There are many strategies we can use to boost our brand's social media presence and engagement levels, and today, we're focusing on timing. Overall, the most important thing related to timing is consistency. You should be posting to your brand's social channels regularly, and trying to avoid long breaks between posts. The algorithm takes consistency into account when it decides what posts to show users, and this applies to both feed posts and story posts for Instagram. I recommend using an editorial calendar or scheduling platform to help you automate posting and to start thinking about long-term strategy. It's helpful to schedule in advance to avoid repetition and ensure that you are including all the different types of content and messaging that you want your audience to see.
The graphics below show the best times to post to Instagram and Facebook, using 2019 data from Sprout Social. You'll notice that weekdays are the most important days to post, which makes sense, as people are commuting, at work and on more regular schedules. It's ideal to catch people on their lunch breaks and while they're at work, not when they're at the gym (although the treadmill scroll is real), at home trying to make dinner, or trying to put kids to bed. With your social scheduling tool, you can set up your posting slots within these ranges and see how they perform. Experimentation is your friend here.
Finally, while these are helpful guidelines and reflect when the highest volume of users are on these channels, be mindful of your specific audience and their habits. If you have an Instagram Business account, utilize the insights tool, which will show you hour-by-hour when your followers are online, each day of the week. You can also use interactive features like asking your followers when they typically log in to check their feeds in your Facebook or Instagram caption, or in a poll in your stories. People love to give input and feel important, so this helps them and your brand.
Have you found these timing recommendations to ring true? Does a more haphazard approach work just fine for your brand? I'd love to hear; feel free to reach out whenever and we can talk shop.
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