Best Time to Post
The best time to post is different for every account, yet most people follow a blog’s “9 a.m. Tuesday” or guess. Actionbook reads when each of your own posts went out over the last 90 days and how it did, and shows the days and hours that worked for you.
Built for
- Founders and marketers who post at the same hour out of habit
- Creators tired of best-time guides that disagree
- Agencies setting a posting schedule for each client
Key insights
- Your top 3 day-and-hour slots on each network
- A day-by-hour heatmap of median engagement rate
- Where your posts go now against where they work
- A suggested week, with slots worth testing
- How many posts each answer rests on
What is the best time to post dashboard?
The best time to post is the day and hour when your own audience responds most, which is rarely the average from a study of millions of accounts. Actionbook reads the publish time and engagement of your posts from the last 90 days on Instagram and TikTok, and scores every day-and-hour slot by its median engagement rate. It answers the best time to post on social media for each of your networks, says how many posts each answer rests on, and turns the result into a weekly schedule.
How to find your best time to post
Published averages mix every industry, audience and time zone, so two studies rarely agree and neither is about your followers. Your own posts are a better guide. Working it out takes five steps, and the dashboard above follows them.
1. Collect 90 days of your own posts
For each post, the network, the publish time in one time zone and its engagement rate.
2. Group posts into day-and-hour slots
Tuesday 7 AM is one slot. Keep each network apart, because audiences use them at different times.
3. Score each slot by its median
The median engagement rate keeps one viral post from deciding the answer.
4. Set a minimum number of posts
A slot with one or two posts is unknown, not bad. Score only slots with three or more.
5. Schedule the best slots and test the unknown ones
Move posts into your top slots, and try the promising slots you have barely used.
Who the best time to post dashboard is for
Founders and marketers running the company accounts
You post when the work is done, which is usually the same hour every day.
- Your top 3 slots on each network
- Where your posts go now against where they work
- A week you can copy into your scheduler
Creators
Every guide gives you a different best time, and none of them is about your followers.
- A heatmap of your own days and hours
- How many posts each answer rests on
- Slots worth testing next
Small agencies scheduling for clients
Each client asks when to post, and the honest answer depends on their account.
- One run per client
- Times shown in the client’s time zone
- A note on what would change the answer
How the best time to post dashboard works
Step 1: Click Build with Actionbook and paste your account links
The last 90 days and your browser’s time zone by default. Ask for another window or time zone instead.
Step 2: Stay signed in to each platform
Actionbook reads your own posts the way you see them in your browser, read-only. It doesn’t post or schedule anything.
Step 3: Run it again after a month of new posts
More posts in more slots make the answer firmer. Each run reads the latest 90 days.
Best time to post dashboard FAQ
What is the best time to post?
It depends on the account. Studies of many accounts give an average, but your audience has its own habits. The reliable answer is the days and hours where your own posts did best, which is what this dashboard works out.
What is the best time to post on social media for my business?
The dashboard answers it per network. Instagram and TikTok audiences are active at different hours, so it scores each network’s slots on their own and lists the top three for each.
Why not use a published list of best times?
Published lists average across industries, audiences and time zones. They are a fair starting point for a new account. Once you have 90 days of posts, your own results are better evidence.
How is a slot scored?
A slot is a day of the week and an hour. Its score is the median engagement rate of the posts you published in it, where engagement rate is likes plus comments plus shares, divided by views.
What if I rarely post at some times?
Slots with fewer than three posts are shown as “not enough posts”. They are never ranked as bad times. The suggested week marks the promising ones as tests.
Which networks does it cover?
Instagram and TikTok, where each post shows the hour it went out. Each network is scored on its own.
Does it use data on when my followers are online?
No. It uses only when your posts went out and how each one did.
How is this different from the other social media playbooks?
Social Media Analytics Dashboard reports your weekly performance. Social Media Audit Tool shows what to post. This one answers a single question: when to post.
Does it schedule posts for me?
No. It only reads. It suggests a weekly schedule, and you set it up in your own tool.
