Have you ever received a haircut that was completely unintentional, leaving you unsure if you look stylishly edgy or utterly out of place? And to make matters worse, asking three friends for their opinions results in three vastly different responses?

Determining the optimal time to post on Facebook can feel quite similar to this hair-raising dilemma. Numerous studies present varying conclusions based on different factors such as engagement data and expert opinions.

So, how can you determine the best approach for your business amidst this sea of information? This post aims to guide you through the findings of these studies, helping you establish a solid starting point. Furthermore, we’ll equip you with the knowledge to refine your posting strategy, identifying the optimal time to post on Facebook tailored to your business, target audience, and goals.

Table of contents

• Why does timing matter?
• The overall best day and time to post on Facebook
• The best time to post by day of the week
• Industry breakdown
• How to find your best time to post

Is the timing of your Facebook posts truly significant?

Absolutely, timing is crucial. To maximize engagement with your content, it’s essential to connect with your target audience when they are actively using Facebook. Engagement is vital not only for building trust, relationships, and a loyal following, but also for attracting the attention of the Facebook algorithm.

This algorithm, a closely guarded formula, assigns a score to every post to determine its visibility. The score hinges on what Facebook deems the most relevant content for each user, with the ultimate goal of extending their time on the platform. While the intricate details of this formula remain a secret, it is known to comprise three key elements:

• The poster’s identity: The algorithm prioritizes content from your friends, displaying their posts before those from non-friends that it predicts you might find interesting.
• User’s content preferences: Based on past behavior, Facebook discerns the types of content—photos, videos, live streams, text, etc.—each user is most likely to engage with. It then prioritizes this preferred content type in their feed.
• Post engagement: This metric reflects the number of interactions a post receives, including likes, comments, saves, and shares.

While you can’t control the first element beyond connecting with potential customers (please don’t send friend requests en masse), you might glean insights into your audience’s content preferences through research on their social media activity. However, the aspect you can influence the most is engagement.

This is where posting times come into play. Posting when your target audience is online translates to increased opportunities for engagement. Higher engagement, in turn, leads to greater reach through the algorithm and showing up in your followers’ Feeds.

The optimal Facebook posting time in 2022

Start by identifying the most current information sources. Look beyond the top search results and seek out recently published studies with original data. As of now, those sources include HubSpot, Coschedule, Hootsuite, and Sprout Social. It’s important to note that these sources may not necessarily agree on the optimal posting times. In fact, out of the 24 one-hour time slots, only two overlap:

Let’s delve into each source to understand the reasoning behind their findings.

HubSpot

American software and marketing company, HubSpot polled, surveyed over 300 U.S.-based social media marketers for its 2022 Social Media Trends report.. In addition to insights on brand inclusivity, expert opinions, and the metaverse, the report revealed the optimal posting times for various platforms.

• Best day and time: Saturday, 3-9 pm
• Worst day and time: Monday, 6-9 am and 9 pm-12 am

It’s important to consider a couple of factors related to HubSpot’s data. Firstly, out of the 300 companies surveyed, 38% were in the EST time zone, and participants responded based on their local time, potentially influencing the results. Secondly, the report highlights that certain industries predominantly indicated optimal times outside the 6-9 pm Saturday timeframe, underscoring the significance of industry-specific considerations, which we’ll explore later. Nonetheless, these times provide a valuable starting point for maximizing the reach of your Facebook posts.

CoSchedule

CoSchedule’s social media posting times research derives its findings from an analysis of 37 million social media messages across 30,000 organizations. Intriguingly, the research revealed a shift in Facebook audience engagement patterns due to the pandemic. Previously, peak engagement typically occurred around 10 am, coinciding with the late-morning office coffee break. However, in 2022, CoSchedule observed that users are now most active in the early morning and later afternoon.

• Best day and time: Friday, 7 pm; Monday/Wednesday, 7 am or 3:15 pm
• Worst day and time: Saturday, Sunday, and Thursday, 2 am, 3 am, or 12 am

Image source

Unsurprisingly, CoSchedule’s data suggests that the least favorable posting times align with when most people are asleep—between 12:00 am and 5:00 am, based on the respondents’ respective time zones.

Sprout Social

Sprout Social’s research examined data from over 30,000 of its customers, reaching conclusions that directly contradict CoSchedule’s findings. While concurring that mid-morning is no longer the prime posting time it once was, Sprout Social determined that, when considering a global audience, early morning is now the optimal time to post.

• Best day and time: Monday through Friday, 3 am; Tuesday, 10 am and 12 pm
• Worst day/time: Saturday (all day) and most of Sunday

Sprout Social clarifies that these times are in CST but take into account a global audience. Consequently, these unusual posting times might reflect the activity of audiences in different time zones. For example, 3 am in Chicago corresponds to 9 am in London, a typical early morning posting time.

Hootsuite

According to Hootsuite, which analyzed over 30,000 social media posts, concludes that the universally optimal time to post on Facebook is between 8 am and 12 pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays. However, demonstrating that these study findings should serve as a baseline for determining your own posting schedule, Hootsuite found that the best time for its own Facebook account is 6:15 am and 12:15 pm on weekdays, falling outside the initially identified timeframe.

