When is the optimal time to post on Facebook? Unravelling this query is challenging, as the answer hinges on various factors.
Your business's industry, the characteristics of your target audience, overarching business objectives, and the nature of your content collectively shape the effectiveness of your social media posts.
With over 90% of marketers counting themselves as Facebook users, it’s the most-used social media app for marketing. Since every thumb scroll and click hold the potential to amplify brand presence, the timing of your Facebook posts can be the secret sauce for engagement and reach.
In this guide, we’ll help you navigate the complexities of identifying the best time to post on Facebook. As we navigate the Facebook landscape, we'll spotlight the invaluable role of Sendible's optimal time feature in bridging the content gap.
- Why does finding the best time to post on Facebook matter
- When is the best time to post on Facebook
- What are the best times to post on Facebook by industry
- Use analytics to discover the right time to post on Facebook
- How to find your best time to post on Facebook
- General best practices for posting on Facebook
Why does finding the best time to post on Facebook matter?
In the world of social media platforms, knowing the best time to post isn't just a tiny thing. It can singlehandedly make or break your marketing efforts. That’s why it’s a strategic necessity.
Understanding the best times to share content on this social media platform holds the key to boosting engagement, expanding visibility, and ultimately defining the success of your digital marketing.
Here are four reasons why you need to find the best time to post on Facebook.
1. Enhanced reach
Posting at the right time ensures that a larger audience sees your content. Knowing when your audience is most active allows your posts to appear in their feeds when they are most likely to engage. This increases visibility and potential reach with your audience.
2. Increased engagement
Facebook's algorithm prioritises recent and relevant content. By aligning your posts with your audience's peak activity times, you enhance the chances of immediate interactions. That means more likes, comments, and shares, which increases your content’s visibility.
3. Smart spending on Ads
If you're running ads on Facebook, posting at the right time helps your ads reach more people. This optimises your ad spend and maximises your ROI.
4. Build a community
Consistent, well-timed posts nurture a sense of community. Followers come to expect and engage with your content. When you establish a regular rhythm, it fortifies your brand's presence and loyalty.
Beyond Clicks and Likes: The Agency Community Manager's Handbook.
Determining the best time to post on Facebook is not merely a tactical choice; it's a strategic decision that can significantly shape your brand's online influence.
When is the best time to post on Facebook?
Across all industries, optimal Facebook posting times tend to gravitate towards the evening and mid-to-late afternoon. Occasionally, mid-morning to the lunch hour can be advantageous as well.
Specifically, the sweet spots are between 12-3 PM and 6-9 PM. For the most impactful engagement, aim to post during these windows.
When choosing the best days, generally, Friday and Saturday take the lead, offering prime opportunities for heightened visibility and interaction. Conversely, Sundays emerge as the least favourable day for posting.
Avoid these least effective time slots:
- Early morning from 6 AM to 9 AM.
- Late at night from 9 PM to 12 AM.
Interestingly, government and nonprofit sectors find success with early morning posts. If your industry aligns with these categories, consider tailoring your posting strategy to capture your audience's attention early in the day.
What are the best times to post on Facebook by industry?
We just covered general guidelines for posting across all industries. However, understanding the nuances of your industry can be a game-changer when it comes to Facebook posting. Tailoring your content to peak activity times ensures maximum visibility and engagement.
Let's explore the optimal posting times for various industries.
1. E-commerce and retail
Prime posting hours for the e-commerce and retail industry often align with evenings and weekends when online shopping peaks. However, testing different time slots is crucial to pinpoint when your specific audience is most active.
Optimal post window: Weekdays or weekends from 6-9 PM.
Avoid: In general, none. But early to mid-afternoon may be less successful.
2. Healthcare and wellness
Midweek mornings are often ideal for health-related content. People may be more receptive to wellness tips, product promotions, or healthcare information as they start their day.
Optimal post window: 9 AM-12 PM and 1-5 PM.
Avoid: Weekends.
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3. Technology and innovation
Weekdays, particularly midday, are optimal for tech-savvy audiences. Consider posting during lunch breaks or early afternoons when professionals may be catching up on industry news.
Optimal post window: Weekdays between 12-1 PM.
Avoid: Weekends, especially Sundays.
4. Entertainment, sports, and media
Evenings, especially during the middle of the week and weekends, are peak times for entertainment-related content. Capture the attention of your audience during their leisure hours.
Optimal post window: Weekdays from 6-8 PM, and Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 9 AM-2 PM. If covering a live event (awards show, sporting event), post while the event occurs.
Avoid: No particular day or time to avoid.
5. Food and restaurants
Unsurprisingly, evenings and Saturdays are vital moments for the food industry. Consider posting before mealtime peaks to inspire dining choices.
