LinkedIn is different from any other social media platform out there because of the extremely professional tone that is needed from users. The content and the way you post will be drastically different from any other social media you use. So when is the best time to post on LinkedIn? According to a recent study, the times that are best to post on LinkedIn have changed since COVID-19 arrived.
Before COVID-19
Before COVID-19, the best times to post on LinkedIn were:
Wednesdays between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. and at noon
Thursdays at 9 a.m. and between 1 p.m. and 2 p.m.
Friday mornings at 9 a.m.
These times seemed to represent the most common hours that people were hard at work before the pandemic hit. Although not everyone had the same work schedule pre COVID, the most common hours people worked were the classic 9-5. LinkedIn is the only social media that you can expect the average person to still be active on during work hours. This is because so much of being a professional in any industry is growing your connections and reaching out to people who may be able to help you, or vice versa.
During COVID-19
During the pandemic, the best times to post on LinkedIn have changed dramatically. This most likely has to do with more and more people working from home and changing their daily schedule. The best times to post now are actually a lot later in the day.
Wednesdays at 3 p.m.
Thursdays between 9 a.m. and 10 a.m.
Fridays between 11 a.m. and 12 p.m.
The study also went into the worst times to post on LinkedIn, and those times have stayed the same before and during the pandemic. If you want to get the most traction on your posts, you want to stay away from posting content on LinkedIn during the weekend. This again makes sense as most work professionals take the weekend off to rest and recuperate from a long work week, and will most likely be off a professional social media platform such as LinkedIn.
The bottom line is that LinkedIn is a social media platform that is used primarily when people are at work or in “work mode.” Your content needs to be posted at a time that people are in this “work mode.” This study may have found the statistically best times to post on LinkedIn, but you need to study your target audience and see the times that they personally are most active on LinkedIn.
