Despite the rise in popularity of short videos, I was surprised to discover this on YouTube sees the highest usage among SOCIAL MEDIA platforms by video marketers, surpassing TikTok and Instagram.
According to HubSpot Blog ResearchYouTube was the most successful SOCIAL MEDIA platform in 2023, with 79% year-over-year growth.
Of marketers surveyed, 95% said YouTube has an average or high ROI and most will invest more in this social channel.
SOCIAL MEDIA Trends in 2024 [Free Report]”/>
With so much emphasis on the platform, I thought it was important to find out what times and days video publishers perform best so you can optimize the best time to upload YouTube videos.
Keep reading to find out what I discovered.
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When is the best time to post on YouTube?
Our 2024 SOCIAL MEDIA Trends report shows that the best times to post on YouTube are between 6-9pm and 12-3pm, on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.
I know that creating videos for YouTube is not an easy task. First comes the idea, then the writing of the script, then the shooting, and finally the editing — and only at a high level. Imagine doing all that work just to upload a video that doesn’t get much traction.
When you first start out, you will definitely struggle. However, if you’ve been at it for a while and still aren’t getting any traction with your videos, your loading times could be to blame.
Use HubSpot’s AI Clip Creator to improve your YouTube video production.
We surveyed 1,500+ marketers for us SOCIAL MEDIA Trends Report and asked them: “What is the best time to post on YouTube?“
Here’s the breakdown:
- 24% of respondents said 18 to 21 hours.
- 22% of respondents said 12:00 to 15:00 PM.
- 20% of respondents said 15 to 18 hours.
notes: Respondents were instructed to answer in their current time zone.
Even on the best of days, the data shows that Saturday is the most popular day for traders, followed by Friday and Sunday.
I think one way to explain this is that on the weekend consumers are burnt out from the week and looking for entertainment. The weekend also gives consumers more time to explore the platform and discover their favorite content.
Other video platforms like TikTok and Instagram focus on short-form content, making it easier for consumers to get what they need during breaks in the day. YouTube, however, takes more time if you record longer videos.
Keep in mind, however, that YouTube prioritizes YouTube Shorts and his short videos are becoming more and more popular.
When is the worst time to post on YouTube?
I wonder when you it shouldn’t publish on the platform? According to our research, Monday and Tuesday are not so popular among traders.
Only 9% of marketers surveyed said Monday was the best time to post on the video platform, with another 9% choosing Tuesday, tying the two days for last place.
Even for the worst of times, here’s the breakdown:
- 6 am to 9 am.
- 21:00 to 12:00 (midnight).
- from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.
Only 22% of respondents said that posting in the early hours of the morning (between 6am and noon) produced the best results.
Does it matter what time you post to YouTube?
I think the answer to this is both yes and no. Yes, in the short term it does matter what time you post on YouTube because it will affect how many views your video gets in the first few hours.
Optimizing your views during this time period can help you generate more traffic to your content and help grow your channel.
However, it doesn’t play a big role in the long run. Let’s say your video is posted at 3am, that has little impact on how many views it can garner over the next few months or years.
Unlike a platform like Instagram where fresh content is the key to success, recency isn’t the biggest ranking factor on YouTube – relevance is.
This means that even if your video may not perform well at first, if it is the most relevant video to the user’s query, it can quickly gain traction. Therefore, I recommend that you make creating relevant and high-quality videos your first priority.
I think another trend to consider is AI. in 2023 71% of sellers they said they used generative artificial intelligence to create content and it performed better than content created without it.
A whopping 87% plan to use AI tools to create content in 2024, and the majority (26%) said they think YouTube will have the most promising generative AI features.
If you want to leverage AI for your videos, check out HubSpot AI Clip Creator to improve and accelerate your video production.
How to find the best time to post on your channel
Yours Analytics dashboard is the best place to find the most accurate and reliable data on your channel — including the best time to post.
If your channel generates enough traffic, you’ll get access to an advanced report that shows you when your viewers are most active on the platform.
I think this will be particularly insightful, so you can post videos when yours audience is online, which may not match the trends I mentioned earlier.
To access this page, follow these steps:
- Open it YouTube Studio.
- Click on Analytics.
- Open it The audience tab and view your report.
With this personalized information, you will be able to find the best time to upload YouTube videos.
Posting videos to YouTube
Digging into the data showed me that knowing the best times and days to post on YouTube isn’t a hard and fast rule of thumb for when you should post.
Instead, I encourage you to use this data as a guide to optimizing your channel for short- and long-term success.
I’ve learned that the most important part of using YouTube for your brand is creating high-quality content that’s relevant to your audience.
And with YouTube growing in popularity and potential revenue, it’s worth the investment to get it right.
Editor’s note: This post was originally published in May 2022 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.
https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/best-time-to-post-youtube
