Best Times for Twitter, Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn, Pinterest … Oh My!

For social media and social media posting, the key question is: What is the best time to post to social media?  The answer: know your target audience and know your time zones. Adjust accordingly.   

While the optimal time to update your Twitter or Google+ is included per a variety of resources, your audience may have a different optimal time. It means you need to know—one of the Author U members has a huge LinkedIn and Twitter following and they are active late evening.

Note: all times below are all based on Eastern.

  Facebook … Traffic is highest between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m.Best time: Between 1 p.m. and 4 p.m.  Wednesdays are hot.Avoid time: 8 p.m. to 8 a.m.
  Twitter … Peak time is Monday –Thursday; peters out after 3 p.m. on Friday through Sunday.Best time: 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.Avoid time: 8 p.m. to 9 a.m.
  Google+ … Think weekday and AMs-best time is between 9 a.m. to 11 a.m., during business hours-traffic fades after 5 p.m. and weekends.
Best time: 9 a.m. to 11 a.m.
Avoid time: 6 p.m. to 8 a.m.

  Pinterest … During the week, from noon to 5 p.m. Best time is Saturday morning to post. Primary piners are women—avoid family demand times.
Best time: 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. or 8 p.m. to 1 a.m.
Avoid time: 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.

  LinkedIn … Do your posting before or after business hours and avoid Mondays and Fridays.
Best time: 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. or 5 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Avoid time: 10 p.m. to 6 a.m.

The resources used to compile data included:Mashable.com, Infographics/pic, elainefogel.net, smallbusiness.chron.com, blog.bily.com.  Always keep in mind: social media morphs often—ideal times this month could be different in three months.

 Judith Briles is known as The Book Shepherd (www.TheBookShepherd.com), an author and book publishing expert and the Chief Visionary Officer and Founder of Author U (www.AuthorU.org), a membership organization created for the author who wants to be seriously successful. She’s been writing about and conducting workshops on publishing since the 80s. Judith is the author of 30 books. Her latest,Author YOU: Creating and Building Your Author and Book Platforms is just out. Join Judith live on Thursdays at 6 p.m. EST for Your Guide to Book publishing on the www.RockStarRadioNetwork.com.Follow @AuthorU and @MyBookShepherd on Twitter and do a “Like” at AuthorU and TheBookShepherd on Facebook.  If you want to create a book that has no regrets, contact her at Judith@Briles.com.