Best Time to Post on TikTok? Check Hot Hours for Your Brand

Here’s the thing about the best time to post on TikTok: it’s different for every brand. The sweet spot totally depends on your audience, your niche, and even the day of the week.

Take Duolingo, for example. They get the most interactions on Sundays at 11 AM, but if we’re talking reach, Thursday at midnight is where it’s at. 

But yours could be completely different! So, it’s best to do an analysis on your own. 

How? Read on to learn!

The best time to post on TikTok is when your audience is active. There are tools that can precisely monitor the hours TikTok users related to your business are using the app and engaging with your content. 

Managing TikTok is like riding waves in the ocean. But unlike surfing competitions, you can’t control the tides. You’re dropped right into unpredictable waters, and every wave is different – some lift you up, while others just knock you down.

The good news? There’s plenty of room on the waves, and more than one surfer can ride high at the same time.

To ride it out, you need to master your board (your content), understand how the tides change (the algorithm), and paddle out at just the right moment.

So, let’s dive into that last part: when’s the best time to catch the perfect TikTok wave?

When is the best time to post your content on TikTok?

You know Duolingo, right? They’ve basically taken over TikTok with their hilarious, super relatable content.

But it’s not just about posting funny videos and hoping they go viral – strategy and timing are key.

And how can you know when to post on TikTok?

Features like Brand24’s Hot Hours are the answer.

Hot Hours helps you find out when your audience is the most active.

It analyzes when people are talking about your brand when posts get the most views, and when followers are most likely to hit the like or comment button.

That’s why, based on this data, the feature can show you when:

• People publish the most TikTok mentions about your brand.

• TikToks mentioning your brand have the biggest reach

• TikTok users are most likely to interact with your brand mentions

It gives you insights into what time slots might work best for you.

But before you get too excited, there’s no magic formula that guarantees crazy results.

Every brand is unique, and what works for one might not work for another. But that’s exactly why you should use data like this to experiment!

So, if Duolingo were using Hot Hours, here’s what their analysis would look like:

1. Mentions

People are chatting about Duolingo the most between 8-9 AM. That’s prime time for them to post something new and join the convo.

2. Reach

Hot Hours says Wednesday, especially at 6-7 PM is when Duolingo content gets the furthest reach. Late-night posting may sound weird, but it’s working!

3. Interactions

For engagement – Wednesday, at 6-7 PM, and Sunday, around 11 AM. That’s when followers aren’t just watching – they’re commenting and sharing.

Final conclusion:

Duolingo should target Wednesday and Sunday at midnight and generally 8-9 AM for posting.

It’s all about experimenting, testing different times, and figuring out what resonates best with your target audience.

Hot Hours won’t give you instant TikTok fame, but it’s a great tool to help you understand your audience better and optimize your posting schedule.

So why not give these times a try and see how your content performs?

It can make your TikTok videos perform better while definitely won’t harm you.

You can stick to the basics or give the posting times a real revolution.

If you focus on posting consistently, for example, every day, or have absolutely no posting schedule – you should try checking the best times to post each day.

How to do it?

Just analyze the Hot Hours data and estimate the best posting time.

Here’s how I did it for Duolingo:

1. I set up a social media monitoring project for Duolingo.
2. Go to the “Hot Hours” tab.
3. Filter my results to TikTok.
4. Look for the most active times in reach.
5. Estimate the best time to post for each day of the week.

And this is what I got:

Best time to post on TikTok on Monday

For Duolingo, the best time to post on TikTok on Monday is between 7 AM and 11 AM.

Best time to post on TikTok on Tuesday

For Duolingo, the best time to post on TikTok on Tuesday is between 8 AM and 8 PM.

Best time to post on TikTok on Wednesday

For Duolingo, the best time to post on TikTok on Wednesday is between 6 PM and 7 PM.

Best time to post on TikTok on Thursday

For Duolingo, the best time to post on TikTok on Thursday is between 10 AM and 3 PM.

Best time to post on TikTok on Friday

For Duolingo, the best time to post on TikTok on Friday is at 9 PM.

Best time to post on TikTok on Saturday

For Duolingo, the best time to post on TikTok on Saturday is at 3 AM.

Best time to post on TikTok on Sunday

For Duolingo, the best time to post on TikTok on Sunday is between 8 PM and 12 AM.

Tips for Hot Hours feature

Sometimes it’s hard to choose one perfect slot, as they tend to be scattered on many different parts of the day.

My tip is to look for the most active times with some less intense (but still active around).

That’s why for Saturday, I’d go for “around 3 AM“.

And two more points worth mentioning:

1. Always check the time zone you set!

In Brand24’s Hot Hours, you can switch between all time zones to find the accurate one. Otherwise, your results might show an eight-hour time difference.

