close menu

Best Time to Post on TikTok – Learn What Works

Famous for short, engaging, and highly addictive videos, TikTok has quickly become a popular social media and video-sharing platform.

TikTok has managed to impress users and reward creators adequately in what can only be termed a masterstroke of genius. Most content creators understand this, and the current stiff competition is only bound to be fiercer.

Don’t worry, though. It’s still possible to outpace most of this competition. Even though TikTok’s ranking algorithm is a closely held secret, one thing is certain; you can get the most out of your efforts on the platform by leveraging the best time to post on TikTok.

Dive in to find out the best time to post on TikTok and how to determine this using data from your brand’s TikTok account.

Why Does the Right Post Time on TikTok Matter?

Are you trying to increase your reach on TikTok and build an audience, or are your videos struggling to get an impression on the platform? Read on if you answered yes to any of these.

It seems unnecessary, but we had to be on the same page. Only some people want to bump up their TikTok video performance, which is fine.

That aside, here’s the short answer. Timing is everything when it comes to social media, and TikTok isn’t an exception. As you can see in this piece on the best time to post on YouTube, the above assertion holds.

The long take is that the workings of TikTok’s algorithm are one of the best-kept secrets. Unlike other content creation platforms, you’ll be flying blind for the most part. What’s apparent, though, is that the algorithm awards good content tremendously, and this is where the whole chain starts.

While the algorithm is highly efficient in filtering good content from mediocre ones, it relies heavily on user feedback. The faster people view your videos on TikTok, the higher the chance the algorithm will take notice, rank them favorably, and show them to more people.

This sets off some kind of chain reaction, where many people view your video, and if you’ve done your part well in ensuring it’s interesting and unique, it’ll keep ranking higher and higher.

But first, you must get people to view your video, so it’s vital to post at the right time on TikTok. Remember, other creators are constantly uploading new videos, and sad as it may sound, some of their videos may fare better than yours with the algorithm.

Once you ace it, you can leverage TikTok videos for business growth, as shown in this article.

Create Engaging TikToks

with Wave.videoTry now

Best Day and Time to Post on TikTok (EST Time)

The best day and time to post on TikTok in Eastern Standard Time (EST) is Wednesday at 5 PM. This is because many users are active during the middle of the week, so you can reach a larger audience by posting on Wednesday. Additionally, 5 PM has the highest engagement so that more people will see your posts.

You can also post at 2 PM on Saturdays and Sundays for higher engagement. This is because many users are available on the weekends. The evenings on Saturday and Sunday, between 8 PM and 12 AM, are usually the busiest times on TikTok and can also bring more views for your video. This may only sometimes be the case with Sunday, whose performance may be quite erratic.

Still, this isn’t representative of all audiences. You can always experiment with different times and days to see which ones work best for you and your content.

While you’re at it, keep track of how many views each post gets at different times so you can refine your strategy and find the ideal posting times for your brand.

Best Times to Post on TikTok by the Days of the Week

As mentioned, most TikTok users are preteens, teenagers, and young adults. This demographic’s availability determines the best time to post each day of the week on the platform.

Here’s a condensed version of the best time to post on TikTok by the days of the week.

Day Time
Sunday 6 – 8 PM
Monday 6 – 11 AM, 12-1 PM
Tuesday 8 – 11 AM, 2 – 3 PM
Wednesday 6 – 11 PM
Thursday 8 – 10 AM, 2 – 4 PM
Friday 7 – 10 AM, 2 – 4 PM
Saturday 6 – 10 AM, 6 – 8 PM

While certain days may have higher engagement than others, this doesn’t mean your content will automatically be successful. It all depends on your target audience and the type of content you’re creating.

You should also consider any current events or trends that may be popular to maximize your reach. Don’t forget to use hashtags and any other helpful social media trick to boost your post’s performance.

Including relevant hashtags in your posts are vital to ensuring that more users see your content, and the best thing is you’ll benefit from organic traffic.

