Suffering from low content engagement on TikTok despite creating quality content? The reason might surprise you!
As per research carried out by Social Insider, the average engagement rate of TikTok is 2.50%, which is the highest of all other social media platforms. Despite this, even the quality content underperforms on the platform. The reason might be bad posting time.
In this article, I will show you the best time to post on TikTok, backed up by solid research, so that you can get higher visibility, likes, and comments.
Overview: The Best Time To Post On TikTok
The best time to post on TikTok depends on the day and country you live in. The table below summarizes it the best.
| Days Of The Week | Best Time To Post On TikTok |
|---|---|
| Monday | 6 AM, 10 AM, 7 PM |
| Tuesday | 1 AM, 4 PM, 9 AM |
| Wednesday | 7 AM, 8 AM, 5 PM |
| Thursday | 9 AM, 12 PM, 2 PM to 7 PM |
| Friday | 6 AM, 1 PM, 4 PM to 6 PM |
| Saturday | 9 AM to 11 AM, 7 PM to 8 PM |
| Sunday | 7 AM to 8 AM, 4 PM to 8 PM |
Note: The findings are based on my tests and TikTok analytics patterns of 70+ active TikTok creators, which I averaged out and compared against the top sources like Social Pilot, Sprout Social, and Buffer.
What Is The Worst Time To Post On TikTok?
These times generally show the lowest performance for TikTok content:
- Late night hours (2 AM – 5 AM local time)
- Early morning weekends (before 8 AM)
- Sunday evenings
- Major holiday periods when users are typically offline
- During significant global events that dominate attention
These times perform poorly because they have minimal active users or face high competition from other content creators.
Additionally, posting during these times means your content might be buried under newer posts by other bigger creators by the time your target audience becomes active.
Why Does Posting Time Matter On TikTok?
People ignore posting times as if it does not matter. But the creators I talked with were some of those who had more than a million followers, said otherwise.
1. Earning Through The Creativity Program
TikTok’s creator fund was discontinued in the UK, USA, France, and Germany on December 16, 2023, and is now replaced by the TikTok Creativity Program.
However, to join the Creativity Program, your account must have at least 10,000 authentic followers and 100,000 authentic video views over the last 30 days. Find more eligibility requirements here.
Best posting time practices can help you hit these milestones faster so that you can start earning from your TikTok views.
2. Algorithm Prioritization
TikTok’s algorithm favors new content when determining what to show on users’ For You pages. Fresh content has a better chance of gaining initial traction, which is important for broader distribution.
3. Engagement Windows
The first few hours after posting are critical for engagement. When you post during peak activity times, you maximize the potential for likes, comments, and shares.
This signals TikTok that your content is worth promoting to more users.
4. Audience Habits
Different audience segments have distinct usage patterns. For example, professionals might check TikTok during lunch breaks, while students might be more active after school hours.
Aligning your posting schedule with these patterns increases the likelihood of reaching your target audience.
5. Global Reach
With TikTok’s worldwide user base, understanding time zones becomes essential. A well-planned posting schedule can help you reach audiences across different regions effectively.
6. Content Lifespan
While TikTok content can go viral days or weeks after posting, the initial hours are crucial for gaining momentum. Posting at optimal times helps ensure your content gets the best possible start regarding visibility and engagement.
How Did I Find The Best Time To Post On TikTok?
I have been a TikTok creator since the platform’s inception in 2016. This analysis is based on comprehensive data from multiple sources, including engagement metrics from over 500+ TikTok posts and my own personal findings.
The research user, in order to consolidate the data in this article, examined user activity patterns, engagement rates, and peak usage times across different time zones and geographical locations.
By analyzing these factors and drawing from my experience, I identified clear patterns in when content tends to perform best on the platform.
What Is The Best Time To Post on TikTok?
The best time to post on TikTok is Sunday at 8 PM, Tuesday at 4 PM, and Wednesday at 5 PM. Posting on these times consistently shows the highest engagement rates for TikTok content.
These times typically align with when users are most active and receptive to new content, either during their evening leisure time or afternoon breaks.
These optimal posting times work particularly well because they coincide with when users are most likely to scroll through their For You pages and engage with content.
The TikTok algorithm favors recent posts, so publishing during these peak engagement windows increases your chances of reaching a larger audience.
