Confession time.
Just before sitting down to write this article, I was working on a social calendar project for a new client. I turned to Google and asked: “What’s the ideal frequency to post on LinkedIn?”
As I typed, the search engine’s auto-populated options finished the phrase with options including:
- YouTube and YouTube Shorts
- TikTok
- Most social media platforms
- Posting content in a Facebook awareness campaign
Like most marketers, I had hoped for a one-size-fits-all answer even though I knew that was silly. People are not homogenous. They don’t all consume social media, newsletters, podcasts, videos, etc., at the same time. And their consumption behavior varies depending on how the topic fits with their personal and professional interests.
However, that doesn’t mean you just guess. To help make educated choices and develop a go-to publishing frequency strategy, learn how your peers do it and glean relevant tips from their advice.
Start frequency decisions with others’ research
OK, yes, this recommendation seems what you would find Googling a question about scheduling and frequency. But, as long as you don’t treat it as the first and only stop on your quest, it’s truly helpful.
HubSpot used survey data to compile the best times to post and frequency of posting on social media in its 2024 State of Social Media Report (free, registration required).
Common social posting frequencies for B2B and B2C brands based on the platform include:
- Facebook: Multiple times a day (B2B and B2C)
- XEx: Multiple times a day (B2B and B2C) and multiple times per week (B2B)
- TikTok: Multiple times a day (B2B), once a day (B2C)
- Instagram: Multiple times a day (B2B), multiple times per week (B2C)
- LinkedIn: Multiple times per week (B2B), weekly, or multiple times per month (B2C)
- Pinterest: Multiple times a day (B2B), multiple times per month (B2C)
Sprout Social analyzed nearly 2 billion engagements across 400,000 social profiles including, X, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, Pinterest, and TikTok, to determine the best times to post on social media:
- Mondays: 11 a.m. to noon
- Tuesdays: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 3 to 4 p.m.
- Wednesdays: 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
- Thursdays: 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
- Fridays: 10 to 11 a.m.
Though it doesn’t identify the best publishing times for Saturday and Sunday, it says Sundays are the worst-performing days. The best days are Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays.
Mailchimp produces something similar for marketing email distribution times.
CJ Digital, a hospitality marketing agency, relies first on recommendations from expert sites because they’re based on quality research, says CEO Joshua Wood.
Then, the agency does A/B split testing on each platform to see what works in the hospitality industry. What works on one platform may not work on another. “We change it up quite often,” he says.
TIP: Don’t forget to use the recommendations provided in your content distribution tools, such as your newsletter platform, as they base those suggestions on the data your audience is providing.
Sally Howard, founder and marketing strategist at 49 North Digital, has some general preferences for publishing times based on the distribution vehicles:
- LinkedIn: 7 a.m. — the early morning works best to reach commuters and decision-makers heading to the office.
- Instagram: Though the platform now delivers content based on interests, the morning is a good time to grab people’s attention because they scroll while having coffee. Loyal followers who see it first thing in the day can interact with it, potentially pushing it out to more people.
- Blogs: Publication time doesn’t really matter. People Google things at all times of the day, so timing doesn’t matter if SEO is the goal.
- Emails: If you target corporate audiences, don’t publish on Mondays and Fridays. If you’re a small business retailer, post at 6 p.m. on Friday when your audience is looking to treat themselves after making it through the week.
However, Sally cautions that you can’t pick a publishing time and forget it. She points to an agency client in the coaching industry who experienced shifts in email open rates throughout the year. The agency played with distribution times and found a sweet spot — shifting from an evening email to a morning one prompted open rates to go from around 36% to over 50%.
Sally says marketers should review their send times quarterly around seasonal changes. “For example, if you normally send emails at 6 p.m. and you’ve noticed in the summer those email open rates have dropped because people who are your target market aren’t picking up their phones as much on summer evenings, you may want to consider targeting them during their morning commute,” she explains.
You also should test send times if you notice a sharp decline in your open rates and haven’t made drastic changes to your subject lines or experienced significant industry updates like the recent domain verification by Google.
Research your audience qualitatively and quantitatively
Recognizing your audience’s preferences is a must. Connie Smart, a writer and content creator for the City of Edmonton in Alberta, Canada, prefers the direct approach to assessing what channels the audience prefers, how often they want to receive the content, and what time they’re most available to consume and engage with it.
To get the answers, ask your audience. “Surveys, online polls, focus groups, and even informal chats can help you glean some great nuggets,” she says.
Then, combine that qualitative feedback with your quantitative analytics to better understand your audience’s content consumption behavior.
Build a strategy based on your primary social platforms
Mariela Azcuy, vice president of B2B strategy and executive communications at Carve Communications, recommends you focus on a few anchor channels and then:
- Pick a frequency based on the channel: Post more often on social media to appease algorithms and reinforce messages. Post blog articles less often to emphasize quality, though the actual number will depend on the available resources and SEO’s importance in your marketing strategy.
- Evaluate the effort vs. payoff: Assess your resources, including AI and external contributor support, to identify a schedule and frequency that will have the biggest payoffs.
- Think seasonally: Publishing schedules shouldn’t necessarily be the same every month of the year. What are the big moments in your industry and in the audience’s world? How should your schedule address them?
