When using LinkedIn as a marketing tool, a question that often comes up is, when is the best time to publish an article, a post, a video or graphic, or other content on the platform?
Traditionally, the answer is there really is no best time. For instance, organizations have reported publishing a post late on a Friday afternoon – considered the worst time to post on LinkedIn – and receiving thousands of impressions, comments, and likes.
Well, HubSpot, the software platform that helps organizations optimize their inbound marketing programs, reports there really is a good time to get the most notice for our posts, and it may come as a surprise. According to HubSpot, the best times to post on the platform today are:
· Late afternoons, from about 3 p.m. to 9 p.m.
· On Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday
This comes from a survey of three hundred social media marketers who work with LinkedIn on a regular basis. But just like everything on social media, including LinkedIn, nothing is set in stone. HubSpot did a similar study six years ago and found the opposite. In that study, the best times to post on the platform were early in the mornings on Tuesday and Thursday.
HubSpot has yet to speculate why best posting times have changed. But LinkedIn has. Here are some of the platform’s thoughts:
Changes in the Professional Mindset
Before the pandemic, most professionals would check their LinkedIn feeds bright and early in the morning. That made publishing early, especially on Tuesday and Thursday, so advantageous.
But with the pandemic and working from home, many of these same professionals are no longer up that early. Further, working from home has allowed them to stretch out their day. What they would do first thing in the morning – like check in with LinkedIn – they now do later in the day, later in the week, or on the weekend.
The Great Reshuffle
Since the pandemic, traditional work hours and workdays have been blown out the window. Many people now work on the weekends because they prefer to do so. If they are working on the weekends, that explains why they are logging into LinkedIn on Saturday and Sunday.
Gen Zers Are Weekend Learners
People born in the late 1990s are referred to as Generation Z. Most people in this generation believe they will have to work harder to attain the same successes as older generations. As a result, many use LinkedIn on the weekend to brush up on their skills. They take courses on LinkedIn, get active in LinkedIn groups, and research companies, all on the weekend. Therefore, at least if you are trying to reach Gen Zers, Saturday and Sunday might be good posting days on LinkedIn.
The LinkedIn Takeaway
So, now we know the best times to post on LinkedIn have changed, and we understand what is behind this change. If your organization focuses on Gen Z for its marketing, it might be a promising idea to publish content on LinkedIn on Saturday and Sunday.
However, there is another takeaway. These surveys from HubSpot suggest what most social media marketers already know. Things change fast when it comes to social media. Nothing is set in stone.
Because of that, we recommend you experiment. Post both later in the day and on the weekends. Or early in the day on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Wait about a month or so, and then check the analytics.
The analytics will indicate what is working the best. As LinkedIn says, “In our own experience, there’s no substitute for testing when it comes to finding the sweet spot that best suits your audience.”
