Best Times to Post on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn in 2021

With new studies published constantly about social media trends, do’s and don’ts, social media marketing can seem like a moving target at times. You’re not alone. Working with hundreds of financial advisors on their social media marketing strategies I realize how difficult it can be to stay on top of each network.

Know the Best Times to Post on Social Media

As a financial advisor, it’s critical you know the best times to post on social media. And with the COVID-19 pandemic turning the world upside down and changing how we connect with each other, the best times for posting have changed.

It’s still important to keep this in mind because posting at just the right time can make the difference between getting one click or ten. When you post on social media and get likes or comments, this signals the algorithms of the platform to let them know that your content is timely and relevant, therefore putting your posts in front of even more people. And while every business’ audience is going to vary but having a better understanding of the possible time frames in the day when you can get more traffic, more engagement, and more followers will making publishing on social media much more effective.

Let’s dive into each major network and see what studies have found about the best times to post on social media:

Best Times to Post on Facebook

Best Times to Post on Twitter

Best Times to Post on LinkedIn

Best Times to Post on Instagram

Sprout Social found that the best times to post on Instagram are Wednesday at 11 a.m. and Friday at 10–11 a.m. Additionally, they found that some of the most optimal times to post are:

• Tuesday through Friday from 10 a.m to 3 p.m.
• Wednesday at 11 a.m.
• Friday from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m.

Best Times to Post on Instagram During Covid-19

Instagram usage has increased during the workweek during the pandemic which was not the case when people were regularly going into the office. The posting frequency can be one or two times a day in order to stay top of mind but without posting too often.

• Monday at 11 a.m.
• Tuesday at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.
• Friday at 11 a.m.

Best Times to Post on Facebook

To increase shares and clickthrough on Facebook, Sprout Social recommends posting on:

• Wednesdays at 11 a.m. and  1 p.m.
• Weekdays between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m.

In addition, if you want to boost engagement on Facebook, this graph is a good benchmark to determine the optimal times to post:

Best Times to Post on Facebook During Covid-19

To increase engagement and activity during the pandemic, I recommend posting on Monday, Wednesday and Friday between 10 and 11 a.m. According to Social Media Today, they suggest posting two times a day on the platform as far as frequency goes. There is a pretty large dropoff of Facebook usage and engagement after 5 pm.

• Monday from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m.
• Wednesday from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m.
• Friday from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m.

Best Times to Post on Twitter

IMPACT suggests that the best days to post on Twitter are Tuesday and Wednesday. In addition, the safest times to post are:

• Monday through Friday from 8 a.m.– 4 p.m.
• Tuesday and Wednesday at 9 a.m.

Best Times to Post on Twitter During Covid-19

Twitter has usually been fairly active even throughout the workweek, and while Wednesdays and Fridays were usually the highest, during Covid-19, Friday mornings between 7 and 9 a.m. have seen the most activity. The posting frequency should generally be three times a day as Twitter is a “faster moving” platform.

Best Times to Post on LinkedIn

Due to its user-base of working professionals, LinkedIn’s highest engagement has always centered around working hours. They also generally get a more specific audience due to the professional that uses the platform which can really boost the marketing power that this firm harnesses. To get the most out of your posts on LinkedIn, we recommend:

• Wednesday between 8-10 a.m. and 12 p.m.
• Thursday at 9 a.m. and 3 p.m.
• Friday at 9 a.m.

Best Times to Post on LinkedIn During Covid-19

Due to people working remotely, Sprout Social has found that the regular weekday hours engagement starts and ends a bit later as the activity starts at around 8 A.M. and closes at about 4 P.M. With LinkedIn, as it is a more professional platform, the best posting frequency should be one time a day.

Additionally, the highest engagement was found to be on:

• Wednesday at 3 p.m.
• Thursday between 9 and 10 a.m.
• Friday from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m.

Adjusting Posting Times for Your Prospects & Clients

The above are general guidelines for posting to popular social media channels like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. However, every business’s audience is going to vary so it’s important to also take into account your page analytics to get a more accurate handle on when you should be posting to social media for the most engagement.

Here are a few ways you can figure out the best posting times for your prospects and clients based on analytics:

1. GOOGLE ANALYTICS

Google Analytics is constantly improving its platform. As financial advisors, we don’t have to tell you that numbers are important. You may already know that Google Analytics is an amazing (and free!) tool to gather data about your website but did you know you can also pull social media analytics from it too? It’s true!

Once logged into your Google Analytics account navigate on the left to Acquisition > Social > Network Referrals to see which channels are resulting in sessions on your website. From there you can even see which URLs were clicked on your social networks that drove traffic to your website.

2. NATIVE ANALYTICS

Most of the major social media networks now also offer their own native analytics tools. Meaning, you can access analytics for those respective platforms by logging in and clicking on the “Insights” or “Analytics” sections.

Facebook: Once logged into your Facebook Business page you can easily access a slew of analytics. Here you have the ability to adjust your timeframe and get data on page views, likes, reach, reactions (comments, post likes, and shares), and more!

Twitter: Twitter has come a long way in terms of analytics and offers very robust data for your Twitter profile.

Once logged into your account, click your avatar to the right and choose “Analytics” from the drop-down. Your account home page is what you’ll see first and will include a snapshot summary of the past 28 days. If you keep scrolling down month-to-month analytics will populate.

Within Twitter analytics, you can view all tweet activity including engagement rate, link clicks, retweets, likes, and more. What’s even more interesting is the data Twitter aggregates about your audience. This is a really great analytics category for financial advisors to pay attention to especially because you can glean information about your audience’s interests, lifestyle, demographics and even their household income.

LinkedIn: LinkedIn has also come a long way over the years by enhancing its analytics offerings to companies. Once logged in, simply navigate to your company page and choose “Analytics” from the top banner.

From there, you can pull data pertaining to your LinkedIn company followers, page visitors and updates (aka your posts to LinkedIn).

Ready to Boost Your Social Presence in 2021?

While last year was anything but ordinary, we were able to connect virtually in ways like never before. The days and times that we spend on social media have shifted throughout the pandemic with stay-at-home orders, and it’s important that your company is keeping up with the changes so that you can stay top of mind and boost your online presence in the coming year.