What Is the Best Time to Post Videos on TikTok?

The number of TikTok users is constantly growing, trends are swiftly changing, and the platform’s algorithms are evolving. To feature in subscribers’ recommendations and top results, bloggers, brands, and advertisers must remain adaptable and strategically plan their publishing schedule. Unlike Instagram and Facebook, TikTok’s algorithms present unique challenges and opportunities. Success hinges not only on the quality and relevance of the content but also significantly on the timing of its publication. Identifying the optimal time to post on TikTok can significantly enhance your content’s reach and engagement with the audience. In this article, we will share insights on pinpointing the best time for posting on TikTok. If you aim to leverage TikTok in 2024, this guidance could be invaluable in maximizing your earnings.

The Best Time to Post on TikTok: Key Factors to Consider

Let’s start with why you even need to know the best time to post a video on TikTok. Unlike traditional subscription-based feeds, TikTok users are greeted with a recommendation feed showcasing content from various creators that may align with their interests. This personalized feed is curated based on the user’s interactions, including watching videos to completion, liking, commenting, sharing, or saving them to favorites, which signals the platform about the user’s content preferences, influencing future recommendations.

TikTok is projected to swiftly approach one billion users rapidly. It’s hard to imagine how many videos are uploaded to TikTok every second.

Even high-quality and engaging videos can be overshadowed if not published during the peak activity times of the target audience. Those that are posted in prime-time, on the other hand, are more likely to secure their “place in the sun” due to higher engagement and reach.

By the way, the average engagement on TikTok currently stands at 5.53%, surpassing that of YouTube Shorts and Instagram Reels, which are at 3.80% and 4.36%, respectively. Moreover, the average frequency of posts on TikTok is twice as high as that of competitors.

Keep in mind that historically, TikTok’s algorithm favored giving the greatest reach to content within the first hour after publication. However, post-2020 changes have shifted, with views now accumulating more actively within the first four hours. This also needs to be considered before posting a video on TikTok.

Influencer Marketing Hub has pinpointed the optimal posting times on TikTok to be in the morning between 6:00 AM and 12:00 PM and in the evening from 7:00 PM to 11:00 PM (EST). Recognizing your audience’s time zone is vital, especially in countries like Russia, which spans 11 time zones, and the USA, with 6.

Audience demographics further dictate the ideal posting times. Videos targeting teenagers see the most activity between 12:00 PM and 5:00 PM, whereas content for adult viewers tends to perform better from 6:00 PM to 11:00 PM. The type of content also influences optimal posting times: educational and motivational content is more effectively received in the morning, while evening hours are prime for entertainment videos. This highlights the importance of analyzing your profile and crafting a tailored posting strategy on TikTok.

Access to analytics now extends beyond PRO account holders to all users via the “Author Tools” section. Since TikTok’s statistical data defaults to UTC (GMT+0), tools like Savvy Time or Dateful Time Zone Converter are invaluable for determining the best posting times for specific GEOs.

By the way, according to the latest data, at the end of 2023, the United States had the largest number of TikTok users, with more than 143 million. Indonesia came in second with 106 million users, followed by Brazil, where almost 95 million users engage with the platform.

To determine the best time to post on TikTok, you need to know two things: the location of your target audience and their typical waking hours. If you’re in a different time zone from your audience, whether they are concentrated in one area or spread across multiple zones, it’s important to plan your content and posts to accommodate the time difference. The native scheduling function in TikTok and other third-party services for scheduling publications and delayed posting on social networks can assist in this planning process.

How to Create a Viral Video Caption on TikTok

Suppose you’ve pinpointed the ideal time to post your video on TikTok and aim for it to go viral. Remember, content goes viral when it resonates so well with the audience that they’re compelled to share it with their followers. But how can you boost your content’s chances of making it into the recommendations and drawing in new subscribers? A compelling description can entice users to watch even the simplest video to the end.

The description for the video must be no more than 200 characters. But it’s better to make it as concise as possible, not to obscure the video. This is not so simple, especially when it comes to advertising campaigns rather than regular user-generated content.

While creativity is key, don’t shy away from tried-and-tested approaches if experimenting feels risky. Let’s talk about some tips that can serve as a starting point for crafting captions that capture attention and encourage viewers to engage with and share your content, increasing its viral potential on TikTok:

• Summarize the essence of your video or the offer within it;
• Utilize a range of emotions, not just positive ones. Anger, empathy, and indignation can drive interaction as much as humor;
• Ask provocative or rhetorical questions to spark curiosity;
• Invite your audience to share their thoughts or advice;
• Use quotations;
• Tease the audience with the promise of more to come;
• Personalize the description (“cat owners will understand”);
• Ask users to help you become popular directly, and ask what time they most often view content – people value honesty;
• Add hashtags;
• Promise a like in return to new subscribers. There are a huge number of teenagers on TikTok who really need mass following and mass liking.

