The Best Time To Post On TikTok: The Complete Guide

Curious about the best time to post on TikTok? We’ve got you covered.

TikTok is no longer a fad. It’s quickly become one of the best ways to share content and get discovered.

But what some people don’t realize is that the time you post on TikTok plays an important role in promoting content through the platform.

Whether you’re a casual user, a content creator, or an influencer, you’d want to pick the right time to publish your videos to get the most engagement with the community you’ve worked so hard to build.

In this post, you’ll learn how to find the best time to post on TikTok, and additional tips to further increase engagement.

What the data says about TikTok posting times

Experts mainly have different opinions on when someone should post on TikTok. Their experiments simply led to varying conclusions. But as you’ll soon find out, there are pockets of similarities that we could draw useful conclusions from.

Hootsuite

Hootsuite ran some experiments which led them to believe that the best times to post on TikTok are Tuesdays at 7AM, Thursdays at 10 AM, and Fridays at 5 AM.

We should point out that these are in Pacific Standard Time.

Influencer Marketing Hub

Influencer Marketing Hub, for its part, gave the best times to post for every day of the week.

Mondays — 6 AM, 10 AM, 10 PM
Tuesdays — 2 AM, 4 AM, 9 AM
Wednesdays — 7 AM, 8 AM, 11 PM
Thursdays — 12 AM, 9 AM, 7 PM
Fridays — 5 AM, 1 PM, 3 PM
Saturdays — 11 AM, 7 PM, 8 PM
Sundays — 7 AM, 8 AM, 4 PM

While they are quite similar to Hootsuite’s times, Influencer Marketing Hub’s times are in Eastern Standard Time.

Influencer Marketing Hub - global best time to post on TikTok — Source: Influencer Marketing Hub

Insider

According to Insider Senior Distribution Producer Elizabeth Morales, their company’s TikTok activity will peak around 10 AM and 2 PM EST.

However, she does point out that their followers are “pretty active throughout the day” so there’s no “sweet spot” for posting content.

SocialPilot

SocialPilot’s numbers aren’t that far off from the other sources cited in this list. It claims that the best time to post on TikTok is Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays from 6 AM to 10 AM as well as 7 PM to 11 PM.

Note that these are in Eastern Standard Time.

So when should you post on TikTok?

So if we put everything together, what’s clear is that you should post on TikTok on weekday mornings.

While the times might vary, all sources indicate that mornings are the best time to share your videos. But it does leave you with a wide window. What if you want to be more specific?

Let’s discuss your options in a later section.

But first, we need to talk about why it’s hard to pinpoint the exact time you should be posting on TikTok.

Note: In order to post at the right times, you’ll need to schedule your TikTok videos in advance. To do this, you’ll need a TikTok scheduling tool like Pallyy.

How to find the best times to post on TikTok for your audience

There are several ways to get post time data for your account.

The most effective way would be to use a social media analytics tool.

Specifically – Iconosquare – one of the only tools that can provide the TikTok analytics data we need.

Just add your TikTok account and Iconosquare will start crunching the numbers. Once it has enough data, it’ll highlight the best times to post on TikTok for your audience:

The neat thing about Iconosquare is that you can setup custom social media reporting dashboards to offer a snapshot of the insights that you need to see.

Iconosquare is a premium tool. If you’re looking for a free alternative to glean TikTok analytics data, you do have a few options (although you’ll need a TikTok Pro account in some cases).

But please be aware that you won’t get the same level of data as you would from a tool like Iconosquare.

The simplest way would be through reviewing your past TikTok videos and seeing which ones had the best engagement. That’s going to take a while though.

An alternative would be to go through your TikTok analytics to see when you get the most engagement out of your audience.

Hootsuite -TikTok analytics — Source: TikTok via Hootsuite

Unfortunately this will only tell you which days you should be posting on TikTok. But it’s better than nothing.

As you do your research, you should also pay close attention to your audience. In particular, you’ll need to know where they are located. You can find this information under the Analytics ⇢ Followers section of your TikTok account.

From here, you can deduce the right posting times for your TikTok account.

Here’s an example:

If you’re based in the United States but most of your activity comes from Southeast Asian countries, you should compute the time zone difference. Then, you schedule your posts to go live when they are awake and active on social media.

Unfortunately, TikTok doesn’t provide a way for its users to schedule posts directly. However, there are several social media schedulers that support scheduling via a reminder app. This includes SocialBee and Pallyy.

The significance of the For You page

Some would argue that more than the posting times, what’s more important for TikTok content creators is finding a way to get on the For You page.