And what if you want to target multiple time zones?

In this case, the best option is to conduct the analysis on your target audience and then compare the results to draw conclusions.

2. You can use the geolocation filter to get the best results.

For example, if your brand doesn’t want to reach a global audience but focuses only on a specific market or you target your TikTok campaigns only for Europe – it’s a perfect feature for you.

Why do these times work:

Audience Behavior

According to Pew Research Center, 95% of TikTok users come to the platform for entertainment.

That’s huge!

It means they’re looking to have fun, relax, and enjoy content that catches their attention. But when exactly are they doing that?

TikTok users tend to be most active during off-work – like evening hours or mornings. This is when people are free after a long day or just browsing to kill time before bed.

That’s why hours like 6 PM or 9 PM see a lot of activity.

People have more free time and are more likely to scroll through their For You Pages and engage with TikTok content.

It’s all about understanding the different habits on social media platforms.

LinkedIn is a business platform, so it thrives during work hours.

TikTok is the opposite and sees an audience awake in the evenings and weekends (when people want to have fun).

Off-work hours align perfectly with when users are most receptive to engaging with fun and light-hearted content, making them optimal posting times to grab their attention.

TikTok Algorithm

The TikTok algorithm is shrouded in a mysterious fog. Seemingly everyone knows what it is and how it works, yet its accuracy constantly surprises users.

This is what Julian McAuley, a professor of computer science at the University of California San Diego, says about TikTok’s algorithm:

“There seems to be some perception that they’ve cracked some magic code for recommendation, but most of what I’ve seen seems pretty normal.”

TikTok hasn’t reinvented the wheel – it just does a great job of analyzing user behavior and adjusting content based on that.

Whether our TikTok goes viral is also mainly influenced by engagement – the number of likes, watch time, comments, and posting consistently.

So, it is worth noting the importance of publication time.

By adjusting your posting schedule to the times when your target audience is most active, you can increase the chances of high engagement on your TikTok posts and, consequently, favor the TikTok algorithm.

Best time to go live on TikTok

Generally said, the best time to go live on TikTok would be off-work hours. So, either in the early morning or late in the evening.

But that’s the basic way, and you can go a step further…

Lives make sense when people interact and add comments. Otherwise, the algorithm will give you up and make you invisible.

That’s why so many creators are pushy when it comes to tapping and commenting on their lives. They want to keep you enagegd for the best results.

And happily we can check the exact hours when most of our target audience is more likely to engage and interact.

Just use the Hot Hours > Interactions filter.

Based on this theory, the best time to go live for Duolingo would be, for example, 6-7 PM on Wednesday.

Best time to post a Story on TikTok

Some time ago, TikTok introduced a new format – Stories. The concept is similar to Instagram Stories; they’re visible for 24 hours, and anyone can watch it by clicking on your profile photo.

There are some theories that posting stories on TikTok can have a significant impact on the overall algorithm and your TikTok reach.

So why not give it a try?

And if giving it a go – then let’s do it the right way and check the best times to post a Story.

Go to Brand24 dashboard > Hot Hours > and switch to the “Reach” filter.

As you can see, for Duolingo, the best time to post a Stoy in TikTok is, for example, 6 PM on Wednesday.

Best time to post on TikTok by industry

So, now you know how to analyze the best time to post on TikTok by day and the type of TikTok content.

But you may not want to conduct a whole analysis – that’s fine!

I decided to create a list of the most popular niches on TikTok and analyze posting times for them.

It won’t be as accurate as the analysis for your brand, but it should give you some insights.

What is the best posting time for different niches?

Best time to post on TikTok for fashion

• Mondays: 3 PM – 5 PM
• Tuesdays: 11 AM
• Wednesdays: 5 PM
• Fridays: 12 PM
• Saturdays: 12 PM – 4 PM
• Sundays: 5 PM

Best time to post on TikTok for travel

• Mondays: 12 PM – 5 PM
• Tuesdays: 8 AM – 1 PM
• Wednesdays: 5 PM
• Thursdays: 1 PM
• Fridays: 12 AM – 6 PM
• Saturdays: 5 PM
• Sundays: 8 AM – 5 PM

The posting time is generally in the afternoon hours, especially 5 PM, and is most vivid throughout the week. So, you should schedule content during that time.

