The best times to post on social media in the UK vary depending on the platform. However, as a general rule, posting during off-work hours and early in the morning (8 am) or evening (4 pm) is usually best.
If you are a business owner, two things are certain about social media; first, social media is a must-have these days. Second, it’s essential to have a strategy in place.
This article will not necessarily be a technical one. We want to provide some fundamental tips for entrepreneurs who manage their social media accounts.
Note: All posting times are expressed in GMT (Greenwich Meridian Time).
So what are the Best Times to Post on Social Media in the UK?
We consider that no days or hours are generally valid for any business. From our experience, we know that it is ideal to know your audience and see when it is most active. To establish this, you can use the Insights section of the Facebook page and the Instagram account. And the analytics section for Twitter and LinkedIn.
Here are the selected date and time when social media posts will be more likely to perform well.
What are the Best Times to Post on Facebook in the UK?
According to a study from Sprout Social, the best times to post on Facebook are early mornings at around 8–9 am and between 1 pm and 3 pm GMT when people take their lunch break. At this time, users are most likely to be engaged with their feeds. It’s important to remember that every page is different, so test out different times and see which ones work best.
As of July 2021, there were 51.15 million Facebook users in the United Kingdom.” Statista
A social media platform like Facebook is a powerful communications tool that can build brand awareness and engage with customers. Peak engagement times for Facebook vary by niche, so it’s important to know when your target audience is most active, depending on time zones.
Early morning is a great time to post content on Facebook, as it’s a time when people check their accounts. Posting times in the evening can also be effective, as this is when people are winding down and may be more likely to engage with content.
Brands should post content during peak times for their specific audience for maximum engagement. Yet another essential thing to do is create engaging content that will keep people coming back for more.
Facebook page insights provide metrics on how content is performing, whether it’s successful or not. Also, show’s you which types of posts are most engaging and you’ll better understand what your followers are looking for.
What are the Best Times to Post on Instagram in the UK?
In the same article, Sprout Social said the ideal times to post on Instagram for the best engagement are Monday to Friday from 11 am to 12 pm and Tuesdays from 11 am to 2 pm GMT.
“There are roughly 30.6 million Instagram active users in the UK, with 46 per cent of the population having an Instagram account.” Statista
The best time to post on Instagram UK is early afternoon, when people tend to be more active and engaged. Most people are also online at this time, which can help you reach your target audience.
With Instagram Stories and Reels being so popular nowadays, brands need to take advantage of these features and create content that will engage an even younger audience that Instagram offers.
Knowing that your followers are more likely to be online during certain times can help you to better plan and execute your social media strategy. Additionally, video content is said to have a higher engagement rate than other content types. This is likely because it makes sense, and viewers can quickly consume it.
When planning your social media posts, it’s important to consider specific insights into audience behaviour. For example, knowing that most of your Instagram followers are located in the UK can help you tailor your content for this platform accordingly. A good understanding of your audience’s behaviour will help you create high engagement posts that make sense to them.
What are the Best Times toPost on LinkedIn in the UK?
Sprout Social said the best times to post on LinkedIn are Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 9 am to 2 pm GMT. The worst days are as you already expected during weekends.
“LinkedIn had nearly 31.2 million users in the United Kingdom, of which 57.1 per cent were between 25 and 34 years old.” Statista
LinkedIn’s algorithm takes into account a global audience. They found that the most engagement happens during the working week when B2B professionals are more likely to be engaged. People generally check their LinkedIn accounts during work hours, so businesses need to post content relevant to their professional audience.
Although it’s generally advised not to post on LinkedIn during the weekends, this doesn’t mean that there isn’t potential for engagement. Many users are active on LinkedIn during the weekends to catch up on professional development or new posts.
When creating content for LinkedIn, consider your own data and not necessarily rely on what other people are saying. Your audience analytics will determine when the best time to post is.
What are the Best Times to Post on Twitter in the UK?
The best times to post on Twitter are Tuesday and Thursday from 9 am to 11 am GMT, and the peak times are Wednesday from 1 am to 3 pm GMT, said Sprout Social.
“Twitter has around 328 million active users, of which 16 million are in the UK.” Statista
Twitter is most popular for news and current events, so posting during these times will ensure that your tweets reach the most people.
