Social media is a fickle thing. Even the most successful creators can reach millions of likes on one post and only a few hundred thousand on another. One of the things that can cause fluctuations like this is when you publish your posts.
Do it at the wrong time and people won’t see it right away, which means it won’t get likes, which means the algorithm will stop promoting it.
It’s a pretty harsh system in a lot of ways, but you can master it if you have the right tools at your disposal.
In this article, I’ll walk you through the numbers and the strategies you need to conquer the TikTok algorithm and go viral. I’ll also point you in the direction of some expert courses on Whop that can teach you even more about what it takes to succeed on TikTok.
Does it matter when you post on TikTok?
Yes, the time of day you post on TikTok is extremely important because the average post gets the majority of its views and engagement within the first couple of hours of being published.
The biggest timing mistakes are pretty obvious. If you’re in the United States, for instance, you shouldn’t post at 4 am on a Wednesday when everyone is asleep.
Posting at the start of the work day (9 am to 10 am) on a Monday isn’t great either, according to Sprout Social’s study, because everyone is busy starting their new work week.
While some patterns like these are pretty easy to guess, others are a lot more random and can’t just be figured out by thinking about people’s habits. Instead, you need to look at the data various companies publish.
For example, Sprout Social’s results show some of the highest engagement rates between 4 pm and 5 pm on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays. Buffer’s results also show 4 pm as a high-engagement time on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
You might be a little surprised by these times because they’re quite early. Totally understandable—you might expect peak engagement to be a little further into the evening when everyone is done with work and has finished eating.
Instead, it seems like people actually turn to TikTok to get them through the last hour or two of work! (And honestly, who can blame them?)
Knowing these things will help you post at the most opportune times, making sure the content you’ve put so much effort into has the best chances of success.
When is the best time to post on TikTok?
Awkwardly, there’s no one definite answer to this question because each study uses its own data sets which produce different results. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, though—it just means there are multiple correct answers!
Aside from my own research, I dug into studies from sources such as Buffer, Sprout Social, Hopper, and SocialPilot. Without further ado, these are the results for the absolute best times to post on TikTok throughout the week:
- Tuesday: 10 am, 12 pm, 4 pm, 6 pm
- Wednesday: 9 am, 10 am, 2 pm
- Thursday: 9 am, 10 am, 12 am, 2 pm
- Friday: 8 am, 4 pm
- Sunday: 2 pm
These times are global, so wherever you are, posting at these times should get you some good results on a global scale. It's also possible to focus on a specific timezone if your audience is largely in one place, but we’ll get into that later.
However, if you’re putting a lot of effort into growing your TikTok, you’re probably posting every single day. It’s important to know the best times for each day of the week. Here are the numbers:
- Monday: 10 am, between 3 pm and 6 pm, 10 pm
- Tuesday: 9 am, between 4 pm and 6 pm
- Wednesday: between 7 am and 9 am, between 4 pm and 6 pm
- Thursday: 9 am, between 3 pm and 6 pm, 7 pm
- Friday: 3 pm to 6 pm
- Saturday: 11 am, between 7 pm and 8 pm
- Sunday: between 2 pm and 4 pm
If you post more on certain days, most of the studies see the highest engagement mid-week on Wednesdays and Thursdays. The worst day, on the other hand, seems to be Sunday.
Things that may affect your ideal post time
While overall engagement data is useful, there are also things about your personal situation that can affect your ideal post time. Here are a few things to keep in mind as you decide when to post your next TikTok.
Where your audience is from
People can use TikTok to view any kind of content from any kind of place—but that doesn’t mean there aren’t location-dependent patterns.
Shared culture and language do mean some accounts build audiences that are largely based in specific places. This is especially true if your content is in a language other than English.
For instance, an account that posts about sales and discounts in the United States is going to have an almost exclusively American audience. Another account that posts content in Danish will have an audience who are mostly located in Denmark.
Language differences definitely influence who your audience is right now, but it’s worth pointing out that this might not be the case forever.
Companies like Meta are already playing around with tech that can generate real-time dubbing on social media videos, so you could post a video of you talking in Spanish and someone else will be able to listen to it in English. I'm getting ahead of myself here, though, as for now, the language barrier is still very much real.
It might be obvious where your audience is if you post a certain kind of content, but if not, you can find out by checking TikTok’s analytics. You can find these if you have a Creator account by navigating to your profile, clicking on Creator Tools, and selecting "Analytics."
