When Is the Best Time to Post on Facebook?

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If you have a Facebook profile for your business, you likely know managing it is different than how you manage your personal account. If your goal is to optimize your business account to increase engagement, drive traffic and gain new followers, you have to find the answer to a very important question – when is the best time to post on Facebook?

One of the first things to understand is that there’s no single right time to post. Instead, some factors impact when you should post, how often to post, and the type of content you share.

Keep reading to learn when to post on Facebook to help optimize your presence and reach more people.

The Importance of Getting the Timing Right for Your Facebook Posts

The algorithm used by Facebook is also called the edge rank. It considers how much engagement your posts receive while ranking them.

If your posts receive more likes, Facebook will begin showing them to more people because the “likes” they have received indicate that you have posted quality content. It also means that more people will like it, as well.

Something else the Facebook algorithm looks at is time. If you have newer content, then Facebook will show it to more people. There is also a “time decay” factor, which means it will move lower in the feed as your post gets older.

Because of this, the time and day you post on Facebook can directly affect the engagement and reach you achieve. If you decide to post at a time when there are more people online and able to interact with your content, you will be able to generate more likes right away. As a result, you will move up in the feed ranking.

There’s also an indirect effect. If you generate more likes, then Facebook starts to show more people the content right away. However, that’s not all. The site will continue displaying your content in the short term.

Because of this, you must figure out the when is the best time to post on Facebook and add great content.

How to Determine What Is the Best Time of Day to Post on Facebook

When it comes to posting content on Facebook, timing is everything. If you want to reach your audience and generate the most attention possible, you have to get the timing right. Some factors to consider before posting anything can be found here.

Know Who Your Target Audience Is

Before thinking about when the best time to post on Facebook and creating a posting schedule, it’s important to know who you are trying to reach. Start with the basics of who your target audience is. To figure this out, you must consider:

  • What is your audience’s gender, age, or demographics?
  • What do they do for a living?
  • Where does your audience live?
  • How much education do they have?

When you answer these questions, you can create a buyer persona, which will help you better understand the people who follow you on Facebook. This may also give you insight into when they are most likely to use the platform.

Don’t Forget About Time Zones

While answering the question – when is the best time to post on Facebook during the day is important, you also have to consider time zones and your audience’s location. Users who are in different areas will also be in different time zones.

It is important to schedule posts based on where most of your audience is. If you serve a global customer base, then Google Analytics can provide insight into this.

Consider the Stats

Researching and figuring out when the best time to post on Facebook isn’t a new “thing.” This is something companies, and marketers have been doing for years.

Unfortunately, there’s no single accepted answer, and the findings vary – quite a bit.

For example, a study conducted by Hootsuite showed that posting on Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday at noon produces good results for B2C brands. However, a study from Buffer showed that the highest engagement results occur between one and three PM on Thursdays and Fridays. Other studies say the best time to post on Facebook on Sunday is in the afternoon, after church hours.

While there is a lot of information available, some assumptions are to be made. One is that posting in the afternoon is smart. Also, posting on Tuesday may not give you the same results as posting on other days of the week.

You should try to save your highest-quality content for later in the week and expect lower engagement rates in the middle of the week, especially if you post in the morning or later in the day.

These assumptions are a good starting point for your own posting schedule. However, make sure you do your own research based on your own customer base.

When it comes to frequency, you don’t have to worry about sending out ongoing updates on Facebook. If you post too often, it may become annoying for some of your followers. At some point, it could result in your posts being classified as spam, as well.

Use Analytics and Tools

Analytics are beneficial when it comes to optimizing your Facebook account.

After you have started posting regularly, you can utilize your own analytics to figure out when your audience is the most engaged and active.

One of the best places to start with this research is Facebook Insights. You can find page insights by visiting your profile and clicking “Insights,” located at the top of the page.

To see when your fans are online, you can choose “posts,” which is in the left-side column. This will provide a chart that shows the times and days your fans are the most active on the site. You will see the averages displayed (which is the default setting). You can hover your cursor over a certain time to see how the activity compares to what is considered average.

With this data, you can figure out the right time slots to post based on when the most fans and followers are online.

