It’s no secret that social media has many quirks and intricacies. Largely these are born from complex, near indiscernible, algorithms that dictate how these platforms function.
A key way to nailing your social media strategy is implementing algorithm-friendly systems that maximise your content and ensure it reaches the widest possible target audience.
To do this, it’s equally important to know how often to post as it is to know what time of day is best for your posts to go live. As always with social media, different platforms require different approaches.
Some platforms may favour morning posts. Others may appreciate posts in the afternoon or evening. Making this increasingly trickier is the fact the internet truly never sleeps. It’s a 24/7 machine. On top of this, certain days are typically terrible for social media posts.
We know, there’s a lot to unpack. With that in mind, let’s explore when exactly you should post on social media.
When you should do your social media posting
In terms of the best days to post on social media, a consensus seems to favour midweek days. Notably, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. These midweek mornings tend to be extremely successful, with higher engagement recorded at these times.
Sundays are typically viewed as a non-posting day for most social media accounts. Of course, different accounts will take a different approach. For example, sporting or food and drink accounts will view Sunday as a crucial day for posting.
Thursdays are viewed as the ideal day for social media posting, while weekends are widely viewed as a poor time to post, given Australians’ social media activity trails off at the weekend.
Across the board, the best times to post are mid-morning and early afternoons. Very rarely is it advised to post late in the evening or extremely early in the morning, as these are times of day people tend to spend asleep or away from social media.
According to Sprout Social, the best times to post on social media are:
Monday: 11 am to noon
Tuesday: 10 am to 2 pm & 3 pm to 4 pm
Wednesday: 9 am to 3 pm
Thursday: 9 am to 2 pm
Friday: 10 to 11 am
For Australia, there are slight variations in these times. They are as follows:
Monday: 7 am to 11 am & 8 pm to 9 pm
Tuesday: 5 am to 7 am & 5 pm and 9 pm
Wednesday: 6 am to 11 am, 3 pm to 5 pm and 8 pm to 9 pm
Thursday: 6 am to 7 am, 12 pm to 2 pm and 8 pm to 9 pm
Friday: 5 am to 10 am, 12 pm and 10 pm to 11 pm
Saturday: 6 am to 9 am and 11 am
Sunday: 5 am to 9 am and 12 pm
Early to mid-morning send times allow social media managers, marketers and influencers to meet their target audience during their morning commutes or breaks from their jobs.
For sites like LinkedIn and X (formerly known as Twitter), recommended posting times stretch into the evenings and late nights, given these are prime times for individuals to scroll through these platforms.
In the end, posting on the right day and at the right time is only half the social media battle. As with everything in life, consistency is key.
