When I first started managing social media, I remember looking up dozens of articles to get me started. There was one topic that was the most perplexing to me — what time I should post. I’ve read a number of articles on the topic with various answer that never seem to agree.

Never fear, I’m here to take my own stab at the best time to post. The best time to publish your posts on social media is…wait for it…when most of your audience is online!

Facebook’s Insights page is hugely helpful providing data on post reach, engagement and likes among serval other statistics. If you look under the “Posts” tab, the “When Your Fans Are Online” data comes up first.

Use this page when planning out your posts. Each audience is different and might interact with Facebook on different days at different times. You might come to realize that your posts will be most viewed on weekends. With Hootsuite and other publishing tools, you can always schedule posts for Saturdays and Sundays even if you don’t work on weekends. As for the actual time, I would recommend posting shortly before a peak on your graph. This will allow some fans to view and engage with your post, pushing it further up news feeds, before your number of fans online hits the max.

If you’re a small brand and don’t have many followers, start by posting during the times you find yourself online most. As you accumulate fans, key in on the statistics to make smart posting decisions.

So forget what you heard before — use your data to find the times best for your unique fans. As brands, we try to personalize our products and services to our specific customers, so why wouldn’t we do the same on social media? Use the data to your advantage!