Best Times to Post on TikTok by Your Location

The internet and social media platforms like TikTok have broken down borders and successfully realized the vision of a global village. Due to this, you can never know where some of your best followers could come from.

With the added opportunity of accessing a broader and more diverse audience comes the peril even the internet couldn’t solve, time zone differences. Also, since TikTok operates in real-time, what you post on TikTok appears almost immediately on the FYP (For You Pages).

Generally, if you’re targeting an audience in the United States, the best time to post is 3-6 PM EST. This is when people are most likely to scroll through their feeds at home or as they leave their workplaces to get the most exposure.

If you’re targeting an international audience, the best time to post depends on your followers’ time zones. Researching your area’s trends is essential to determine when people are most active and when your content is more likely to be seen.

Remember that the best times to post on TikTok also vary by country. For example, in the UK, the peak usage time is between 8 PM and 10 PM GMT, while in India, it’s from 9 PM-11 PM IST.

Also, quite a number of people tend to check their phones before going to sleep at night, so posting after 8 PM EST can be beneficial if you’re looking to reach a wide range of viewers. Adjust your post times to what’s most suitable for your target audience.

Once you’ve determined the best time to post on TikTok

As always, remember the situation can be fluid, so pay attention to the data and use this to inform your future posting schedule to ensure you get the most return from your efforts.

How To Find The Best Times To Post on TikTok for Your Brand

All you’ve read up to this point is based on other people’s generalized data, and while most of this may apply to your brand, chances are high that it would be irrelevant to your unique scenario.

Instead, you need a custom approach that addresses your brand’s or business needs. To this end, there’s no better way to determine the best times to post on TikTok for your brand.

Here’s how to do it:

Understand Your TikTok Analytics (TikTok Pro Account Needed)

This would be it if you were to take and apply anything from this guide. Almost everything discussed is informed by aggregated data. While most of the facts hold with most TikTok accounts, your case could be an exception, especially if your target audience is unique.

When finding the best time to post on TikTok, the first port of call is to understand your audience’s demographic makeup and how they interact with your content on the platform. You can then use this treasure trove of data to craft a winning strategy.

Fortunately, TikTok has a built-in feature made specifically for this purpose.

Here’s how to access your TikTok account’s analytics data:

  • Open TikTok on your device. Ideally, you should be logged into your brand’s TikTok account.
  • Click or tap your profile icon, then select the “Settings and Privacy” tab.
  • Click on “Account” and select “Creator’s Tools” from the options.
  • Finally, select “Analytics” to access insights on your target.

Like any other social media or video-sharing platform, TikTok is highly dynamic. The algorithm may change, and your audience or their behavior may vary, so make it a habit to check your analytics data frequently and update your posting strategy as necessary.

Keep Your Time Zone in Mind

Since TikTok operates in real-time, what you share on the platform immediately goes out to everyone (your target audience and others who may be interested in your content).

So if your time zone is EST and you post content in the morning, your target audience in the far east, say in the Middle East or Australia, would see it at night or early morning the next day.

Keep this in mind as you plan when you post on TikTok. Post a few hours before your target audience comes online for the best results. This allows TikTok enough time to review and include the video on users’ FYP.

For consistency’s sake, consider using a tool to automate your TikTok posts; this will also save you time to focus on more important matters, like creating better content for your audience. Get started today with post automation using this guide on how to plan out social media content.

Keep Experimenting

In a world full of endless possibilities, it would be naïve to imagine you have the best strategy possible. The only way you can realize this is by taking your chances, which means experimenting.

Also, you may or may not succeed on your first try if you don’t try something else.

Even if it pans out well on your first try, an A/B test may reveal alternative strategies that could be better than those you used first.

Post Times To Avoid

Out of all the days of the week, Sunday is the worst day to post on TikTok.

Posting late at night or early in the morning, usually between 12 AM and 6 AM EST, is also bad practice and can result in fewer views and interactions. Additionally, it’s best to avoid periods when users are likely to be in school or working during the day, between 8 AM and 4 PM EST.

