Facebook and Instagram are puzzlingly changing their content distribution algorithms and brands are torturing poor SMM specialists with the question: “When is the best time to post our publications?”
To answer this question, Rival IQ, an American social media activity analytics service, researched about 1 million posts from more than 2.1 thousand brands on Instagram and Facebook in 2021 and analyzed their key indicators.
Let’s have a look at outcomes and find out if there really is an ideal golden hour when all the posts of any brand hit the top.
Top 5 Content Takeaways 2021: Common Facebook/Instagram Trends
#1. Brands saw less organic engagement this year. Declining engagement rates on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter reflect that social media is increasingly becoming a pay-to-play space.
#2. Posting frequency is on the rise. Brands have increased their posting frequency on all three channels to increase bites at the engagement apple.
#3. Contest and holidays topped the hashtag charts. Nearly every industry found success with giveaways and hashtag holidays
#4. Carousels on Instagram help to engage more people. It occurred that this social media often get carousels re-served to users who don’t engage the first time, earning them more impressions.
#5. Video Content. Brands are already struggling to keep up with enough video to compete with the popularity of TikTok. Social media rank them higher and even create special sub platforms, such as Reels on Instagram or Watch on Facebook.
When is the best time to post on Instagram?
In 2022, the engagement rate on Instagram is 10 times higher than Facebook and about 20 times higher than Twitter, according to a social media benchmark report. In 2021, Instagram's numbers have fallen by about a third, but they are still well ahead of Facebook or Twitter.
The engagement rate varies dramatically depending on the industry. The overall median of Instagram's Engagement rating is 0.67%, but this does not mean that it will be exactly the same for all branches and accounts. Some industries, such as higher education at 2.99% or retail at 0.33%, may find themselves above or below the median.
The same applies to the brands’ activity in this social network. On average, companies publish 4.5 posts per week, but certain niches — like sports goods (13.6 posts) or tech companies (2.4) — can stand out significantly. It is worth noting that in 2021, the average posting frequency across all industries increased by about 25%.
Posts published in the early morning (from 7:00 to 9:00) on Monday, in the evening (after 19:00) on weekdays, and almost all day long on weekends, showed the best results. Publications posted from 10:00 to 13:00 on Wednesday and Thursday were unsuccessful.
Interestingly, by industry, the best time to post may vary:
- For the alcohol industry, engagement peaks around Wednesday mornings and evenings (19:00-22:00) every day. The worst time to post was the slot from 16:00 to 19:00 from Thursday to Saturday and lunch hours on Friday.
- For the fashion direction, posts work best on weekends and weekday evenings.
- Food-themes achieve the best results on Mondays from 10:00 to 19:00 and every day after 19:00.
- In the Health & Beauty niche, it is better to catch followers on weekends when they have time to buy and test new products.
- The home decor branch does great in the early morning on any day or weekend.
- Hotels and vacation retreats can get the most coverage on Monday and Tuesday mornings. In addition, posts at almost any time on the weekend work better than on weekdays.
- For the media, the most disastrous posting time is from 13:00 to 16:00, but posts made in the evening and at night (from 19:00 to 7:00), as well as on weekends, gain the most views and reactions.
- It is easier for retailers to increase their involvement and break through the information noise of competitors by going on air any day after 19:00.
When is the best time to post on Facebook?
Even though Instagram has taken a significant lead in terms of activity, Facebook cannot be completely dismissed. The average engagement rate here is 10 times lower - 0.064% versus 0.67% Instagram. Industry-specific figures also differ, with a maximum of 0.27% for sporting goods, and a minimum of 0.02% for pages related to health and software.
At the same time, brand activity on Facebook is slightly higher: on average, 5.87 posts are released per week. Media with 87.2 publications a week became the record holders, and representatives of Food&Beverage offer the least amount of content to their subscribers - 2.9 posts.
Interestingly, Instagram analytics noted "anti-peaks" - that is, time intervals when the chances of getting into the feed are not just minimal, but negative. On Facebook, there is no such sharp engagement borderline.
How engagement differs by industry:
- Alcohol: In the middle of the week, posts can have a good reach regardless of the time. However, it is publications from 19:00 to 22:00 that will gain the most engagement.
- Fashion brands should catch their followers on the weekends: Friday-to-Monday posts perform much better than mid-week updates. Posts from 22:00 to 07:00 show good engagement rates.
- The food and drink theme is popular anytime from 7:00 am to 7:00 pm on Sundays, as well as on Monday and Friday mornings.
- The health and beauty niche gains engagement best on Saturday and Sunday mornings, as well as Monday afternoons, from 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm.
- For home decor, prime time is Sunday.
- Media collects the best coverage from 7:00 to 13:00 daily and throughout Sunday.
- Primetime for retail is Tuesday and Saturday.
How to find the best time to post
On Instagram, you can see when followers are most likely to interact with your page. To find the best time to post, go to your profile and click on the "Insights" button (in some versions of the application, it may be hidden in the menu at the top right of the screen). After that, click on the "Total followers" line. You will find yourself on a page with a detailed report on the geolocation, interests, and your followers’ activity time, broken down by day of the week.
Active time on Instagram is a time interval when followers are logged in and liking, commenting, or saving your content.
Important note! Insights work correctly only for business profiles and from the Instagram mobile application for the terms of 7 or 28/30 days.
On Facebook, you can also view user activity statistics for 7 or 28 days. Unlike Instagram, the feature works relatively well on both mobile and desktop.
To learn about follower activity, go to your brand's Facebook page and select "Insights" from the navigation bar on the left. Then click on the Posts button to check the days and times your Facebook followers are online and interacting with content.
