The Best Times To Post On Facebook

When Should I Post on Facebook?

Generally speaking, you should post on Facebook during the best times to boost traffic and engagement. The peak time is when most of your Facebook friends and followers get their daily dose of social media.

So, you must learn when your target audience will likely be on social media and post accordingly.

Different people log in to Facebook at different times and with unique purposes, so there is no one correct answer. The added consideration of weekdays and weekends also makes planning more complicated.

Fortunately, you can get a head start by learning the data-driven best times to post on Facebook, analyzed by different social media management and analytics tools.

Once you align those findings with your audience insight, you will find the perfect time for scheduling your Facebook content.

Why Should I Post on Facebook During the Best Time?

The Facebook algorithm considers different factors for ranking and displaying a particular social media post to a user. These factors include who is the post creator, relevancy, and engagements. Whereas timing is one of the critical factors for post-relevance.

You must post your content when most of your audience is online to get the best performance. Otherwise, even the most engaging Facebook content can fail to bring the expected result.

The social platform has also changed the way its algorithm sorts content. For example, it now prefers posts shared by individual users over business users for organic reach.

According to Buffer, the overall post engagement for Facebook page owners has decreased by 65%. Therefore, you must be strategic and post during the best times to get the desired performance.

Timing is also crucial for communicating the right message at the right time and creating credibility for your brand. For example, you don’t want your audience to find out about a special event or offer after the time has passed or when they can no longer participate.

Instead, you want them to get the message beforehand and prepare accordingly.

When Is the Best Time To Post on Facebook?

Social media users, including Facebook users, are ultimately humans. There are bot accounts, but you don’t want to post for them.

However, due to the complex nature of human behavior and Facebook content types, it is difficult to pinpoint the best time to post on Facebook, even after using social media management tools.

For example, Sprout Social found a massive shift in social media behavior over the post-pandemic years. Their findings now suggest early morning (3 am – 10 am) and noon to be the best on weekdays.

In a slight variation, Hubspot recommends noon (12 pm – 3 pm) or evening (6 pm – 9 pm) as the best times for posting on Facebook.  

Considering a few other analyses performed by Hootsuite, Later, and others, I think the following be the peak posting times and days on Facebook:

• The best times to post on Facebook are 3 – 10 am and 12 – 1 pm on Weekdays.
• The worst time to post on Facebook is 9 pm to 12 am (midnight).
• The best days to post on Facebook are Monday through Wednesday.
• The worst days to post on Facebook are Saturday and Sunday, especially during the long weekends.  

You can also dive deep into your research and find the best times to post daily. Mornings continue to dominate in this regard, with most social media surveys and analyses recommending 7 am – 9 am as peak hours, especially during the early weekdays.

However, as the working week goes into full swing, people gradually shift toward checking their Facebook a little later.

Therefore, it makes the lunchtime between 12 pm – 3 pm most engaging for a Facebook page.

Although a Hubspot survey found weekends popular among digital marketing experts, most Facebook analytics data indicates a loss of engagement on off days. Long weekends are worse.

The Best Time To Post for Maximum Exposure

Almost half (49%) of active Facebook users log in to their accounts twice daily. It means you have at least two slots to catch the most active users on Facebook.

Considering our findings above, the best times to post for maximum exposure would be on weekdays, around 7 am – 9am and 1 pm – 3 pm.

Although 7 am or before may seem too early to post, it would ensure your content is displayed at the right time across multiple time zones and increase visibility.

Like regular posting on a blog, the Facebook algorithm rewards regular and consistent posters. Hence, sharing your valuable social media posts with a set posting time for different days might be best.

The Best Time To Post for Maximum Engagement

According to research, Facebook users are more likely to engage with their social media feed right after they wake up or during lunch.

Therefore, serving the right content during this period increases the likelihood of your Facebook page receiving the highest engagement.

Renowned business digitalization expert Neal Schaffer identified the time between 9 am to 4 pm to offer the maximum engagement rate for a Facebook page.

However, people are more likely to engage with nonprofit and government-related Facebook posts in the morning. For the rest, lunch hours might be the best for maximizing Facebook engagement.

As the norm in a social media channel, you must create and share relevant Facebook content to receive likes, comments, and shares from your target audience.

Nevertheless, avoid posting on the weekends (Saturday and Sunday), as there are days with the most minor engagement on Facebook.