In the video description on TikTok, you won’t be able to leave a clickable link to your website, landing page(also read Mediabuying Landing Pages – How to Make It Sell ), or another resource, except for TripAdvisor or Wikipedia. As on Facebook and Instagram, an active link can only be left in the profile description. However, you can include a non-clickable link in your video description, a common practice coupled with a call to action to follow.

Targeted advertising on TikTok requires skills in bypassing moderation and is not always affordable for an affiliate marketer, especially for a beginner.

Let’s explore how to caption advertising creatives on TikTok across different niches effectively: 

What to Do If TikTok Does Not Post Videos

Sometimes, users are faced with issues where it becomes impossible to post a video on TikTok—it either does not load or, despite a seemingly successful upload, the video does not appear in their profile. Here’s how to address this if TikTok doesn’t post your videos.

If you encounter a message stating the video cannot be played or published, your first step should be to refresh the video page or re-enter the application. Additionally, restarting your mobile Internet or Wi-Fi may help. If these actions don’t resolve the issue, it’s time to troubleshoot step by step.

1. Reasons TikTok Video May Not Load:

• The downloaded video file is in an unsupported format;
• The video file size exceeds TikTok’s limits;
• You’ve hit a content posting limit. While there’s technically no limit, taking a break can sometimes help;
• The TikTok app is experiencing lag—try clearing the app’s cache before uploading;
• Your smartphone’s operating system is outdated.;
• Server issues are occurring. Although TikTok typically notifies users of such issues, you can also check Downdetector for any platform outages;
• Slow Internet connection.

1. The video did not load completely. This usually means the video exceeds TikTok’s maximum length limit of 10 minutes, leading to its automatic cut off.
2. The video is not visible to users under the following conditions:

• The video may have been accidentally uploaded as private or saved to drafts. This can be corrected in the settings;
• If the video’s content violates TikTok’s rules, it may be removed. However, if you believe this to be an error, contacting the Support Service to request a review is an option.

These issues, while frustrating, are often easily resolved. Therefore, before attempting to post a video on TikTok, ensure all necessary steps have been taken, and your device and connection are in optimal condition.

How to Re-upload a Video on TikTok

Re-uploading a video on TikTok is not just a solution for when a video fails to upload completely. If, due to technical reasons, your video didn’t make it to the feed or remains invisible to your audience, re-uploading it in high quality can sometimes result in a significant increase in views and reactions—assuming the video itself is genuinely engaging.

After publishing a video, TikTok automatically attaches a watermark featuring the author’s nickname on the left side of the video as a measure against copyright infringement. If this watermark is not removed before re-uploading the video to TikTok, an additional watermark will be superimposed, adversely affecting the content’s quality and its potential to attract views and likes. Therefore, using tools that enable downloading videos from social networks without watermarks is recommended. It’s important to reiterate that re-uploading a video can be an effective strategy to garner more views on TikTok, but this approach is contingent on the video’s ability to resonate with the audience, as evidenced by a favorable like-to-view ratio.

Re-uploading may also serve as a remedy for shadow banning—a temporary block that might be applied to an account for garnering a minimal number of views or infrequent postings. In such cases, while re-uploading could offer a temporary fix, addressing the direct and underlying issues contributing to the shadow ban on TikTok is recommended.

How Many Posts Per Day Should I Post on TikTok?

The frequency of your posts on TikTok can significantly influence your reach and the rate at which you gain subscribers. Initially, posting about 5-6 times a week is recommended to stimulate subscriber growth and increase your visibility on the platform. Consistently posting content allows you to identify the optimal times for video uploads quickly.

TikTok’s creators recommend posting up to 4 videos per day, experimenting with various formats and genres to keep your content fresh and engaging. The platform “loves” active users, potentially reducing reach for those who post less than three times a week. However, it’s crucial to remember that quality trumps quantity. A reliable indicator of whether your content is hitting the mark is seeing a significant portion of your traffic coming from the recommendations section in your analytics, signaling that your ideas are making it to the top.

Conclusion

Armed with knowledge about the best times to post and how to craft appealing video captions, you’re now better equipped to navigate TikTok’s promotional landscape. Remember, TikTok is a vast playground for experimentation. Even well-established creators can’t always predict what will resonate with their audience. Once you discover an effective tactic, leverage it fully before it becomes mainstream.