TikTok has seen explosive growth in recent years, with over 1 billion active users as of 2021 according to The Social Shepherd. The platform’s userbase continues to expand rapidly, especially among younger demographics. In fact, 49.1% of TikTok creators are between the ages of 18 and 24 according to Hootsuite. With such a massive audience, many brands and influencers are turning to TikTok as an essential part of their social media strategy. Optimizing your posting schedule can help maximize engagement and views.
Weekday vs. Weekend
Studies show that video views on TikTok are generally higher on weekends. According to Buffer’s analysis, Saturdays see the most views and engagement, followed by Sundays. This makes sense as more users are off work and school and have leisure time on weekends to scroll through TikTok.
During weekdays, views tend to peak around lunchtime when people are on their breaks, and in the evenings after work hours. Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays see higher engagement than Wednesdays and Fridays. The lowest viewing times are early mornings before 9am on weekdays.
Overall, the weekends are the best time for maximum video views. But weekdays still offer decent potential, especially if you post around busy periods like lunchtime. Just avoid early mornings on weekdays.
Source: The Best Time to Post on TikTok in 2024 (With Heat Map)
Most Popular Days
According to an analysis of over 1 million TikTok videos, the most popular days for posting are Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday [1]. These three days see higher engagement and views compared to other days of the week.
Tuesdays tend to be a top performing day, as many users are catching up on content after a busy Monday. Thursdays are popular right before the weekend, when users are active on the app. Sundays are a prime day to capitalize on users relaxing and scrolling on their phones.
Overall, weekends (Saturday and Sunday) garner 19% more views and 15% more engagement than weekdays. However, among the weekdays, Tuesdays and Thursdays still stand out as optimal posting days.
Morning vs. Afternoon vs. Evening
The time of day you post can impact how well your videos perform. Here’s an overview of the pros and cons of posting in the morning, afternoon, or evening:
Mornings (roughly 6-11 AM): Pros: High engagement as users check TikTok first thing. Cons: More competition from other creators.
Afternoons (roughly 2-4 PM): Pros: Still decent engagement as users are on lunch breaks or after school/work. Cons: Big creators often post around this time.
Evenings (roughly 7-9 PM): Pros: Users winding down and looking for entertainment before bed. Cons: Late posts may get buried overnight.
According to Influencer Marketing Hub, Tuesdays tend to see strong engagement in the mornings, with prime times at 4 AM, 8 AM, and 10 AM. Thursdays are also popular mornings to post, with ideal times at 5 AM and 3 PM [1].
In the end, track your own analytics to see when your followers are most active. You can tailor your posting times around when your audience is likely to watch and engage with your content.
Promote Videos
Promoting your videos is key to getting more views and engagements on TikTok. According to research by Sprout Social, the best days to post TikTok videos are Thursdays and Fridays. The after-work hours of 5-7 PM tend to perform well as more users are winding down and scrolling TikTok.
Here are some tips for promoting videos on the optimal days:
- Schedule your best content for Thursdays and Fridays to capitalize on the higher engagement
- Post between 5-7 PM local time to get content in front of users during prime viewing hours
- Use relevant hashtags in your posts so your videos appear in hashtag feeds
- Share video links with your followers on other social platforms to drive traffic to TikTok
- Run TikTok ads on Thursday and Friday to get more eyes on your content
- Repurpose top performing videos on Thursday and Fridays to maximize views
Strategically promoting videos on high-traffic days and times can help you gain more traction. Track performance over time and continue posting when your audience is most active.
Optimal Video Length
According to this article, the ideal TikTok video length depends on when you are posting it. For weekday posts, shorter videos around 15-30 seconds tend to perform better as people are busy and have short attention spans during the workweek. However, research shows that longer videos of 60 seconds or more can be more effective on weekends when users have more leisure time. You can also experiment with slightly longer videos up to 3 minutes for weekend evening content when audiences are more relaxed.
Overall, keep weekday videos concise at 15-30 seconds, with 30-60 seconds being the sweet spot. For weekends, try longer videos up to 60 seconds or more to tell a story and fully engage viewers with quality content.
Hashtags
Using relevant hashtags is crucial for getting your TikTok videos seen by a wider audience, especially on the most popular posting days. According to Social Insider, hashtag research allows you to identify trending topics and join larger conversations. They recommend using between 5-10 niche-specific hashtags that are relevant to your content and industry (Social Insider). Louise M. also suggests researching hashtags used by others in your niche and finding a balance between popular and niche hashtags (Louise M.). Tools like Click Digital’s Hashtag Finder can analyze hashtag performance in real-time, helping optimize hashtags for maximum reach on key posting days (Click Digital). With strategic hashtag research and selection, creators can better target audiences and ride larger trends on the most popular TikTok days.
Sounds
Using popular sounds on the optimal posting days can help get more views and engagement on TikTok videos. Research shows the most popular days are weekends, so aiming to use trending sounds on Saturdays and Sundays is advised. For example, checking the Most Popular Sounds on TikTok and featuring those in your weekend videos can help them take off.
The sounds at the top of TikTok’s Most Popular list on weekends tend to be catchy hip hop, pop, or dance tracks that are dominating TikTok at the moment. Using highly shared sounds when the largest number of users are on TikTok (Saturdays and Sundays) gives your videos the greatest chance to get discovered in front of millions of viewers.
Research indicates top sounds on the weekend include hip hop tracks like “No Love” by Eminem and Lil Wayne, pop hits like Doja Cat’s “Get Into It (Yuh)”, and viral tunes like Masked Wolf’s “Astronaut in the Ocean”. Using these and other trending weekend sounds can give your TikTok content an extra boost.
Challenges
One way to maximize engagement on TikTok is by participating in hashtag challenges, especially on the most popular posting days. According to TikTok, hashtag challenges generate over 10 billion views every day on the platform [1]. Leveraging trending challenges on key posting days allows creators to tap into an existing interested audience. However, it’s important to be mindful of dangerous viral challenges that may encourage risky behavior. Parents should be aware of concerning challenges like the “blackout challenge” and “benadryl challenge” [2] in order to protect children’s safety.
When participating in hashtag challenges, focus on positive trends that align with your brand and engage your target demographic. Time challenges to align with peak posting days for maximum visibility. Research upcoming challenges and trends so you can prepare creative content in advance. Most importantly, encourage challenge participation that spreads joy, not harm.
Conclusion
In summary, the best days and times to post TikTok videos for maximum engagement are weekdays (especially Tuesday-Thursday) in the late afternoon/early evening (around 5-7pm). The TikTok algorithm tends to promote videos more on weekdays when more users are bored and scrolling during work or school. Evening hours are ideal to reach people winding down from their day. Videos posted on weekends tend to get buried more. You also want to optimize your video length to under 60 seconds, use popular sounds and hashtags, join current challenges, and promote your videos in the first 30 minutes for the algorithm to pick them up. By following these best practices, you can give your TikTok videos the greatest chance to go viral.