The Best Time To Post for Different Industries

While most social media marketing strategies revolve around posting during peak times, the requirements for an individual Facebook user and a business page differ. After all, they share different types of content for particular purposes.

You can also analyze the peak hours and days for Facebook posting based on your niche market or industry.

Social media management tools like Sprout Social and CoSchedule have found some unique posting schedules for different types of businesses.

It points to the following times and days as best for their related industries:

• Consumer Products: 7 am – 9 am on Friday.
• Education Sector: 8 am – 12 pm on Tuesday.
• Banking and Finance: 11 am – 1 pm on Tuesday to Thursday.
• Software and Tech: 12 pm – 5 pm on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday.
• Healthcare Industry: 5 am – 8 am on Weekdays.

Most of this research is concentrated on the US and adjacent areas, so the work patterns of different industries in this region significantly impact the peak time for posting Facebook videos and other content.

What Is the Best Time To Post on Facebook for Your Brand?

All the data discussed above are generic information collected from digital marketing experts and Facebook users worldwide. They hail from various industries and have different purposes for using and posting on Facebook.

While this data can be an excellent starting point, you should dig deep into your Facebook page insights to find your personalized peak time for posting on this social platform. After all, your customers have unique preferences that may not match others.

Several third-party social media scheduling tools have features for suggesting personalized times for different post types, but it may require a subscription fee. You can also find your optimal posting time manually with a few steps.

1. Explore Your Facebook Insights Data

If you have a Facebook page for your business, you can access the Facebook page insights to explore your page performance.

Look beyond the recent posts and explore your top-performing content’s likes, comments, and shares. Can you spot any pattern regarding these posts’ posting times and days? If yes, you may have found the perfect time for posting on Facebook.

If you use a Facebook Bot for 24/7 communication, check when they mostly get in touch to find solutions on your Facebook page to refine your findings further.

2. Learn About Your Target Audience

Facebook offers detailed audience insights through its Meta Business Suite. Unlike page insights, it collects demographic data for your business’s current and potential audience and geographic locations.  

While most data on audience insights are collected for Facebook ads, geographical insights can help your posting schedule. First, look at the list of top cities to find out where your audience mostly comes from, then align your post timing accordingly.

The overall best times for posting should still work, but it must be aligned with your audience’s time zones for maximum visibility and engagement.

3. Pay Heed to Your Audience’s Opinions

Leave the guessing game behind and ask your audience about their Facebook habits. While asking them individually may be challenging, you can create and promote a survey from your page to get the required data.

Then, offering something in exchange (like a discount or gift voucher) for their input and times can make the campaign successful. Learn how to create a poll on Facebook in the following YouTube video:

You can also host a Facebook Live event with a focus group of customers to understand their social media behaviors relating to your brand and in general. These direct insights can be crucial for finding the optimal posting time for your business.

4. Keep Testing and Tweaking Your Timing

Strategies can only be refined with trial and error. So, you must remain open to tweaking your posting time based on preliminary testing with several posts.

Create a few posts with similar content and post them consistently. This is excellent for obtaining a more balanced finding and drawing informed conclusions.

Even when you find the most effective time for posting on your Facebook page, evaluate it periodically. This will help refine your social media schedule by mitigating the gradual change in your audience’s behavior.

Frequently Asked Questions

What Time Is Best To Post a Facebook Video?

Facebook users are likely to seek entertainment during the lunch break or after work. Hence, the time between 12 pm – 3 pm and 6 pm is the best for sharing a Facebook video or reel.

However, North American healthcare workers seek entertaining content before work in the early mornings.

Should I Post in the Morning or at Night?

You should post on Facebook in the morning, as that’s when most users are active on the social platform. Posting during the evening may also work for some industries, but you should avoid posting late at night.

Focus on finding the audience’s timezone to base your post timings accordingly.

Is 1 Am a Good Time To Post on Facebook?

You shouldn’t post on Facebook at 1 am as late nights are generally the worst for social media engagement. Instead, post a little later, at around 3 am.

It can still be a good time for posting Facebook stories, as the algorithm doesn’t consider its posting time for measuring relevance.

Wrapping Up

While most social media platforms can be analyzed to find a specific time and day best for posting content, you should tailor your content schedule for each social platform, post type, and target audience.

Start with the general best times for posting on Facebook, then gather data and insights to refine it further. While at it, try a few different times and content types to determine optimal engagement hours.

I hope my post is detailed enough to set you on the right course. You can also comment for further guidance. Also, feel free to promote this article on your relevant Facebook page.