Professionals, politicians, journalists, and businesses are using Twitter to share messages with their followers.
Tweets are brief messages with a maximum length of 280 characters. Twitter predicts that these messages can be delivered to followers or customer base in real-time with social media engagement.
That makes Twitter one of the most important social networks to be on, yet many businesses are still unsure when to post and what times will help them reach the maximum number of people.
Tip: To achieve high engagement on social media, you need to understand when people are online and interact with them at that time.
What are the Best Times to Post on TikTok in the UK?
Based on a study from Influencer Marketing Hub, the best times to post on TikTok are Monday to Sunday as follows below
- Monday: 6 AM, 10 AM, 10 PM
- Tuesday: 2 am, 4 am, *9 am
- Wednesday: 7 am, 8 am, 11 pm
- Thursday: 9 am, *12 am, 7 pm
- Friday: *5 am, 1 pm, 3 pm
- Saturday: 11 AM, 7 PM, 8 PM
- Sunday: 7 am, 8 am, 4 pm
* indicates a high level of engagement.
TikTok is owned by a Chinese company called ByteDance, and according to Statista, it had 1 billion active global users in September 2021, with 17 million users in the UK.
TikTok is uncertainly the new social platform on the block that can be best described as a short-form video app.
As TikTok becomes more popular, is considered an opportunity to understand its unique audience and how to catch their interest. Posting at the times that have been found to have the most engagement (listed above) will allow you to reach a larger number of people on the platform.
Additionally, understanding TikTok’s engagement rates can help you create content that resonates with users and results in higher engagement rates.
However, it’s also important to consider other social media platforms when creating content. Your brand’s followers may be more active on other platforms, so it’s essential to tailor your content accordingly.
What are the Best Times to Post on YouTube in the UK?
Another article from Influencer Marketing Hub states the best times to post on YouTube are as follows:
- Mondays 2–4 pm
- Tuesdays 2–4 pm
- Wednesdays 2–4 pm
- Thursdays noon *2 pm
- Fridays noon *2 pm
- Saturdays 9 am-11 am
- Sundays 9 am-11 am
According to Statista, In 2021, there are approximately 1.86 billion YouTube users worldwide, while in the United Kingdom amounts to approximately 41.40 million users.
Different time zones may vary depending on the time of day, but this list provides a good idea of when to post updates.
The best times to post on YouTube are Thursday and Friday at 3 pm, and Wednesday mornings also see high engagement rates.
YouTube content creators should aim to post during these hours to best engage with their followers.
Another great way to understand your followers is by looking at data based on demographics. Watching your audience’s engagement rate will help you create content that resonates with their interests, so they’re likely to interact with it.
What are the Best Times to Post on Pinterest in the UK?
The best time to post on Pinterest is Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 8 pm to 11 pm and 2 am to 4 am.
Pinterest is the largest photo-sharing website that allows users an opportunity for some unique marketing opportunities and is an excellent platform for all sorts of businesses.
As of January 2021, 75.2 per cent of Pinterest audiences in the United Kingdom were male and 19 per cent were female. Statista
In order for your posts not to go unnoticed or ignored, it’s important that you know when your audience will be online so that they can see your pins and repin them.
Pinterest users tend to be most active in the weekend times. If you want to get more attention from the people in the UK, then posting during these times will give you better results and help drive traffic to your website, blog, and other social media channels.
Primary Factors when Finding the Best Times to Post on Social Media in the UK
Using various tools and methods will help you find the ideal times to post on social media. We recommend using scheduling tools to plan which days and times your posts go out across various platforms.
Here are the most important factors to consider when deciding to publish on your social media account. For the most significant number of social shares, sales and leads, views, comments or whatever may denote conversion in your campaign.
What is Your Goal on Social Media?
The first question you need to ask yourself is what you want to achieve with your social media posts.
Do you want more website traffic and leads or increase brand awareness? Once you know your goal, it will be much easier to determine the best time to post on your social network.
Days Of The Week
Taking into consideration the days of the week is also very important. Some social networks are more active on certain days, while some are active during specific times.
