When is the best time to post on Twitter? The ultimate guide (With Facts & Stats )
So, you're wondering when's the best time to post on social media, right? Or maybe specifically, when's the best time to post on Twitter? It's a question every marketer seems to be wrestling with.
Thing is, nobody really knows exactly how those social media algorithms work because they're always changing. But, a bunch of studies have tried to figure it out. We've gathered some of the most useful and important ones here.
A study by Hootsuite looked into the best times to post on Twitter from two different angles: business-to-consumer (B2C) and business-to-business (B2B).
For B2B, tweets seemed to do best when posted on Monday or Thursday, between 11 am and 1 pm. They also suggested a broader window of 9 am to 4 pm as a good general timeframe.
For B2C accounts, tweets were more successful when shared on Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday, between 12 pm and 1 pm.
Twitter's a pretty big deal, with millions of active users tweeting all the time. This means you might need to post more often to get noticed compared to platforms like Facebook or Instagram. The lifespan of a tweet is super short – only about 18 minutes, though you can stretch that with replies and threads. In contrast, a Facebook post lasts about 6 hours, Instagram posts hang around for 48 hours, and Pinterest Pins can stick around for months.
Now, let's look at what Sprout Social found. They dug into data from over 20,000 of their customers to see what content got the most engagement, broken down by platform and industry.
Best Times to Post on Twitter (Global Engagement)
This general recommendation is for anyone looking to reach a broad audience on Twitter.
- Best times: Wednesday and Friday at 9 a.m.
- Best days: Wednesday and Friday
- Worst day: Saturday
Best Times to Post on Twitter by Industry
Consumer Goods
- Best times: Sunday at 11 a.m.
- Best day: Sunday
- Worst day: Monday
Media
- Best times: Wednesday at 9 a.m. and Thursday at 9 a.m. and 8 p.m.
- Best days: Thursday and Friday
- Worst day: Saturday
Education
- Best times: Saturday, 5–6 p.m.
- Best day: Saturday
- Worst day: Sunday
Nonprofit
- Best times: Wednesday at 7 a.m.
- Best day: Wednesday
- Worst day: Saturday
Tech
- Best times: Tuesday at 9 a.m.
- Best days: Tuesday and Wednesday
- Worst day: Sunday
Healthcare
- Best times: Wednesday from 8 a.m.–2 p.m.
- Best day: Wednesday
- Worst day: Sunday
Finance
- Best times: Tuesday from 1–5 a.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m.
- Why the early hours for finance? It could be that finance professionals are checking in before the market opens or catching up on global news overnight.
- Best day: Tuesday
- Worst day: Saturday
Recreation
- Best times: Friday at 9 a.m.
- Best day: Friday
- Worst day: Saturday and Sunday
Advice for Users: Get Involved.
Twitter's more of a chatty platform than others. A single tweet can really take off over the day, with more and more people jumping in with comments, retweets, and likes.
We've personally seen good results with tweets shared first thing in the morning, around 8 am-9 am. The time zone doesn't really matter too much here because the engagement happens in waves.
Tweets get an initial boost from people heading to work. Then, replies to comments can "re-awaken" the thread around lunchtime, and there might be another surge of activity in the evening, or even into the next day or two. Each little burst of interaction gives the conversation a chance to be seen by more people who might have otherwise missed it.
We really recommend you try out different posting times. We've had some great interaction on posts shared Friday night. See if that works for you too!
Photo by Morning Brew on Unsplash
