the most interaction is seen. The best time would be between 9 am and 12 am. The worst times would be at around 6 pm on weekdays. Sunday is considered the worst time as there is very little engagement for software and tech companies.
Education Industry
Many people know that Facebook started as a humble communication network for college students. It has grown into so much more but remains relevant for the education industry. Institutions can still get a lot of reach and engagement on Facebook. With that said, the best times for education-based brands and companies to post content is mornings and nights. Even weekends can be successful.
In general, Wednesday at 9 am to noon and Saturday at 5 pm-ish is the best time to post on Facebook. Of course, your content needs to be unique and engaging to get the best results. But as a marketer, you already know that.
Consumer Goods
It would come as no surprise to most that consumer good brands have the most engagement during the week. The best times for posting seems to be from Wednesday to Friday, between 10 am and 5 pm. Before 8 am and after 5 pm, there seems to be very little activity, making it a bad time to post on Facebook. The worst day to post on Facebook is, unsurprisingly, on Sunday.
Media Companies
For the media industry, it seems that there is a lot of good times to make use of. These companies enjoy much higher engagement than other industries do, making Facebook a great platform for them.
Weekends are a bit less active but still not as bad as for many other industries. In general, Tuesday to Thursday and Friday are great days for posting on Facebook. Sunday is the worst day. As for specific hours to focus on, 5 pm for Tuesday-Thursday and anytime between 8 am and 9 am on Fridays.
Healthcare Industry
For this industry, the whole weekend is bad for posting on Facebook and midweek seems to be the best time. Many healthcare practices are very active on the social media platform and it serves them well. It is a great way to show locals in your area where you are and what you offer. Monday to Friday between 9 am and 3 pm would be the best times for engagement and reach. Between 6 pm and 7 pm is not considered a good time for the healthcare industry to share content.
Recreation
If you’re in the recreation industry, there are several factors that will influence the best time to post on Facebook. Depending on your region and niche, the best times can be between Monday and Friday, from 10 am to 3 pm. Before 5 am and 5 pm is not a good time to post anything. Make sure you monitor your success when posting during these hours to learn when the best times truly are.
Non-Profit Organisations
Facebook serves as a really good place for non-profit organisations to get exposure and reach new people. It offers an interactive way to connect with audiences, which is why there are so many non-profit organisations to be found on Facebook. As for sharing content, activity is the highest during weekdays. Wednesdays are the most successful times to share content, as well as Friday mornings. Any time after 7 pm is not suited to sharing content for these organisations.
Finance Industry
Financial institutions will find that the best times for engagement on Facebook is during the week. However, after 6 pm, things seem to quiet down. The best time to post on Facebook when you’re in the finance industry is between 9 am and 12 am.
Use Social Media Scheduler To Post On Facebook
Once you’ve learned when the best time to post on Facebook is for your brand, you may find that it’s an inconvenient time for you. Fortunately, that’s not a problem – as mentioned above, you can use a scheduling tool.
With the help of a social media scheduler, you can ensure that your content reaches your audience when it will have the most impact. There are many options when it comes to choosing a scheduler. While we suggest you make use of SocialPlanner for the best service and results, we’ll briefly introduce you to other schedulers as well.
PromoRepublic
This platform has a very strong focus on design. As a user, you can set up a schedule for posting different kinds of posts. You can have a different schedule for each of the social media platforms you’re active on. It is also possible to choose a time zone and country for each account. With a calendar, you organise all your schedules easily. There is an ‘Autopilot’ option if you don’t want to choose your own times. It can suggest the best times for your content.
Loomly
The scheduler from Loomly offers the option to choose timezone and industry. You can then schedule your content based on that information. It is also very easy to set up the time that you want your posts to be posted on Facebook.
Buffer
This is a popular service and is easy and straightforward to use. You simply connect your social media accounts to the platform. Then you can schedule content that should be posted on the accounts you attached. If you found content that you would like to share, you can add it to the platform and it will be posted at a scheduled time.
Conclusion
You’ve been given a lot of information that should prove useful in deciding when is the best time to post on Facebook. Your industry will obviously determine the general best time, but that is just a guideline. Your unique brand may have a slightly different time that suits it best. The most effective approach is to use these guidelines and then analyse your results. If the times show good results, keep using them. If not, make adjustments and adapt. That is what the best marketing strategies are – making the most of your data.