For example, if you are operating a business that sells products to customers in the UK, you should look for when your customers are most active online. Since weekends are when people have more time to shop, posting during the weekends and evenings would be more beneficial.
Time Zones
Social media is a key component of any modern business, but it’s not enough just to post regularly. You need an effective posting schedule that will help drive traffic and sales in your desired direction! Different times may work better for different followers, so you’ll want some experimentation with time slots before settling upon one consistent slot as best practice across all social channels.
There are generalisations about what works well when designing posts or timing them relative to each other; this doesn’t consider individual preferences like those based around peak engagement periods (e-commerce platforms often have these). As such, entrepreneurs should experiment by trying various windows during which content could appear over the course of a week.
Frequency Of Posting
One of the most important key factors of social media marketing is determining how often to post on different platforms. It’s been discovered that posts with a higher frequency are more likely to be shared, liked, and commented on.
If you want your posts to get the most attention, then you need to post consistently. One to four times per day depending on the social platform, but not too often as may annoy your followers.
Industry
If you are in a specific industry such as finance, real estate, law or even fitness, then the best time to post might be different from someone operating a retail business. The best strategy here is to do some research and find out when most of your followers are active and post at those times.
Audience Demographics & Routine
When it comes to picking time zones, the audience demographic is vital. It’s also a good idea to look into your target audience’s job and social media usage habits to determine when they’re most active on social media.
Competitive Analysis
As the proverb says, “imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.” When it comes to social media marketing, competitors are your best friends.
Inspire yourself by looking at their social media posting schedule and adapting what works best for you.
Don’t forget, it’s all about the data.
We only recommend looking at your competition if you don’t find your way as a beginner, then originality based on what you know about your followers works best!
Algorithm
Different social media platforms have different algorithms that determine which posts are shown to users. The time and date a post is published may not be the most important factor for appearing on user’s feed.
Posts that receive more interactions may be more likely to appear on a user’s feed. You must understand how these algorithms work if you want your content to be seen.
How to Find the Best Time to Post on Social Media in the UK?
If you wish to figure out the best time to post on social media efficiently, you must consider your customer’s demographics and routine, competitors, and platform-specific algorithms.
But if you want to start quickly and easily, you can use the following:
- generalised best practices
- analyse your past social media posts
- tools that help with timing posts
Test & Optimize
Social media is constantly changing and evolving, so it’s important never to stop testing and optimising your posts. Try different times of day, days of the week, and types of content to see what works best for you. Keep track of which posts receive the most interaction and attempt to reproduce that success.
Analyse From The Past
The first step in determining when to post on social media should be an analysis of your past postings. This would provide you with a starting point, and as you continue with your social media journey, things will become clearer. For example, with Facebook’s inbuilt post insights, analysing your past performance becomes much easier.
Create a schedule
Social media best practices suggest that most published posts should be scheduled if you want to save time. You can use scheduling tools, such as Sprout Social and Buffer, to schedule social media posts in advance, so you don’t have to be present on every single social platform at all times.
Customer Profiling and Segmentation
What is Customer Profiling and Segmentation?
Customer profiling is the process of defining the ideal customer. In contrast, customer segmentation is the process of dividing customers into groups based on shared characteristics like background, needs, and buying behaviour.
Companies use customer profiling to identify different types of clients and predict their behaviour. Profiling helps understand the motivations that drive an individual’s decisions, lifestyles, and spending patterns. This information can be used to create advertisements that target specific audiences, create products that suit certain demographics, and post content at the right times.
What’s Trending
Another way to increase the chances of your posts being seen and engaged is to hop on current trends. Keeping your content timely and relevant will help keep people interested in what you have to say. You may utilise Google Trends to discover popular subjects for discussion.
Posting relevant content to your followers will become more and more important as algorithms continue to change. So, if you’re looking to post the best content possible, try to keep up with trends in your industry!
Conclusion
There isn’t a one-size-fits-all answer to the question of what are the best times to post on social media in the UK. The best time to post depends on your audience’s demographics and routine, your competitors’ social media schedules, and the algorithms of the specific social media platforms. But by using generalised best practices and analysing your past posts, you can figure out the best time to post on social media and see your content perform better.