How to Find the Best Time to Post on TikTok

Figuring out when to post on TikTok can feel like chasing a moving target, but it's simpler than you think. It's not about finding a one-size-fits-all time but about understanding when your specific audience is likely to be scrolling. This guide will show you how to discover unique peak hours for your account using your own data and a bit of smart testing.

Why Your Posting Time Is a Big Deal on TikTok

To understand why timing matters, you need to understand TikTok's core: the For You Page (FYP). When you publish a video, the algorithm first shows it to a small group, including some of your followers. It closely watches their engagement, such as watching, liking, commenting, or sharing. If your followers are offline, you lose the chance for that essential first wave of engagement, causing the video to gather no momentum. But if you post when your audience is most active, you get an immediate surge of interactions, signaling the algorithm that your content is engaging, thereby reaching a wider FYP audience.

In short, a great posting time maximizes your reach and signals the algorithm that your video deserves broader exposure.

The General "Best Times" (and Why to Be Skeptical)

You've probably seen articles listing universal "best times to post," often structured like this, based on studies of millions of posts (all times in EST):

• Monday: 6 AM, 10 AM, 10 PM
• Tuesday: 2 AM, 4 AM, 9 AM
• Wednesday: 7 AM, 8 AM, 11 PM
• 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

These times can be a decent starting point if your account is new and has no data. They're based on general user behavior patterns but should not be treated as definitive rules. Your audience is unique, and so are your best posting times. The generic advice is a reference, but your own data is where you'll find the real answers.

How to Find Your Goldmine: Using TikTok Analytics

Your personal data is your most powerful tool. TikTok analytics shows exactly when your followers are active, eliminating guesswork. Here's how to access it step-by-step.

Step 1: Make Sure You Have a Business or Creator Account

To unlock analytics, switch from a personal account. It's free and quick. A Creator Account is suitable for most individuals, while a Business Account offers more commercial features.

How to make the switch:

1. Go to your profile page and tap the three horizontal lines (☰) in the top-right corner.
2. Tap on Settings and privacy.
3. Select Account.
4. Tap on Switch to Business Account (or Creator Account) and follow the prompts.

Once switched, it may take a few days for TikTok to gather enough data to populate your analytics dashboard, so be patient.

Step 2: Access and Interpret Your Analytics

Once your data is ready, see what it says about your audience's activity hours.

How to find your analytics:

1. Go to your profile page and tap the three horizontal lines (☰) in the top-right corner.
2. Tap on Creator Tools (or Business Suite).
3. Select Analytics.

Inside the Analytics dashboard, find the Followers tab, where posting times matter most.

Step 3: Analyze the Follower Activity Graph

On the Followers tab, scroll to the "Follower activity" section. It's your roadmap to the best posting times, shown in Hours and Days views.

Days View: This shows a bar chart of the most active days for your followers over the past week. It helps in planning a weekly content calendar.

Hours View: This chart shows when your followers are typically active. Look for distinct peaks - these are your golden windows.

If there are spikes at 7 AM, 12 PM, and 8 PM, those are ideal posting times. It's a reflection of your audience's daily routine. Try posting an hour before peak times to help your content gain momentum.

Build Your Own Test: A Manual Strategy for Perfect Timing

While analytics provide insights into past success, you should run tests to refine your strategy. Consider it a simple experiment.

1. Choose Your Test Times

Start with peak times identified in your analytics. If 8 PM is best, try these additional slots:

• General research times (like 7 AM)
• An hour before peak time (7 PM)
• An hour after peak time (9 PM)
• A random time for experimentation (like 2 PM)

This gives you time slots like 7 AM, 7 PM, 8 PM, and 9 PM to experiment with.

2. Create a Simple Tracker

A simple Google Sheets or Apple Numbers sheet is perfect. Create columns for key information:

• Date Posted
• Time Posted
• Video Content Summary
• Views (in first 2 hours)
• Likes (in first 2 hours)
• Comments (in first 2 hours)
• Shares (in first 2 hours)

Tracking the first two hours is crucial for optimizing initial momentum. A video that does well initially is likely to be picked up by the FYP algorithm.

3. Post Consistently and Track Your Results

Over two weeks, post videos at different test times, maintaining style and quality consistently. Uneven tests with varying content quality can skew results.

Fill out your tracking sheet with each post. After two weeks, you’ll have a clear picture of the best engagement times for your content.

Other Factors That Influence Your Best Times

Perfecting your post time involves more than graphs. Several factors matter.

Your Audience's Location

In your TikTok Analytics, check the Followers tab for "Top Countries" and "Top Cities." If 30% of your audience is in the UK, don't post only during EST primetime. Add times aligning with their afternoon or evening.

Your Niche and Content Type

Your content’s world matters. B2B content for marketing professionals is likely sought during work breaks. Weeknight dinner recipes may be searched from 4 PM to 6 PM. A video game creator may find late nights and weekends best. Consider your followers' daily lives and the relevance of your content at certain times.

Final Thoughts

Chasing universal "best times" is ineffective. Real success lies within your account. By combining TikTok Analytics data with a structured testing schedule, you can start posting confidently, optimizing your content’s launch on the For You Page.

Once you determine your ideal times, consistency is key. We built Postbase out of frustration with clunky legacy tools not suited for short-form video. After identifying optimal times, we needed a modern scheduling tool to reliably publish TikToks and Reels, without account disconnections or silent failures. A visual calendar to plan and trust allows us to focus on creating great content instead of constant clock-watching.