For the unfamiliar, the For You page is a section on TikTok that recommends videos that are tailor-fit for a specific user.

Not everyone can make it to the list though. And posting times don’t really have that much of an impact in getting there, to be honest. What’s more important is for videos to meet TikTok’s algorithm ranking signals.

The TikTok algorithm

While the algorithm itself is a closely guarded secret, many believe that it has a lot to do with how users interact with posts, video information provided, and certain account settings.

Let’s say you’re a TikTok user. The platform will try to get to know you more to determine which videos you’d like to see. It starts by looking at which accounts you follow and videos you interact with. It will also look at the creators and videos that you’ve dismissed. It will also consider the videos that you have uploaded. It will even see which videos you watched all the way through to the end.

Video information such as captions, sounds, hashtags, and data like these also play a role in TikTok’s curation process.

Finally, a user’s account settings will give TikTok a better idea of what type of videos to serve a user. It considers a user’s language preference, the type of mobile device used, as well as the categories a user sets during the sign-up process. The country setting is also used to serve more content from the user’s own country.

To see where your content is popping up, we recommend that you switch to a Pro account.

How to increase user engagement on TikTok

While finding the best time to post on TikTok is important, it’s not the only way to improve user engagement on the platform. Here are a few tips that should get you on your way to trending on TikTok.

Follow the trends

TikTok is a platform that’s constantly moving on to the next big thing. That’s why those who want to stay relevant should stay on top of the latest trends on the platform.

Be on the lookout for the trending songs and feature them in your future posts. If there’s a new video format that’s taking off, publish posts in that style.

Just to be clear — we’re not saying you should copy everything you see out there. But you need to find a way to satisfy everyone’s hunger for the latest fad that’s dominating TikTok.

Focus on the first few seconds

It’s very easy for people to scroll past your videos. That’s why you should do everything in your power to tell people what they can expect from your video in the first few seconds.

Sustaining your audience’s interest is very important if you want to increase your video’s viewing time. The more people watch your videos all the way through, the more it’ll get recommended to others.

Focus on the first few seconds on TikTok

You can do it through music or words but adding captivating text in your video will do a great job of hooking people in and setting their expectations.

Set yourself apart

You’ll have to figure out what makes your videos special and stick with them. Is it your personality? Or maybe your editing style? Only you could find that special sauce that makes you stand out from everyone else.

When you set yourself apart from other content creators, you’ll find it easier to find and connect with the right audience. You can even build a community that’ll support you in everything that you do.

Upload more videos

Do yourself a favor and upload more videos to TikTok. It’s not as easy as it sounds for sure. But having more content on the platform will not only increase user engagement but it’ll also give you more chances of getting discovered.

Your videos don’t always have to be sketches that require a ton of planning. You could upload simple updates or Q&A sessions.

At the very least, you should upload new content once a day.

Collaborate with other creators

There’s no shortage of users on TikTok who are willing to work with fellow content creators. Find one that’s willing to collaborate with you on a project. You could use each other’s influence to gain more followers and boost your engagement.

Research hashtags

Not only do hashtags let people know what your video is all about, it’s also a way for people to find you. It’ll help get your videos to pop up in the search results.

But you can’t just throw in random hashtags to get noticed. You’ll need to do some research to know which ones are trending. And you’ll need to know which hashtags are relevant to your post.

Interact with other users

Don’t forget that TikTok is a social network. That means liking, commenting, and sharing other people’s content is just as important. Reaching out to other like-minded users who could help you down the line with sharing your posts with their followers.

Make high-quality videos

Uploading high-quality videos is a must. This doesn’t mean you have to rent out expensive camera gear and hire professional operators. Your phone would be more than enough.

In this context, “high-quality” refers to videos that look like no effort has been put into it. There are simple things that you can do to up the quality of a video. Using tripods and a lighting setup will go a long way. Having a good microphone will also help.

Also, you should take your time when editing your videos. If you’re not satisfied with TikTok’s built-in editing feature, consider using a third-party solution.

Conclusion

To get the best time to post on TikTok, you should use your own data and not rely too heavily on third-party sources. You can find more about your audience using TikTok’s analytics feature. Upgrade to a Pro account for free to get access to it.

But don’t forget that there are other things you need to do to raise your engagement numbers such as improving the quality of your videos and working with others to promote your content.

Related Reading:

Disclosure: If you buy through links on our site, we may make a commission. This helps to support the running of Startup Bonsai.

X Facebook LinkedIn Reddit Flipboard