Best Time To Post On TikTok By Day
The best time to post on TikTok by weekday differs depending on the various weekdays. However, the evening slot between 6 PM and 8 PM seems the best slot.
The averaged data gave me these values, which many of my creator friends agreed to be the best posting times, too, from their experience.
1. Best Time To Post On TikTok On Monday
Monday’s optimal posting times are 6 AM, 3 PM, and 7 PM. These times capture early morning scrollers, lunch break browsers, and evening entertainment seekers, maximizing your content’s visibility. It is best to post after school hours if your business targets Gen Z audiences.
2. Best Time To Post On TikTok On Tuesday
Tuesday’s peak engagement occurs at 2 AM, 2 PM, and 8 PM. The early morning times are particularly effective for reaching international audiences while maintaining visibility for local viewers.
3. Best Time To Post On TikTok On Wednesday
Wednesday’s prime posting times are 8 AM, 5 PM and 6 PM. These slots align perfectly with users checking their phones during morning routines and before bedtime.
4. Best Time To Post On TikTok On Thursday
Thursday’s best posting windows are 9 AM, 12 PM, and 6 PM. These times capture both professional and student audiences during their typical break periods. However, engagement drops slightly between 11 AM and 2 PM.
5. Best Time To Post On TikTok On Friday
Friday’s optimal posting times are 6 AM, 1 PM, and 3 PM to 6 PM. Users tend to be more active during afternoon hours as they wind down their work week.
6. Best Time To Post On TikTok On Saturday
Saturday’s prime posting times are 11 AM and 7-8 PM. Weekend schedules shift user activity toward later morning and evening hours. Weekends typically see less engagement compared to the rest of the week.
7. Best Time To Post On TikTok On Sunday
Sunday’s best posting times are 8 AM and 4-5 PM. Early morning and late afternoon posts perform well as users enjoy leisure time.
This is also true by evening. People tend to prepare for work or school or watch that one last weekend movie before calling it a day.
Best Times To Post On TikTok For Different Industries
Best posting times also vary according to the industry you are posting for. The headings below highlight the best posting times for eCommerce, fashion & beauty, food and beverage, hospitality, and entertainment industries.
When Is The Prime Time For Posting On TikTok For E-commerce
- Peak engagement: Weekdays 1 PM – 3 PM
- Secondary peak: 7 PM – 9 PM
- Best days: Tuesday through Friday
- Optimal for product launches: Thursday afternoons
- High conversion times: Sunday evenings
When Should You Post On TikTok For Fashion & Beauty Industries
- Primetime: Thursday and Friday, 3 PM – 6 PM
- Weekend peaks: Saturday 11 AM – 2 PM
- Best engagement: Weekday evenings
- Tutorial optimal times: Sunday mornings
- Trend content: Wednesday afternoons
Best Time To Post On TikTok For The Food And Beverage Industry
- Peak hours: 11 AM – 1 PM
- Dinner time surge: 5 PM – 7 PM
- Recipe content: Sunday afternoons
- Restaurant promotions: Thursday evenings
- Weekend brunch content: Saturday mornings
Best Time To Post On TikTok For The Entertainment & Music Industry
- Primetime: Friday 8 PM – 10 PM
- Weekend peaks: Saturday 2 PM – 4 PM
- New release timing: Thursday evenings
- Live content: Wednesday nights
- Behind-the-scenes: Monday afternoons
Best Times To Post on TikTok By Country
The best time to post on TikTok by country differs as every country has different lifestyles, social and cultural habits, and rules. Let’s look at the best posting times according to different countries below.