This is because compared to other platforms like Facebook or Twitter, young adults, teens, and preteens form most of TikTok’s user base. Older demographics exist, but they’re significantly fewer.

However, that doesn’t mean you should never post during these times. If your content resonates with a particular audience that is more active at night, such as young adults, you might want to experiment with different post times to find out which one works best for you.

Create TikToks with Wave.video

Create viral short videos

with Wave.videoStart now

However, proper posting time isn’t the only key element for your TikTok success. Your videos should be catchy and engage people from all over the world. With Wave.video tool, you can master the art of video editing in a user-friendly environment. For a start, you should enter your Wave.vdieo account or create it if you still don’t have one.

Go to “My Projects”, click on the “+Create” button, and choose one of the options to start your project. Now let the magic happen. You can resize your video, crop it, enhance it with different filters and animation, apply captions, and translate it to more than 50 languages.

Once you are done with editing, click on the “Publish” button, render the project, and download in a preferred format. If you don’t want to download the video, you can publish it directly to one of the integrated social media platforms.

FAQ

Should you post content at the same time every time?

Ideally, yes! Consistency is always a good thing with all forms of content creation.

Post content at the same time each day to ensure your content reaches as many eyes as possible. Understand that there is no one-size-fits-all approach to posting content on TikTok.

Everyone has their preferences, and what works for one user might not necessarily work for another.

It’s also important to consider that posting the same content multiple times daily could lead to audience fatigue and even get you in trouble with TikTok’s anti-spam policies.

So, while it’s good to be consistent with when you post, you must also try to vary the content you post and avoid posting too much at the same time. Testing different post times is the only sure way to determine what’s ideal for your audience and eventually get you noticed on the platform.

How long does it take for a post to go viral on TikTok?

It’s impossible to know precisely how long it takes for a post to go viral on TikTok. It depends on the content, how much engagement it gets, and how quickly the algorithm pushes it out. That said, some posts can go viral in as little as a few hours, while others may take days or weeks.

Creating unique, engaging, and entertaining content is the key to going viral. You want to make sure your content stands out from the rest so that users will be more likely to interact with it and share it with their friends.

It also helps to use popular hashtags and trends to ensure more people see your post, and it has the potential to go viral. Another critical factor is timing. Posting at the right time can help boost your chances of going viral on TikTok.

Consistency also helps build traction for your brand. Regular posts based on a consistent schedule build anticipation among your audience and communicate (to your followers and the algorithm) how serious you are as a creator and that they should pay attention.

How often should I post on TikTok?

There are no hard and fast rules considering how tight-lipped TikTok has been with insights on how their algorithm works.

One thing you can be sure of is that it helps to be consistent with your content if you want to increase engagement and build an audience. Generally speaking, the more you post, the better positioned you’ll be to get followers and engagement on your posts.

That said, you shouldn’t feel pressured to post too frequently. If you bombard your followers with too much content, you may end up annoying them and decreasing engagement.

For good measure, aim to post about 1-2 times a day for optimal results. Posting several times in a single day may also be a good strategy, but don’t go overboard.

Also, try to vary the type of content that you post. Viewers will quickly lose interest if all of your posts look and sound the same. Be sure to switch up the topics of your posts, add humor or thoughtful messages, and play around with different video styles. This will keep things fresh and help you gain followers over time.

Final Thoughts

Even with less of a head start, TikTok has quickly become one of the most popular social media/video-sharing platforms. It’s a great place to build and engage an audience, and if you do your part well, TikTok can reward you handsomely.

When it comes to getting the most out of your efforts on TikTok (in terms of engagement, likes, and so on), the best time to post on TikTok can be a highly decisive factor.

As you set out on your creative journey, remember that all that’s been discussed isn’t set in stone, and there are always exceptions. If you’re targeting a different audience than the general one or running a campaign, you’ll have to adjust accordingly.

Also, remember that it takes more than just timing for your post to go viral – quality content and engaging messages are still vital.

As you focus on the best time, ensure you craft engaging videos to keep your audience talking.

We’ll keep you in the loop!

Join 5,000 marketers who read our articles first