Once the data is in front of you, select the Followers tab at the top and look for "Top Territories." This should tell you where most of your audience is.
When you know where your followers are from, adapt your posting times to match their time zone instead of your own (unless you're all in the same one).
Your main demographic
It also matters who your audience is. If the vast majority of your followers are teenagers, for example, you need to think about when they’re busy at school, or for adults, when they’re busy at work. You might even have a super-specific demographic like mothers, who will likely be most active when they’ve put their children to bed.
This is where you can use your brain rather than data because the more specific you get, the harder it will be to find studies about the exact kind of audience you cater to. Think about what they do and what they like, and even post a few surveys asking them for answers.
Your niche
Finally, what you’re posting matters. While some content is pretty universal, other content is incredibly niche.
There are some numbers on this kind of thing. For instance, if you post food content that promotes restaurants, the best times are between 3 pm and 6 pm on weekdays. This grabs people’s attention while they're hungry and gives them a chance to make plans for the weekend. Makes total sense, right?
On the other hand, cute, relaxing content like animal videos is often best posted in the evening when people are winding down. Fashion posts do well Monday to Wednesday when people are planning their outfits for a weekend night out.
You can work out a lot of this yourself—just think about what actions you ideally want people to take when they see your content, and post at a time that would make it easy for them to do it.
10 expert tips to optimize your TikTok posting times
Now, let’s get into the nitty-gritty of what you can do to optimize your posting times. This will involve quite a bit of research and trial and error, so expect to slowly work things out over a few weeks or months.
1. Do some in-depth research
The more information you have, the more equipped you are for success. The best place to start is directly reading some of the reports I’ve mentioned, as well as any others you find.
Data might not be the only thing you need, but it’s certainly useful to have. You can also search around for some studies that are more closely related to your niche, location, or demographic. Some things will be harder to find but it’s always worth trying.
2. Track all of your data
Optimizing your post times will involve a lot of data, so setting up a spreadsheet where you can record what you find or the results of tests you do is essential.
It doesn’t need to be anything fancy if you don’t have a lot of experience with spreadsheets—just a place to note things down and refer to them later will be useful.
Of course, if you do have mad spreadsheet skills, feel free to make it as fancy as you want. If you’re really into data and research, you might even be able to sell what you gather to other TikTok creators.
At that point, you're pretty much ready to set up your own whop and teach others how to become social media gurus with things like ebooks and online courses!
3. Think about where your audience is
This is a crucial step in your road to going viral on TikTok, so it bears repeating. You can find out the top places your audience members are located by checking out the Followers tab in TikTok Analytics. Once you find out where your audience is largely from, you can plan a much more detailed plan around when to post.
If your audience is primarily in one place, this will be pretty easy. There’s no guarantee that this will be the case, however! It’s very common for audiences of English-speaking content to be split between the United States and Europe, for example.
This also applies to Spanish language content. Asian language content with English subtitles is also viewed in many different countries.
If you have large chunks of your audience in different timezones, it’s a good idea to vary your post times. Say 45% of your audience is in the United States, 30% in Europe, and 20% in other places. In this case, you’d probably post around 60% of your content at American-friendly times and 40% at European-friendly times.
This wouldn’t work that well if you only posted once a day at most, which is why it’s better to post frequently (I’ll talk more about that later!).
4. Experiment with different times
Data, locations, niches, and demographics are all very objective things—but the best times for you are likely a little different from what’s best for another creator.
The best way to optimize is to use all the data you’ve collected to create a list of potential times you can post.
From there, it’s all about the testing. Create a schedule for when you’ll post. If you have multiple types of content, then make sure to try each type at different key times. Then you’ll need to write down all of the results in your trusty spreadsheet.
It will probably take a few weeks to get a good amount of data because you’ll want to try multiple posts in each time period to see if the results are similar. As painful as it is, you should also sacrifice a post or two to the unpopular late-night hours so you can see the difference it makes.
5. Consider your own schedule
If you post manually (we’ll look into automated posts later), it’s important to consider your own schedule and when you have free time.
If there's one key way to win at TikTok, it's to be consistent. Consistency is important when it comes to social media in general. Your audience will start to expect certain things at certain times, and once you have a bigger following, I can promise you'll have people nagging you in the comments if you miss a daily post window.