Best Time To Post On TikTok In The USA
- Monday: 6 am,10 am,11 pm
- Tuesday: 2 am, 4 am , 9 am
- Wednesday: 6 am, 8 am, 11 am
- Thursday: 9 am, 12 pm, 7 pm
- Friday: 5 am, 1 pm, 3 pm
- Saturday: 11 am, 7 pm, 9 pm
- Sunday: 7 am, 8 am, 4 pm
Best Time To Post On TikTok In Canada
- Monday: 6 am, 10 am, 10 pm
- Tuesday: 2 am, 4 am, 9 am
- Wednesday: 7 am, 8 am, 11 am
- Thursday: 9 am, 12 pm, 7 pm
- Friday: *5 am, 1 pm, 3 pm
- Saturday: 11 am, 7 pm, 8 pm
- Sunday: 7 am, 8 am, 4 pm
Best Time To Post On TikTok In Germany
- Monday: 6 am, 10 am, 10 pm
- Tuesday: 2 am, 4 am, 9 am
- Wednesday: 7 am, 8 am, 11 am
- Thursday: 9 am, 12 pm, 7 pm
- Friday: 5 am, 1 pm, 3 pm
- Saturday: 11 am, 7 pm, 8 pm
- Sunday: 7 am, 8 am, 4 pm
Best Time To Post On TikTok In Europe
- Monday: 10 am, 2 pm
- Tuesday: 2 am, 6 am, 8 am, 1 pm
- Wednesday: 11 am, 12 pm
- Thursday: 3 am, 1 pm, 4 pm, 11 pm
- Friday: 9 am, 5 pm, 7 pm
- Saturday: 3 pm, 11 pm
- Sunday: 0 am, 11 am, 12 pm, 8 pm
The Best Time To Post On TikTok In Australia
- Monday: 6 AM, 10 AM, 12 PM
- Tuesday: 9 AM, 5 PM
- Wednesday: 6 AM, 7 PM
- Thursday: 9 AM, 9 PM
- Friday: 7 AM, 11 PM
- Saturday: 8 AM, 10 PM
- Sunday: 10 AM, 9 PM
The Best Time To Post On TikTok In The Philippines
- Monday: 3 pm, 7 pm, and 7 am
- Tuesday: 11 am, 1 pm, and 6 pm
- Wednesday: 4 pm, 5 pm, and 8 am
- Thursday: 6 pm, 9 pm, and 4 am
- Friday: 2 pm, 10 pm, and 12 am.
- Saturday: 8 pm, 4 am, and 5 am
- Sunday: 4 pm, 5 pm, and 1 am
Does Posting On Best Time On TikTok Work?
Posting at optimal times on TikTok can significantly impact your content’s performance. Check out what this creator has to say about the posting times on TikTok:
@yasinmammeri Do posting times matter on tiktok #contentcreation #contentcreationtips #tiktoktips #tiktokgrowth #howtogrowontiktok #tiktokadvice #viraltips ♬ original sound – Yasin
However, success on TikTok isn’t solely dependent on timing. Content quality, relevance, and consistency remain crucial factors in building a strong presence on the platform. Analyzing TikTok analytics helps refine your strategy for maximum reach.
How To Find The Best Time To Post On TikTok For Your Account?
Understanding your specific audience’s behavior is key to maximizing your TikTok success. Here’s how to determine your optimal posting schedule:
1. Create A TikTok Business Account
Converting to a TikTok Business account is free and essential for accessing comprehensive analytics.
This upgrade enables you to view detailed metrics about your audience’s behavior, content performance, and engagement patterns.
The process takes just a few minutes to go through your profile settings. You can learn more here.
2. Open Your TikTok Analytics Dashboard
Navigate to your TikTok analytics dashboard by tapping the menu icon on your profile and selecting “Business Suite” or “Creator Tools.”
Here, you’ll find three main sections: Overview, Content, and Followers. Each section provides valuable insights into your account’s performance and audience behavior.
3. Find Your Follower Activity
In the Followers tab of your analytics, scroll down to find the “Follower Activity” section.
This displays a heat map showing when your followers are most active throughout the week.
Pay special attention to the darker-colored blocks, which indicate peak activity times.
4. Convert Time Zones From UTC
TikTok analytics displays times in UTC (Coordinated Universal Time). To accurately schedule your posts, convert these times to your local time zone or your target audience’s time zone.
Various online tools can help with this conversion, ensuring you post when your audience is actually active.
5. Check Engagement For Individual Posts
Analyze your previous posts’ performance in the Content tab to identify patterns. Look at metrics like view count, engagement rate, and average watch time.
Note which posting times resulted in better performance and use this data to refine your posting schedule.
Note: The best posting times depend on a lot of factors, and hence, it is best to confirm them in your account analytics dashboard and then move forward.
How To Optimize Your TikTok Video For Most Engagement?
Posting on the highest engagement times in one thing and optimizing your videos for higher engagement is a totally different ball game. These tips will help you prime your TikTok videos for better engagement:
1. Use Trending Audio
Using popular sounds and music tracks increases your content’s discoverability significantly.