Best time to post on TikTok for fitness

• Mondays: 2 PM – 5 PM
• Tuesdays: 3 AM – 5 PM
• Wednesdays: 5 PM
• Thursdays: 2 PM
• Fridays: 6 AM
• Saturdays: 9 AM – 7 PM
• Sundays: 2 AM – 5 PM

Best time to post on TikTok for beauty

• Mondays: 5 AM – 5 PM
• Tuesdays: 5 PM
• Wednesdays: 2 AM – 5 PM
• Thursdays: 2 AM – 3 PM
• Fridays: 12 PM – 5 PM
• Saturdays: 5 PM
• Sundays: 5 PM

Best time to post on TikTok for technology

• Mondays: 7 AM – 5 PM
• Tuesdays: 8 AM – 10 PM
• Wednesdays: 8 PM
• Thursdays: 1 AM – 5 PM
• Fridays: 12 PM
• Saturdays: 4 PM – 5 PM
• Sundays: 5 PM

Best time to post on TikTok for restaurants

• Mondays: 5 PM
• Tuesdays: 4 PM
• Wednesdays: 8 AM – 10 AM and 9 PM – 10 PM
• Thursdays: 4 AM – 5 PM
• Fridays: 4 AM – 8 AM
• Saturdays: 9 AM
• Sundays: 4 AM – 2 PM

Best time to post on TikTok for hotels

• Mondays: 5 PM
• Tuesdays: 5 AM
• Wednesdays: 12 PM – 5 PM
• Thursdays: 12 AM – 7 PM
• Fridays: 12 AM – 11 AM
• Saturdays: 7 AM
• Sundays: 8 AM – 5 PM

Is there a best time to post on TikTok? 

There’s no just one answer to the best time to post on TikTok. It really depends on YOUR audience.

You can look up general recommendations like “post off working hours,” but using data specific to your brand is much more effective. 

Why? Because every audience has its own habits and preferences.

The best time to publish is when your target audience is most active – when they’re more likely to engage, watch your TikTok till the end, or share your content.

That’s why using tools that track your own followers’ behavior, rather than relying on general TikTok trends, can give you a huge advantage.

But don’t worry. It doesn’t have to be a super complex analysis. Even TikTok’s built-in analytics can give you a good idea of when your followers are online.

It’s a great starting point. Test different times, and see what works best for your content!

TikTok analytics

TikTok internal analytics can show you your follower’s most active times. There are two ways to access such data:

1. You need to go to “Business Suite” > “Analytics” > “Followers” > “Activity”

This is what it looks like:

Main con: You have to do everything manually. TikTok account only shows you the most active hours for each day separately. So, if you want to find the best time to post on a Monday, you’d need to check each Monday’s data and compare them yourself.

Main pro: The good part is that this manual analysis helps you see if your followers have a consistent activity pattern. Automated tools often generalize data, but looking at it manually can give you a deeper understanding of your audience’s behavior.

2. You need to go to “TikTok Studio” > “Analytics” > “Followers” > “Most active times”

You can switch between days and hours.

This is what it looks like for days:

And this for hours:

Main con: You still don’t get any insights into patterns, just the specific day or hour your followers were active. It can be a hint on when to post, but it’s not exactly what we’re looking for.

Main pro: You get the ready-to-use analysis without the need for manual counting.

But remember that both of these analytics only show your followers’ activity. They won’t include people who mention your brand but don’t follow you or cover any trends within your niche.

Tools that analyze the best time to post

For the best results, you should use external tools that analyze your mentions and impressions to determine the most accurate times to post on TikTok.

Here are my top 3 tools that will tell you when to post on TikTok:

1. Brand24

Brand24 is a social listening tool that uses AI to track mentions, comments, and interactions around your brand in real time. With its Hot Hours feature, you can see exactly when your audience is most active on TikTok and other social media platforms.

This helps you find the best times to post based on real data, not just guesses.

2. Buffer

Buffer is a social media management tool that also offers TikTok analytics. It looks at the performance of your TikTok posts and gives you tailored recommendations, like:

• The best day of the week to post
• The exact hour to publish your content
• How often to post each day or week

With these insights, you can optimize your TikTok strategy based on what’s working best for you.

3. Sprout Social

Sprout Social offers ViralPost technology. It analyzes your audience’s engagement patterns to help you identify the best times to post.

It uses your account’s data to suggest optimal posting times.

Plus, the tool continuously updates its suggestions based on new interactions. So, you can keep updating your posting schedule according to when your audience will most likely engage.

Conclusion

Finding the best time to post on TikTok isn’t about following a generally known schedule.

Your audience, niche, and content type – all play a role in when your posts will perform best.

Final thoughts:

1. Test different posting times: Using insights from Brand24’s Hot Hours or Sprout Social’s ViralPost, lets you experiment and find what works specifically for your brand.
2. Use TikTok’s analytics as a starting point: It’s a good way to see when your followers are online.
3. Adjust your posting with trends and events: Align your TikTok posts with trending topics or seasonal events.

Ready to optimize your TikTok posting schedule? Start a Brand24 free trial and get the best times to post based on data!