One of the main questions asked when working out a solid social media strategy is “When is the best time to post on Facebook?” Working out the answer can give a massive boost to page views, followers, likes, and more.
The thing is, there is no one straight answer. Every Facebook account is different. You might be an influencer or a major global business. You might have an audience based entirely in one country, or a community spread across multiple time zones. You might be appealing to always-on social media users, or to those who only check in once or twice a week. However, we’ve trawled the web for a few tips to help you plan your Facebook schedule.
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How to find the best time to post on Facebook… for you
It might sound old-fashioned, but one of the top tips for finding your optimum time for posting on Facebook is to engage in a bit of experimentation. As you might expect, it works something like the following:
- Over several weeks, try posting at different times of day, or on different days of the week. Note each post and time down in a spreadsheet.
- In a different column, track the number of likes and comments each post receives.
- After several weeks (or even months) you should be able to highlight the posts that received the most engagement – and the least.
- Based on this information, you can build a picture of when your followers are most active. Start posting regularly around these times, but don’t forget to keep tracking engagement in case you need to make adjustments.
- You may also notice certain types of posts performing better at certain times. Bear this in mind as well – your content may be appealing to a range of different audiences.
If all that sounds like a lot of work, you’re in luck. Facebook itself offers a couple of helpful tools for gaining insights into your community.
1. Facebook Page Insights
A selection of visuals that shows you when your followers are online, and the engagement received by your last five postings. You can track engagement type (like, follow, share, etc.) and even sort the results by country to see if you’ve got a specific regional audience. Don’t forget to note the time zone – you may need to adjust your posting time accordingly.
2. Facebook Audience Insights
Offers nifty data on your page-specific audience (or the whole world, if you want to go big). Explore statistics on location, language, interests, and demographics to build a picture of whom you’re interacting with and what their days look like. Mainly appealing to office workers? Try posting at lunchtime when they’re most likely to check their phones.
We know, we know, you’re short on time. So, couldn’t there just be one simple answer? Well, it’s not going to work for everyone. But here’s the easy guide to posting on Facebook.
So… when IS the best time to post on Facebook?
According to social media experts Sprout Social, worldwide engagement with Facebook is highest on Wednesday, around 11am and then again from 1pm to 2pm (CDT). This can vary a bit by industry – healthcare fans, for example, seem to be on Facebook earlier, while those interested in media veer towards the end of the afternoon – but Wednesday, in general, is a pretty safe bet.
Days of the week to avoid are, surprisingly, the weekend. Sunday is the worst by far, but Saturday engagement is also fairly low unless you’re in the world of education – then 5pm on Saturday seems quite popular.
As a very general rule, 8am to 3pm Tuesday through Friday is a popular period for posting on social media. Don’t forget to adjust the time zone for your specific audience!
How to plan a weekly calendar for Facebook
Now you’ve got your schedule worked out, it’s time to put it into action with a weekly calendar. You could do all this yourself with an Excel spreadsheet, but various apps and content calendars can take the stress out of it for you. Some helpful tools include Loomly, Later, Buffer, and PromoRepublic, which allow you to schedule automated postings and also view engagement insights. Using one of these planners will help ensure you never miss a posting again.
And finally, to round off our tips for how to find the best time to post on Facebook, we’d like to mention ongoing analysis. Simply put, keep an eye on your posting times and engagement – people can change, and so can algorithms. Stick to a regular weekly calendar, but don’t be afraid to play a bit with the schedule. That way you’ll always be sure you’re posting at the right time to optimize your Facebook engagement.