So if you find a time that performs well but you happen to be busy at the time of the day or week, it’s better to post when you can be consistent. You can still try to get as close to the target time slot as possible, but minimizing the chances of not posting at all is more important.
6. Check when your followers are most active
Another useful metric TikTok Analytics can show you is when your followers are most active. It’s also under the Followers tab, and it’s extremely useful.
You can compare the data from here against the general data you’ve collected, and pretty much ignore the generic popular times that don’t match with your audience habits.
Make sure to check back as your audience grows, however, because the patterns are likely to change over time. Some people swear by the data they get from here and base their entire schedule around it. It can be a good idea, but prioritize your own sanity over these TikTok numbers.
What I'm trying to say here is: Don’t assume that it’s guaranteed to work, because nothing is ever guaranteed in the world of social media.
Make sure you still record the results and find out for sure if your strategy's having a positive effect on your engagement rates.
7. Look through your top posts
Another way to find your personal best times to publish is to look through your most popular TikTok posts. This isn’t as easy as just copying whenever your all-time top post was published, however. Time is not the only factor in a successful post, after all.
Instead, look through multiple of your top-performing posts and check for any patterns. Perhaps many of them were posted at the weekend or around a certain time of day.
You don’t have to limit yourself to the posts with the very highest numbers. In fact, it's better to also look at posts that performed moderately better than your overall average.
There is a chance that no pattern will reveal itself no matter how many high-performing posts you look at. You can still add some times to your test schedule if you find anything you’re curious about, though.
This step is pretty cool because you can identify patterns other than just time and day. Think of things like video topic, target audience, and length. All of that stuff is useful when you try to up your TikTok game.
8. Scope out the competition
As well as your own top posts, you can also check out other creators in the same niche as you. If you check out big, successful accounts, you’re likely to find that they have a very specific content schedule and you may be able to take some tips from it.
Make a note of points like:
- How many times a day they post
- Whether they post the same amount every day
- What time of day they publish posts and whether there’s a pattern
- If there's a pattern between the type of content and when they post it
- What kind of posts and times perform the best
You can jot down all of this information too and use it to help inform your test schedule.
Research like this can take time, but if you’re up for it, you should check as many popular accounts as you can.
9. Use a social media management tool
As we mentioned before, manual posting can limit the times and frequencies you can post. We all have lives to live outside of the endless TikTok scroll, after all.
By using a social media management tool like Hootsuite or Sprout Social, you can set up a post in advance and choose when the tool should publish it.
This can help you make sure you never miss a post and that you can publish your content exactly when it will perform best, no matter if you’re busy or not.
If you’re creating content full-time or close to full-time, a social media management tool can also help you improve your work schedule. Some creators get caught in a loop of working 24/7, and it's best to prevent that.
You can spend a chunk of time each day making content and scheduling it, and then when 5 pm hits, you can clock out just like anyone with a traditional job. Once you’ve connected your profile to a management tool, most of them also provide their own analytics tools.
These can be much more powerful than TikTok’s own analytics, so if you want more data, it could be a good investment.
10. Post three times a day (or more)
According to TikTok, it’s best to post between one and four times a day to grow your audience and learn what kinds of content people enjoy the most. This would be almost impossible on a platform like YouTube, but with 10-second videos being perfectly acceptable on TikTok, it’s totally doable.
Posting this frequently is also great for testing optimal posting times since it will be quicker to gather a good amount of data.
Top strategies to grow your TikTok views and go viral
Trying out new things is always worth it when it comes to the ever-evolving world of social media. While you’re experimenting with post-timings and recording the results, you can also try new things in other areas.
Here are some of our top tips for growing your TikTok views and maximizing your chances of going viral.
1. Find your niche
This is very common advice that you’ll probably see at the top of any list of tips, but that’s because it truly is important! Finding your niche will help you establish a consistent style that your followers can easily recognize.
I totally get that you might want to post a bit of everything. Hey, my own TikTok FYP is a total mess of cute pets, video games, books, and tech news, so I know that having an "a little bit of everything" approach can work.
But the truth is, people achieve this "bit of everything" news feed by following hundreds of specific accounts across different niches. They don't expect to get cute kittens and Japan travel tips all from the same person (although cats in Japan do sound pretty nice).
When people get a notification saying you’ve posted something new, they want it to meet their expectations.