Optimal Facebook Posting Times by Day

CoSchedule’s data further breaks down the best time to post on Facebook for each day of the week:

Note that the times are listed in order of the best (of the best):

Here is the same information for the worst times to post, also in order of the worst (of the worst):

Optimal Facebook Posting Times by Industry

Understanding the best time to post on Facebook based on industry can be advantageous whether you operate within that specific industry or, as a B2B business, aim to connect with potential clients when they are active on the platform.

HubSpot

HubSpot’s research research revealed some exceptions to the general best posting times for specific industries. Notably, the optimal posting window for agriculture, food, beverage, and hospitality is 9 am to 12 pm. HubSpot found that 50% of respondents in agriculture, food, and beverage industries, and 100% in hospitality, selected this timeframe as the best time to post.

Sprout Social

Sprout Social delved deeper, providing specific posting times for 10 different industries. While some industries still adhere to the typical pre-work, lunchtime, and post-work engagement patterns, variations exist depending on industry-specific work schedules and online behaviors.

• Consumer goods (retail): Friday at 10 am
• Education: Mondays, 8-10 am; Tuesdays, 12 pm; Wednesdays, 9 am; Fridays, 9-11 am
• Finance: Tuesdays and Wednesdays, 11 am; Thursdays, 10 am and 12 pm Sprout Social observed a shift in financial institutions’ social media engagement in 2022, moving from consistent activity throughout the Monday-Friday workweek to more concentrated engagement around lunchtime.
• Nonprofits: Fridays, 12 pm Nonprofits also experienced a change in posting behavior between 2021 and 2022. They are now finding success with weekday posting, with a significant drop in engagement on weekends, although Friday lunchtime remains optimal.
• Tech: Tuesdays, 3 pm and 5 pm; Wednesdays, 11 am; Fridays, 9 am, 11 am, and 12 pm

CoSchedule

CoSchedule also segmented its 30,000 accounts by industry, aligning with its broader posting time recommendations. Similar to HubSpot’s findings, CoSchedule’s research indicated that businesses in the same industry tend to exhibit comparable Facebook behaviors. However, rather than recommending one-size-fits-all posting windows for each industry, CoSchedule’s insights shed light on the reasons behind these industry-specific time preferences.

• B2C: The most effective times to engage with customers are 7-9 am, 11 am-1 pm, or after 6 pm.

• B2B: The optimal time to connect with B2B prospects is 2-4 pm when they are seeking a mental break or experiencing the afternoon slump.

• Software: Prime engagement times for this industry are 7-9 am (before work), 6-8 pm (after work), and 2-4 pm (during breaks).

• Healthcare: Healthcare workers are most active online in the early morning (5-8 am). This aligns with the typical 7 am-7 pm hospital shift pattern in the U.S., and CoSchedule suggests they might be seeking entertainment before their often-stressful workday.

• Media: Like many other industries, media companies find their audience most engaged when they wake up, take lunch breaks, or arrive home from work.

Determining YOUR Optimal Facebook Posting Time

While valuable, relying solely on general activity statistics or market behavior doesn’t account for the unique characteristics of your specific target audience. Therefore, conducting your own research on your customers will always yield the most tailored and effective results.

1. Leverage Facebook Insights

Facebook’s built-in analytics platform, Insights, provides valuable information about your audience’s online behavior. It reveals peak activity times throughout the week based on your chosen parameters and characteristics. Additionally, analyzing past posts that generated substantial engagement can unveil patterns in posting days or times.

2. Conduct Market Research

If Facebook Insights doesn’t provide the necessary depth of information, conducting your own customer research can yield highly specific and tailored insights. This research doesn’t have to be overly complex. Consider offering customers a 10% discount on their next purchase in exchange for completing a short survey. Include straightforward multiple-choice questions about their content preferences and peak activity times on Facebook. Alternatively, host a focus group with a small group of active customers to gain a deeper understanding of their social media habits and preferences.

3. Embrace Trial and Error

If delving into elaborate strategies feels overwhelming, adopting the KISS (keep it super simple) method can be an effective alternative. Post when it’s most convenient for you, and then track your posts’ performance over a month. At the end of the month, identify your top-performing posts and analyze whether any commonalities exist in their posting times. Continue posting at those times to observe if engagement remains consistently high. If not, make adjustments accordingly.

Becoming a Facebook Posting Powerhouse

As we’ve discovered, the definitive answer to the question of the optimal Facebook posting time is that it depends on various factors. The good news is that posting time is just one piece of the engagement puzzle. Prioritize creating high-quality content that resonates with your audience, encouraging reading and interaction, and then build your strategy from there.

If you opt to conduct audience research (which is highly recommended), use the insights gained to understand the content they are most eager to engage with. Then, select one of the suggested posting times as a starting point, experiment, and refine your approach based on the results.

Interested in discovering optimal posting times for other social media platforms? Check out these resources:

• The Best Time to Post on TikTok
• The Best Time to Post on Instagram
• The Best Time to Post on YouTube