LinkedIn’s primary purpose is to connect professionals, and many users need to log on daily for their work, so during regular working hours. With over 67 million company profiles on LinkedIn, it’s important to know when the best time to post is for you to engage with your followers.
When is the best time to post on LinkedIn? That’s a complicated question, considering that the platform’s community of more than 1 billion members are logging in around the clock, from every time zone. There’s no definitive answer to what the best times to post on LinkedIn are, because there are many factors affecting the post visibility such as industry, your target audience, business goals and the content itself. However, since LinkedIn content is centered around professional thought-leadership and career growth, it makes sense that a majority of audiences engage with this content throughout their working day.
Unsurprising for this professional-focused social platform, LinkedIn engagement times are consistent with general business hours. High engagement hours are more concentrated midday and don’t extend too far out past the workday hours.
The Optimal Time to Post on LinkedIn for Maximum Engagement
Social media engagement is a particularly useful benchmark when it comes to pinpointing the best time to post on LinkedIn, and an important metric to keep an eye on as part of your social media strategy. It’s a simplistic way of putting things since there are a myriad of factors that determine how posts are ranked in feeds.
The best time to post on LinkedIn for high engagement is generally between 7 a.m. and 4 p.m. on weekdays. Posts shared at 10 a.m. and 11 a.m. on Tuesdays and at 10 a.m. and 11 a.m. Thursdays tend to get the most engagement.
No data science degrees required to figure out why these slots are the best time to post on LinkedIn — despite the rise of more personal content on the platform, LinkedIn is still primarily used by professionals during business hours.
It’s a safe bet to post content on LinkedIn anytime during these weekday windows, but your post might perform slightly better if shared on Tuesday and Thursday mornings.
Unlike other social platforms, where evening slots usually work best, engagement on LinkedIn posts shared later in the day tends to peter out as people leave their offices and head home.
In summary, the best time to post on LinkedIn on Monday is 9 am to 12 pm, right as folks are getting into the swing of things at work. On Tuesday, the best time is at 3-6 pm. For Wednesday, it is 12 to 3 pm. The best time to post on LinkedIn on Thursday is 10 a.m. 11 a.m. on Friday could be the best time to post on LinkedIn. On Saturday, the best time is 12 p.m. For the time is at 12 p.m.
How to Determine the Best Posting Time for Your LinkedIn Audience
The native LinkedIn Analytics will surface your top-performing posts over a specific time for both pages and profiles, which might allow you to pinpoint some patterns and figure out your personal best time to post on LinkedIn.
However, you’ll need a record of exactly when you posted a specific piece of content — like a social media management tool or social media content calendar — to refer back to.
Frustratingly, LinkedIn Analytics won’t show you detailed timings on published content after the fact. The best the LinkedIn timestamp will tell you is “3h” or “2d” (to indicate you posted the content three hours or two days ago, etc.)
Luckily, if you have a LinkedIn Page connected to Buffer, there’s a much simpler way to figure out your best time to post content.
Social marketers can plan content more effectively when they’re armed with data. And as platforms evolve, how brands and consumers use social will evolve with them, or vice versa. Staying aware of new content formats and trends might help you reach your audience in unexpected ways, or even find new segments and personas you weren’t focusing on before.
Key Factors to Consider When Scheduling Your LinkedIn Posts
Different factors affect the best time to post on LinkedIn, especially because it is a niche platform dedicated to professionals, businesses, and the topics they discuss. Here are some things to keep in mind as you schedule your LinkedIn posts:
Timing Your Posts Around Workday Breaks for Better Reach
LinkedIn is primarily used during traditional business hours, with engagement dropping off markedly after 5 p.m. and on weekends. Of course, there are also natural breaks during the workday in which LinkedIn engagement increases. Mid-morning (10 a.m.) and lunchtime (12 p.m.) are generally slightly more active times on the platform. Engagement picks up again towards the end of the workday when professionals are likely to take an afternoon break.
Impact of Audience Time Zones on Your LinkedIn Posting Strategy
Consider when the largest segment of your population is likely to be on LinkedIn. For example, if you’re based in Europe, your best bet is to post using Central European Time (CET) since that time zone has the most significant number of people active in that region. You can use a social media analytics tool to determine where your target audience is located.
Finding the Right Posting Frequency for Consistent Engagement
Ultimately, you should experiment to find what works best for your account and target audience. Anything from where you put your links to using LinkedIn’s carousel post feature can affect your engagement rates, regardless of timing. So, you need to prioritize understanding the LinkedIn algorithm, platform, and your audience, as well as when to post, as part of your LinkedIn marketing strategy.