For example, when the channel about cute dogs posts something new, followers want to get excited about seeing a new cute dog—and then get exactly what they expected.
TikTok’s algorithm chooses what to show people based on their interests, so a clear niche also helps the algorithm recommend your videos accurately. While a niche might feel somewhat limiting, you can still experiment with it.
If you’re up for it, you can even run multiple channels if you really want to post about multiple unrelated topics. Alternatively, you can set up a whop and offer bonus content to your greatest fans at a premium.
2. Be consistent and keep at it
As they say, consistency is key. Posting regularly keeps your content fresh in followers’ minds and shows TikTok that you’re an active creator who deserves to have good visibility, not to mention monetization.
Of course, it’s super important that you don’t sacrifice quality for quantity.
You know how this works, though. All TikTok creators are no strangers to spending time scrolling through the FYP, so you know what quality content looks like and how much of a difference it makes.
And remember to stay motivated. Growing your channel is about the big picture, so try not to get discouraged if your views and likes fluctuate. The only way to get through a tough period and come out the other side is to keep posting.
3. Track all current trends
Trends are a huge part of TikTok, even more so than other social media platforms. When a new trend starts to spread across popular accounts, the best thing you can do is react quickly and jump on board.
That is, of course, if the trend is appropriate for you and your brand. It’s important to give a little thought about who is engaging in it, what it involves, and whether any backlash could come from it.
When it goes well, however, trends can really help boost your visibility—they’re one of the best shots you have at going viral if you come up with a good twist or take on the format.
4. Reply to comments
There are lots of different kinds of content creators on TikTok, but in most cases, engaging with your audience is an essential part of growing your channel. It’s hands down the best way to build a loyal following on the platform, which will help you later on when you want to branch out into other ways to make money on TikTok.
There are a lot of ways to go about this. Some creators try to like as many comments as possible, while others use the "reply with video" feature to give top comments a personal response.
Whatever you decide to do, just remember to be positive and appreciate the engagement you’re receiving. Getting a reply from your favorite creator is huge, so you're essentially just turning regular fans into superfans, a few words at a time.
5. Use the right hashtags
Hashtags are an important part of communicating with the TikTok platform and its algorithm, letting it know what your video is about. The algorithm won’t know what to do with a video that has no hashtags, and it will penalize one that has too many, so it's a tough line to tread.
So, how many hashtags should you use? Experts say that around three to five hashtags are a good number.
Start with broad categories and then move into more specific ones so you can reach a variety of people. When you’re scoping out the competition and analyzing how they do things, the hashtags they use are another thing you can take note of.
You can also experiment with different hashtags to see what works better (and add the results to your spreadsheet if you want!). Over time, you’ll get a feel for which hashtags attract the most engagement and are worth using consistently.
6. Keep in touch with your audience
To really bond with your audience, you can interact with them in other ways than just the comments on your posts. You can hold Q&A sessions with TikTok LIVEs, post polls and surveys, and even branch out into other platforms.
Need ideas? I've got you.
Whop is the perfect social commerce platform for TikTok creators to create a unique and exclusive community for their audience.
Creating your own whop only takes a few minutes, and once you're all set, you can start adding all sorts of useful apps.
You can add themed chat rooms, integrate a Discord server, share both free and paid content, and even create a tiered subscription so all of your fans can get something out of the community.
It’s both a great way to keep in touch with your audience and a fantastic way to monetize your TikTok account.
With Whop, you don't just get to hang out with some of your biggest fans, but you can also make huge amounts of money by selling digital products like downloadables, subscriptions, one-on-one calls with your followers, and so much more.
7. Work on your production value
While a post is still very capable of going viral with bad sound or video quality, if you want to build an audience that will watch everything you publish, it’s best to make your videos easy to watch.
With the quality of tech we can get our hands on nowadays, this can be as easy as buying a decent smartphone and a ring light. If you want to go further, you can also buy an external microphone to help increase the sound quality and limit how much background noise gets picked up.
Editing is a big part of production quality, too. Even within the TikTok app, you can add transitions, text overlays, and effects.
For long-form content (which, for TikTok, is anything over 60 seconds), you can also use whatever video editing software you have on your PC or laptop.
Want to grow your TikTok following? Learn from experts
There are all sorts of free resources out there for aspiring TikTok creators, but if you want a more tailored experience that truly gets you good results, there are also paid courses you can take and communities you can join.