- Build on what works: Launch something small, and if it works, grow from there. For example, Carve Communications started a behind-the-scenes video series on LinkedIn. It received great viewership, so Carve created a separate LinkedIn multimedia newsletter dedicated to its behind-the-scenes work.
Test, then analyze
William Reinhart, founder and president of Signature W Studio, says a publishing schedule and plan are critical to scaling your efforts.
When his agency works with companies to reach a new audience, it goes through four stages — experimenting, analyzing, iterating, and analyzing again. “We will stagger the time of day, vary the number of times posted per week, and alternate the content types,” William explains.
The experiment phase runs 60 to 90 days, which is usually enough time to develop a sample size that provides sufficient metrics for an analysis.
The analysis lets them know which post types and times get the most engagement and drive audiences to the brand’s desired results. Then, the process moves to the iteration stage. “Alternate successful post types with popular times of day,” William says. “This will help you build the best possible posting schedule based on the type of content.”
When the iteration stage achieves a sufficient sample size, return to the analytics. Compare the metrics from the iteration phase to the initial period to make informed decisions for your publishing plan.
Experienced marketer Liz Kolb, is the co-founder and CEO at Axion Now, a company specializing in the collectible card game Magic the Gathering.
When Axion Now sends email marketing campaigns to promote an event, it uses its database with years of information to send when open and sign-up rates are likely to be the highest.
“We never send out emails on a Monday or Friday. It seems our customers are busier on these days, and the average open rate is around 40% lower,” she explains.
Whatever the frequency, show up consistently
Don’t get so focused on the optimal publishing time that you ignore the roles that publishing frequency and consistency play.
Adam Nathan, CEO of Blaze.AI, explains, “The more you post, the more you create a repeatable pattern with your audience that the (social media platform’s) algorithm can recognize, leading to compounding engagement and account growth.”
Michelle Garrett, founder of Garrett Public Relations, sees value in consistency for newsletters, too. She religiously sends hers on the second Tuesday morning of the month.
As a newsletter consumer, she also appreciates consistency.
“I remember one newsletter I always received on Friday mornings. I always read it when it arrived. Then it started showing up randomly, and I stopped reading it as often,” she says.
Recognize when to adjust the plan
Holly Gaffney, marketing brand and content manager at Calla Shoes, grew its Instagram account from 14,000 to 174,000 followers in 2024. Her best advice? If an Instagram Reel goes viral, increase the frequency of your Instagram posts to “ride the wave.”
She explains, “We had a few viral reels, and the videos that followed also always had a great uplift. It’s also a great chance to post content that is particularly informative or engaging to people who are new to your account.”
I would think the same strategy would work well for any social media platform.
Chris Inman, president of I.D.E.A. Cleveland, adjusted his podcast frequency from 30-minute episodes one day a week to three 10-minute episodes three days a week. “I have noticed that the number of listeners doesn’t change, but the completion and retention numbers go up,” he says, noting the increased frequency also gives him a chance to share the call to action more often.
Expect to make industry-related adjustments, too.
Writer Connie Smart explains, “Become aware of how your audience’s content needs might fluctuate throughout the year. If your audience is small business owners, you might consider pulling back on frequency during heavy sales periods like the holiday season. If your audience is financial services, maybe you ramp up your frequency around tax time or savings contribution deadlines.”
Belinda Conde, head of marketing at Datos, a Semrush company, says you also should consider timing in the context of your industry, not just your audience’s behavior.
“While timing is important, what matters even more is aligning our content with timely industry trends,” she says. “We look at what’s happening in the market or what our customers are currently concerned about and make sure we’re publishing insights or data that address those needs when it’s most relevant.”
For example, Datos published a white paper, Retail AI: Four User Behavior Trends to Know, when many journalists were writing about how they used AI for their holiday shopping. “By publishing during this conversation, we provided research that was both timely and valuable for our audience and the industry at large,” Belinda says.
A single answer doesn’t exist
Of course, not everyone has the same opinion or priorities on when to publish. Lindsay Young, owner and president of 3 Aspens Media, advocates for publishing content on your website when it’s ready. “There’s zero reason to wait if it holds true value to your prospects or customers,” she says.
Dane Frederiksen, founder and chief visual storyteller of Digital Accomplice, favors the publish-more strategy. “Video every day. The algorithm loves frequency; feed the beast,” he says.
5 steps to the best publishing frequency decisions
When you’re ready to optimize your content calendar, from social media posts and podcast episodes to blogs, newsletters, and videos, follow this curated advice:
- Investigate your audience quantitatively and qualitatively to understand their consumption behavior with content formats, topics, and distribution channels.
- Use the personalized recommendation tools from your relevant software providers.
- Develop a scheduling strategy that consistently delivers at a frequency that works for your audience and your resources.
- Be flexible enough to capitalize on trends related to your industry and the big success your content may find.
- Analyze the behavior metrics after two to three months, and revise the strategy based on what you’ve learned.
By implementing this thoughtful process, you’ll never need to Google “What’s the best time to publish …” again.
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Cover image by Joseph Kalinowski/Content Marketing Institute