Last November, I wrote about TikTok for small businesses and how the platform holds tremendous potential for reaching people who aren’t familiar with your brand. When I wrote that post, I was merely a voracious consumer of TikToks; now I’m a TikTok content creator! Over the holidays I started experimenting with creating content for the platform. It seemed intimidating at first, but with a bit of practice and getting more comfortable in front of the camera, I’ve realized that making TikToks doesn’t have to be difficult! It can be a lot of fun.
As I’ve gotten into the swing of content creation for TikTok, I’ve started to wonder about posting times and frequency. If you’re looking to get started on TikTok and are eager to know when to post and how often to share new content, then this blog post is for you!
Does posting time actually matter?
If you’ve been watching TikTok before beginning your journey as a content creator (which you should, it’s research!), then you’re familiar with the iconic For You Page. TikTok’s model is unique in that it doesn’t really matter who you follow–TikTok curates an experience just for you. All you have to do is watch passively, occasionally liking or commenting, and TikTok does the rest. Based on how long you watch each video, how quickly you swipe away, whether you watch multiple times or don’t even finish, and if you bother to like, comment, save, or send to a friend, TikTok knows what resonates with you the most. They use this information to serve you better and better content, to the point where people find it a little bit scary how accurate and all-knowing their algorithm is!
So how do you get your video on the all-important For You Page? If you’re making great, high quality content and it’s not getting many views, you may need to optimize your posting time. If you’re posting at times when folks generally aren’t online, it’s even more unlikely that you’ll land on the For You Page. Posting time won’t make or break you, but it can give you an added boost.
So when should I post?
There isn’t one perfect posting time that fits every account. It depends on a number of factors. Where in the world does your target audience live? Who is your target audience? Are you marketing to Gen Z? Millennials? You’ll need to consider all of this before just picking one of the posting times listed below.
Influencer Marketing Hub did a large study of over 100,000 TikToks and their engagement rate, and found several optimal posting times for TikTok that vary based on the day of the week. Some of them may surprise you! For example, posting at 4am on Tuesdays or 5am on Fridays can perform quite well. Personally, I’m not going to set my alarm for 5am to ensure I can post right then, but they are a helpful guidepost nonetheless!
The general takeaway from this study is that early morning, like 6-10am, or evening, from 7-11pm, are ideal posting windows. It also showed that Saturdays are the day of the week that gets the least engagement. Does that mean that you should never post at 2pm on a Wednesday? Or ever on a Saturday? No, not at all! You can experiment and see what works well on your account.
While this data is a helpful reference point, you may not find that it works for you, and that’s okay! For example, a TikTok I posted yesterday (a Tuesday), at 4pm racked up 15,000 views in a matter of hours–and that’s far from the alleged optimal posting time for Tuesdays. Again, try a lot of different posting times and see what works best! Just because a study says it’s the ‘best’ time doesn’t mean it’s the best for you and your brand.
Let Your Analytics Be Your Guide
Did you know that TikTok has an analytics module just like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram? It truly is not just an app for teens to dance on! To get access to analytics, you’ll need to upgrade to a pro account. Here’s how:
Tap on the three lines in the right corner of your account and tap ‘manage my account.’
At the bottom, select ‘switch to a pro account.’
Choose a category for your account (like personal blog, media, entertainment, mental health, etc.) and then tap ‘done.’
For a long time, Instagram users have feared that switching over to a business account limits your reach. I switched over to a pro account on TikTok about a month ago and have not noticed any limiting of my reach!
To access your analytics once you’ve switched to pro:
Tap on the three lines in the upper right corner of your profile.
Select ‘Creator tools’
Select ‘Analytics’
Once you’re in, you can review several tabs: Overview, Content, Followers, and Live. On the overview page, you can review your engagement, including video views, profile views, likes, comments, and shares. To determine your optimal posting time, go to the followers tab. Under followers, at the very bottom, you can review follower activity by hours and days.
Today, my TikTok account is saying 8pm is the optimal posting time. That means I’ll post at 7:30, so my video has some time to rack up a few views before my target audience is active at 8pm, and it’s hopefully on their For You Pages! I check this daily, because for me at least, it changes daily.
How often should I post?
On platforms like Facebook and Instagram, I advise my clients to post 3-4 times per week. That’s not enough for TikTok–you’ll need to post at a minimum once per day. You need to show your audience that you’re committed to creating content consistently.
In general on TikTok, the more content you create, the more your potential reach increases and the more followers you gain. Ideally, you’ll work your way up to posting three times per day. It sounds like a lot, but the videos can be short and simple! I’ve also heard five times per day recommended as optimal, but in my opinion, that’s a bit aggressive. It can be helpful to batch your content, sitting down and recording multiple TikToks in one session then saving them to drafts to be posted later. If you’re worried folks will notice that you’re always in the same outfit, record a couple, then change your sweater, then record a few more, then do another wardrobe change.
Remember, social media platforms are always changing! Finding your ideal posting time and frequency isn’t a one-time thing, so review your analytics regularly and tweak your strategy accordingly.