Schedule Your Upcoming Facebook Posts

While you can manually post your updates, you now know that timing and scheduling are essential when it comes to generating higher levels of engagement. The good news is there are plenty of automation tools for you to choose from. There are millions of people on social media each day. However, many business owners don’t have time to spend on social media, if you are a small business owner then you know how many hours you work a day. If you are looking for a marketing company to handle your social media, you might want to reach out to us.

Consider Facebook Ads

Placing ads on Facebook is an effective way to reach your target audience. Since it is challenging for someone to find your business page based on organic posts alone, it may be a good idea to consider Facebook ads. These can help increase your potential for success.

Facebook has reported that the most affordable days to run ads are on Mondays and Sundays. The most expensive day is Friday. While this is true, you have to figure out what day is right for your business by using the data and analytics you have gathered about when your fan base is actively using the site.

Common Questions About Finding the Right Time to Post on Facebook for Your Business

While the information above provides a good overview and starting point regarding when the best time to post on Facebook, you likely still have some questions. Some of the most common questions have been answered here.

When Is The Best Time to Post on Facebook to Maximize Your Exposure?

Several studies have shown that the best day for posting on Facebook to achieve the maximum exposure level will be Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, or Saturday and Sunday.

The best time of day (in general) for posting on Facebook to achieve the maximum level of exposure is either:

  • 9 AM
  • 3 PM
  • 1 PM

It has been found that the posts that are published at these times will receive more engagement. Because of this, the algorithm increases their exposure.

When Is the Best Time to Post on Facebook on Sunday?

There’s no question that the weekend is a good time to increase engagement. This is particularly the case for Sunday.

One reason for this is that you don’t have to worry about your content competing with another business because most will take the weekend off.

A good rule to follow when posting on Sunday is to do so before 8 AM or after 8 PM. Posting early in the morning lets you catch people who get up early. When you post later at night, you get to catch the people who are looking at Facebook before they go to bed for the evening.

When Is the Best Time to Post on Facebook to Get More Likes?

One of the best times to post on Facebook for the most engagement occurs on weekdays between 9 AM and 3 PM.

The best time to get likes is on Wednesday. That’s because traffic goes up in the middle of the week but falls slightly going into the weekend. However, just because the activity levels on Facebook will go up sometimes, it doesn’t mean that they are the right times to feature your post. Be sure to test what works for your business and look at analytics regularly to see what times and days generate the most engagement.

If your top concern is engagement, try to focus on when you post, along with what you are posting. If you post irrelevant content, you won’t have much engagement.

Tips for Increasing Facebook Engagement

While timing your Facebook posts will help you get seen by more people, if your posts aren’t quality, then engagement will start to fall. Because of this, you should put in extra effort to create posts that will stand out. Some tips to help you do this include:

Post More Video Content

For a while, images were used to increase engagement. In fact, they were considered the top option when posting on social media. However, today, video dominates the Facebook feed. In fact, videos have been proven to drive more engagement than any other type of post.

It makes sense that videos would perform better if you think about it. Something moving in a person’s feed will attract more attention than something that is still.

The bottom line – create and post more video content. While it takes more time to create videos than still images, the engagement boost will help increase your edge rank, which will help you generate more leads, impressions, and sales over time.

Boost Your Top Performing Posts

It is all a matter of numbers when it comes to Facebook marketing. Getting to know your audience and Facebook analytics can help you determine the type of content that will work best. While this is true, there’s no way to get things right every time.

Failure is going to happen. However, when you do get it right and increase engagement, you can take advantage of the popularity of your post by boosting the content using ads. This will help get even more people to view the post and start engaging with it.

If you create more video posts, organic videos will generate even more views. After that, you can start creating Facebook video ads focused on conversions and then retarget the people watching your videos. This is going to help you see an ROI sooner, which is beneficial and makes your investment worthwhile.

Included One Hashtag in Every Post

There is a lot of debate on if you should use hashtags on Facebook. However, one hashtag has been proven to result in the most engagement.

What does this mean? Using hashtags is a good idea, but make sure you limit them to just one per post. Also, do research to find the most relevant ones.

Optimizing Your Facebook Posts by Posting at the Right Time

If your goal is to optimize your Facebook posts, then knowing when the best time to post on Facebook is essential. This information from Local SEO Apex provides some guidelines and an overview of how to figure out what is right for your business. Use this information to make the most of your Facebook business presence.

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