Knowing when to publish your Facebook posts to gain maximum exposure is important if you’re trying to bring more attention to your brand or business. But figuring out the best timing can be a bit tricky as there’s no real clear-cut answer that works for every Facebook page. And that’s because the optimal timing for different Facebook pages will vary depending on the browsing/viewing habits of their respective audiences.
In the guide below, we’ll answer a few of your questions about when to post on Facebook (generally), and we’ll mention some ways to figure out the best publish times for your specific Facebook page.
Is it better to post in the morning or at night?
Overall, the consensus is that it’s best to post during the day rather than at night. However, when it comes getting exposure for your posts, not all daylight hours are created equal, and there are some differing expert opinions on which daylight hours are generally the best for Facebook posting.
For example, social media software company Sprout Social says that the most optimal times to post on Facebook are 3 a.m. for Monday through Friday and 10 a.m. and 12 p.m for Tuesday. But according to Influencer Marketing Hub — while it appears to concede that daylight hours are best — it still recommends mostly late-morning and afternoon times as opposed to the mostly early to mid-morning times recommended by Sprout Social. According to Influencer Marketing Hub, some of the best times during the day to post on Facebook include 1 p.m. on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays, and 11 a.m. on Wednesdays and Fridays.
But that doesn’t mean you can’t post at night or during earlier evening hours. Even though overall, posting on Facebook during the day seems to work for most audiences, that doesn’t mean posting during the day will work for your page’s specific followers. And as Influencer Marketing Hub indicates, optimal posting times at night do exist: Thursdays at 5 p.m. or 8 p.m. also seem to work.
What is the best time to post on Facebook for maximum exposure?
Generally speaking (for everyone)
There are Facebook posting times that, according to social media experts, are considered generally optimal. As we mentioned above, Sprout Social has said that 3 a.m. is the most optimal time to post on Facebook, Monday through Friday. Sprout Social also mentioned posting at 10 a.m. and 12 p.m. on Tuesdays as well.
But as we also said, there are differing expert opinions on the best times. Influencer Marketing Hub reported that for Mondays and Tuesdays, it was best to post at 1 p.m., 2 p.m., and 3 p.m. Wednesdays and Fridays both do well at 11 a.m., but Wednesdays also offer up 1 p.m. as an option. And lastly, Thursdays are the only days that offer up any nighttime/early evening hours: 5 p.m. and 8 pm.
Since the above times listed are just general posting time guidelines, you could just try a few of them to see which ones work for your page.
Note: The times listed for Sprout Social’s findings are in U.S. Central time.
The best time for your specific situation/audience
You can also go another route and — instead of relying on general posting time estimates — choose to figure out what works for your Facebook page’s specific audience. If you’d rather try to figure out a more specific optimal time for posting, here are a couple of methods that could work for you in doing so:
- Your Facebook page’s analytics: Your Facebook page should provide analytics (including audience demographics information). Facebook refers to this page feature as Insights. And according to Facebook’s Help Center guide on the matter, Insights should offer a wealth of information about your page’s performance and useful data about your audience, including their location and being able to “see when your audience is on Facebook.” This data is important in figuring out the best time to post on Facebook because location can help determine the appropriate time zones for your audience. Knowing when your audience is on Facebook can tell you the best possible time to post to maximize your posts’ visibility to your audience. However, it is worth mentioning that Facebook will not show you data about your audience until your page has a minimum of 100 followers. Also, Community Pages do not have access to Insights.
- To access Insights, you’ll need to navigate to your Facebook page. Then, on the left side of your screen, in the Manage page sidebar menu, select Insights. (The Insights option should be under the Professional tools menu heading.)
- Social media management apps: Sometimes, brands or businesses use social media management apps to help manage their social media presence (including publishing posts). A number of these apps and services can offer useful features like timing recommendations for publishing your posts or audience demographics data. Examples of these services include Buffer and Hootsuite. The catch? Those kinds of features usually require a paid subscription before you can access them.