Optimal post window: Weekdays 9-11 AM and 1-5 PM.
Avoid: Sunday
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6. Fashion and Apparel
Late afternoons and evenings are often prime for the fashion-forward crowd. Consider posting just before people start planning their evening activities.
Optimal post window: Weekdays and weekends from 3-6 PM.
Avoid: In general, none.
7. Travel and tourism
Weekends and early weekdays are opportune times for travel enthusiasts. Post enticing content during these periods to fuel wanderlust and inspire travel plans.
Optimal post window: Early to mid-week from 9 AM-3 PM.
Avoid: Sunday
8. Education
Evenings on weekdays or weekends are often practical for educational content. Consider when your audience is more likely to engage with informative posts and updates.
Optimal post window: Monday-Thursday from 9 AM-12 PM.
Avoid: Weekends
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Use analytics to discover the right time to post on Facebook
Gone are the days of shooting in the dark. Analytics unveil when your audience is most active, transforming the guessing game of optimal posting times into a calculated science. Whether it's the early risers, the midday scrollers, or the night owls, data allows you to align your content with the moments when it's most likely to capture attention.
The phrase "knowledge is power" couldn't be more apt in Facebook marketing. Data-driven decision-making is the bedrock of a successful social media strategy, offering many benefits beyond mere post-scheduling.
That’s why Facebook insights will be your best friend. By delving into client data, you can tailor posting schedules, content types, and messaging strategies for optimal impact. This insight-driven approach enhances client satisfaction, demonstrating the tangible value of your efforts on Facebook.
Here are three reasons analytics help you discover the best time for your Facebook posts.
1. Audience insights
Analytics provide a backstage pass to your audience's preferences. Delve into demographic data, interests, and online behaviours to comprehensively understand who engages with your content. With this knowledge, you can craft posts that resonate personally, fostering a deeper connection with your audience.
2. Performance evaluation
The ability to track post-performance over time is invaluable. Analytics unveil the impact of your content through metrics such as likes, shares, comments, and click-through rates. This continuous feedback loop empowers you to identify trends, refine your strategy, and amplify what works, ensuring a constant evolution towards more effective and engaging content.
3. Strategic resource allocation
Every marketing endeavour involves resources, time, creativity, or budget. Data-driven decision-making ensures that these resources are allocated strategically. By focusing on the content and posting times that yield the best results, you maximise the return on investment and enhance the overall efficiency of your social media efforts.
Data is not just a set of numbers. It's a compass guiding you through the intricate landscape of audience behaviour. By making informed decisions based on concrete data, you enhance your Facebook presence and position your brand for sustained success in the ever-evolving digital space.
How to find your best time to post on Facebook
Considering everything we’ve discussed, how can you find the best time to post so that you can connect with Facebook users?
Here are six quick tips to guide you.
1. Use Sendible’s optimal time feature
Sendible’s optimal time feature takes into account all of the profiles added under that user account that can have reports created. It’s based on your posting history over the previous 30 days and looks at when your posts get the most likes, retweets, and shares.
This feature helps you increase your reach, build brand awareness, and drive traffic to your Facebook page.
2. Know your audience demographics
Although your target audience demographics may not indicate your followers' specific online activity times, they can provide valuable insights into the relevant time zones to consider when scheduling your posts.
To discover your audience demographics, access your Meta Business Suite, navigate to Insights, and click on Audience.
You can find the top cities and countries where your followers live. Once you identify where most of your followers are, you’ll be better informed about when they are more active on Facebook. Here's an example of the “Top countries” analytic:
This example shows that posts should be geared toward United States time zones. Similarly, examining your Top Cities will unveil the specific time zones you should prioritise.
3. Review–and keep reviewing–your analytics
Examining historical performance can provide insights into what strategies will likely succeed in the future. If you've been actively sharing content on Facebook, review your recent posts to identify those with the most significant reach.
Reach represents the number of individuals who viewed your post at least once. It is an influential gauge of how well your content is connected with your audience. While there are various metrics for assessing post success, reach is particularly valuable for evaluating the timing's effectiveness in maximising views.
To check the reach of your recent posts, access your Meta Business Suite. Navigate to Facebook Insights in the left menu, select Content, and use the top-left drop-down menus to set a 90-day timeframe while excluding Instagram posts from the analysis. Sort the posts by reach by clicking on the Reach column header, then examine the posting times of your top-performing posts.
Alternatively, you can access Facebook reach data and statistics from all your social channels through Sendible’s Facebook feature.
4. Test and refine
Experimentation is valuable for fine-tuning various aspects of your Facebook content strategy and understanding the best time to post on the platform for your specific business.