By learning from people who have already succeeded in earning hundreds of thousands or even millions of followers, you can get detailed, actionable advice that can really help speed the process up.
Not sure where to start? Good news: Whop is home to some of the internet's most successful TikTok pros, and they're here to spill the beans.
Let’s have a look at a few of the TikTok-focused groups you can join on Whop.
Print Money W TikTok
Alex Sedlak is just 24 and makes up to $500,000 a month through affiliate marketing on TikTok.
Join his exclusive Print Money W TikTok community to get access to a detailed course, weekly content and lesson updates, 24/7 support, and weekly calls with experts. The course is all about earning profit on TikTok without any investment.
Social Army Academy
The Social Army Academy aims to teach you how to become a top-earning affiliate on TikTok Shop.
There’s a Discord server, online courses, brand deals, live sessions, and video feedback to learn from.
MediaLabs
MediaLabs teaches beginners how to make their first $10,000 in profit—and even offers a money-back guarantee.
It includes an in-depth course, access to brand opportunities, weekly calls, personalized coaching, and free samples.
ViralVision
ViralVision includes a Discord server, online courses, and giveaways.
It focuses on risk-free methods to grow your TikTok and go viral, offering 24/7 support along with expert-led video courses, weekly calls, and regular updates.
Your First Dollar
Your First Dollar teaches you everything you need to know about affiliate marketing on TikTok, from picking the products with the highest conversion rates to creating viral TikToks.
As well as video courses and an online community, you can also get your videos personally reviewed by experts.
Media Metas
With Media Metas, you can get access to video tutorials, weekly calls, 24/7 help, and one-on-one calls that will help you learn how to grow your social media business.
TikTok Money Maker Blueprint
Tom Whitey is a successful affiliate marketer on TikTok and his TikTok Money Maker Blueprint community can help you achieve the same goal.
It includes access to premium products, an affiliate course, editing tutorials, regular one-on-one calls, and an active Discord server.
Level up your TikTok game with Whop
It’s predicted that TikTok users will spend $20 billion through the platform this year, so it goes without saying that there are plenty of earning opportunities.
But succeeding on social media is the same as succeeding with anything else: You need to learn how it works and learn how to make effective decisions.
The best way to do this is to not try to do it alone. Joining a community gives you a unique insight into what others are doing and how you can do it too.
These communities are places where you can both learn from experts and learn alongside creators like you. Working with experts lets you skip the whole trial-and-error phase and move right along your path to success.
On Whop, many experts have authored courses that focus exclusively on TikTok, and accessing their treasure trove of useful tips is easier than snapping your fingers.
Most courses offer different tiers so you can choose to access extras like live weekly sessions, weekly updates, and even personal tailored feedback.
The knowledge they have to share is essential for anyone serious about making money on TikTok. Plus, once you’ve built up some success and experience, you can even choose to share your tips by making your own exclusive community on Whop.
TikTok, and social media in general, is a fast-paced game. Don't fall behind. Learn from experts with Whop.
FAQs
How often should you post on TikTok to go viral?
TikTok suggests you should post between one and four times a day to grow your account effectively. If going viral is your main goal, it’s a good idea to participate in trends and challenges—and try to put your own spin on it to attract attention.
What's the best time to post on TikTok in the U.S.?
Some of the times with the highest engagement in the U.S. are midweek between 4 pm and 6 pm. This is when people are nearing the end of the work day and becoming tired and distracted, so they want a bit of fun to keep them going! It’s also when students finish school and start using up every second of their allotted social media time.
Is posting three times a day on TikTok too much?
It’s easy to find conflicting information about this depending on where you look, but TikTok itself recommends between one and four posts a day.
It might seem like a lot, but remember just how much content people consume on TikTok since the videos are usually super short. If you want people to start recognizing and remembering your videos, you need to post plenty of them.
Does posting time matter on TikTok?
Posting time absolutely matters on TikTok. If you publish at slow times or times when your audience isn’t around, your post will get lost in the endless feed of new content and miss its chance to draw engagement.
Once a few hours pass, the algorithm will start showing your post less and less attention if its numbers haven’t already built up. That means fewer people will see it, and ultimately, the post won’t be able to perform to its full potential.
On the other hand, you can avoid all this by posting during active times when your audience will see the post, engage with it, and boost its visibility with new viewers.