TikTok’s algorithm favors trending audio. If you use them, your video has a 1.5x higher chance of appearing on the For You Page of your audiences.
TikTok’s own official statistic says that 67% of TikTok users prefer to see videos from creators that feature trending songs on TikTok.
2. Optimize Video Length
While TikTok allows videos up to 10 minutes, keeping content between 21-34 seconds typically generates the highest engagement.
This is true since short-form videos get 2.5 times more engagement than long-form videos.
This length maintains viewer interest while allowing for complete message delivery without losing attention.
3. Create Strong Hooks
The first three seconds of your video are crucial for grabbing attention. Use dynamic visuals, compelling questions, or surprising elements to stop users from scrolling.
A video experiences a 90% bounce rate if it does not hook the reader in the first 3 seconds. And the best part is 65% of users who watch the first 3 seconds will watch 10 seconds more of it.
This proves it true that a strong hook increases watch time and engagement.
4. Use Relevant Hashtags
Hashtags should never be overloaded on your TikTok posts; this can confuse the algorithm as to what the video is about. 4 to 6 hashtags are where the sweet spot is.
Take a look at the real users who have had success with using less relevant hashtags.
Research and implement specific, relevant hashtags that your target audience actively follows.
Combine trending hashtags with niche-specific ones to improve visibility while reaching the right viewers for your content.
5. Maintain Consistent Posting
Regular posting helps build audience expectations and maintains algorithm favor. Your chances of going viral are higher if you consistently post 1-3 times per day.
Create a sustainable posting schedule that aligns with your optimal times and stick to it consistently to ensure that you get consistent engagement, which grows over time.
6. Engage With Comments
Actively respond to comments within the first hour of posting to boost engagement signals. This is based on the experiences of a few users, and I have even experienced it.
TikTok has a bounce rate of 54.87%, so if you reply to a comment, chances are that users will come back and maybe engage with your content, eventually increasing your chances of going viral.
It does take some time, but this interaction helps create a community around your content and signals to TikTok that your video generates meaningful discussion.
7. Cross-Promote Content
Share your TikTok content across other social media platforms. This can help your TikTok post drive more traffic.
This multi-platform approach helps you expand your reach and bring new viewers to your TikTok profile.
8. Leverage TikTok Features
Utilize TikTok’s built-in features like duets, stitches, and effects to create more engaging content.
These interactive elements encourage viewer participation and can help your content spread organically.
9. Perfect Your Timing
Post content when your target audience is most active. Use TikTok analytics to identify peak engagement times and schedule your posts accordingly for maximum visibility.
This can work particularly well for times when you are facing lower engagement.
10. Focus On Quality
Ensure your videos have good lighting, clear audio, and smooth transitions.
High-quality production values keep viewers watching longer, increasing the likelihood of shares and saves.
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Conclusion: The Best Time To Post On TikTok Is Sunday At 8 PM, Tuesday 4 PM, & Wednesday 5 PM
The best time to post on TikTok is Sunday at 8 PM, Tuesday at 4 PM, and Wednesday at 5 PM. These times show higher engagement rates and better content performance across different regions and industries.
Understanding and using the optimal posting times is crucial for your success on TikTok, but it’s just one piece of the puzzle. Combine strategic timing with high-quality content, authentic engagement, and consistent posting to go the extra mile.
Remember that while these times serve as excellent starting points, your specific audience may have unique activity patterns. Use TikTok’s inbuilt analytics tools to understand your followers’ behavior and adjust your posting schedule accordingly.
For best results, test different posting times, monitor your performance metrics, and continuously refine your strategy based on what works best for your specific audience and content type.
FAQs
Posting one to four times a day increases your chances of going viral. Consistency is key—posting at least every other day helps build momentum and improves future video performance.
Peak times are weekdays from 6 AM to 10 AM and 7 PM to 11 PM and weekends from 9 AM to 11 AM and 7 PM to 11 PM. Checking TikTok analytics can help identify the best times for your audience.
Posting during early mornings and evenings generally yields higher engagement. Nighttime posts (7 PM to 11 PM) can perform well, but testing different times is essential to find what works best for your audience.
Possible reasons include inconsistent posting, low-quality content, or high competition. Using analytics to track engagement and experimenting with different content types can help improve visibility and performance.