For your timing experiments to yield meaningful results, it's essential to use comparable types of content. This ensures clarity regarding whether the timing significantly influences post-reach or if increased exposure is attributable to high engagement.
If your regular content involves sharing links to blog posts, try creating similar posts with comparable lengths, headline styles, photo types, etc. Distribute these posts at different times to observe potential patterns.
This method may not provide precise data on the best posting times. But it can reveal general trends. Subsequently, you can conduct more focused tests to refine your post-timing strategy progressively.
5. Invite feedback
Do you know the best source to find when is the best time to post on Facebook? Your audience! Engage them in determining the most convenient time for participation in a Facebook Live event, with a poll, or by sending out a survey via email.
This doesn’t have to be complicated. Just tell your followers you want to serve them with the best content at the right time. Then, ask them what that time is.
6. Be consistent
When initially experimenting with optimal posting times, your schedule may feel erratic. That’s ok. However, once you identify patterns that resonate with your audience and bring in the most engagement, shoot for consistency.
If you discover a specific schedule that works well, consider establishing regular posting times. Consistent posting builds an expectation among your audience. If your industry calls for weekend posts, your followers may highly anticipate your 7 PM Saturday night post. Stick to it and give your people what they want.
While maintaining a consistent schedule, you can explore and test other posting times. Additionally, feel free to experiment with alternative formats. Use Facebook’s Stories and Reels for new content-sharing images while upholding a steadfast posting routine for Feed posts.
General best practices for posting on Facebook
Finally, we’d be remiss not to share general best practices for posting on Facebook. The art of Facebook posting goes beyond just sharing at the right time.
Here are seven actionable insights to keep in mind. If you follow these best practices and post at the right time, you’ll likely see the most engagement.
1. Consistency in posting schedule
Regularity is key. Make it a goal to establish a regular posting schedule to keep your audience engaged. Sticking to a routine fosters daily, weekly, or bi-weekly familiarity.
Your audience will come to expect and look forward to your content, increasing the likelihood of interaction and building a reliable online presence.
2. Quality over quantity
Refrain from flooding your audience's feed with mediocre content. Instead, focus on creating high-quality posts that resonate with your target audience.
A few impactful posts will leave a more lasting impression than numerous less engaging ones. Prioritise substance over frequency to maintain a positive perception of your brand.
3. Engaging visual content
In a visually driven platform like Facebook, compelling visuals are paramount. Capture attention with striking images and videos. Visual content is more than just eye-catching. It's a powerful tool for conveying your message quickly and encouraging audience interaction.
Invest time and effort into creating visuals that tell your brand story effectively. Dang Foods does a great job of this in their Facebook posts.
4. Use the Facebook analytics feature
We’ve already discussed analytics several times, but it bears mentioning again. Knowledge is power. Dive into Facebook's analytics tools to gain insights into your audience's demographics, preferences, and engagement patterns. This data equips you to tailor your content strategy, ensuring that you deliver what your audience wants when they want it.
The Facebook analytics feature will be your go-to resource for refining your content strategy.
5. Strategic use of hashtags
Hashtags are more than trends. They're discoverability tools. Incorporate relevant hashtags to increase the visibility of your posts. Strategic hashtag use ensures your content reaches a broader audience interested in similar topics.
Research popular and niche hashtags in your industry and community, using them judiciously to expand your reach and connect with like-minded users.
6. Post interactive content for more engagement
Encourage participation by incorporating interactive elements into your posts. Polls, quizzes, and questions prompt your audience to engage actively, fostering a sense of community and making your page more dynamic.
Interactive content boosts visibility and strengthens the bond between your brand and followers.
7. Post timely and trend-relevant content
Stay current with trends and timely events. Crafting content around relevant holidays, cultural events, or industry trends demonstrates that your brand is in touch with the world.
Timely posts can attract attention and capitalise on the broader conversation, increasing the likelihood of shares and engagement. However, ensure the content aligns with your brand identity for authenticity.
Wrapping it up
Determining the optimal time to post on Facebook is a multifaceted challenge influenced by various factors, including industry, audience characteristics, and business objectives. Since Facebook is prime real estate for business marketing, it’s critical to get it right.
Industry-specific insights, analytics, and strategic experimentation are pivotal in navigating the complexities of finding the best time to post on Facebook. By following the tips and best practices in this guide, you’ll be well on your way to finding the best time to post on Facebook.
Handling multiple social media platforms for clients can be overwhelming. Make things easier on yourself, and try Sendible’s Facebook management tool for free. It’s a comprehensive solution for posting strategies and cultivating an engaged online community. Start your free trial today.
