Wondering the best time to post on Pinterest?
Pinterest is such an important platform for website traffic. My best social referrer!
But it can be a challenge keep up with the best marketing practices on Pinterest, and constantly create Pins for Pinterest.
With more media types and competition, Pinterest will take more effort than ever.
Don’t waste it! Be sure you Pin at the best time.
Why Pinning Time Matters
Go back a few years when we had a chronological feed on Pinterest.
When you Pinned was super important. Pin at the wrong time and no one would see it!
Now we have Smart Feed. At first glance, it might seem that when you Pin isn’t important anymore.
But that’s not the whole story. You still need to know the best times to Pin to Pinterest.
That’s because you want – need – your followers to interact with your content when it first arrives.
We often say Pinterest follower numbers don’t matter.
But their reactions do.
If your followers see new Pins and save or click on them, that tells Pinterest they’re good. Desirable. Worthy for more Pinners to see.
Then Pinterest can boost them in the Smart Feed and search results, to ensure that more people who don’t follow you see them.
This really helps you get found on Pinterest!
So knowing when your audience is around is really important.
When Is the Best Time to Post on Pinterest?
It’s best to decide the best time to post on Pinterest by your own account – but there are a few general rules to help you get started.
For example, CoSchedule compiled a study of the best time to Pin. They used data from loads of big digital marketing companies using Pinterest.
According to their study:
- 80% of the U.S. population is in the Central and Eastern time zones.
- You’re best working your Pinning schedule for these zones.
- Pinterest users most often use the platform in evenings and during spare time.
They found two peak times – 8pm-11pm and 2am-4am.
If your audience is mostly U.S.-based, then these times (in Eastern and Central time) may work for you. But there’s more to this story.
Another study from Sprout Social found:
- Best day: Saturday.
- Best time: 8-11pm.
- Other good times to pin: 9pm, 2-4pm (EST) and 8pm-1am (EST).
But, being based on averages, these results are very generic.
Saturday may be great for the majority of Pinterest content, which is B2C (business to consumer). But it’s not the best if you’re B2B (business to business) – because your audience isn’t thinking about work then.
The Find the Best Time to Pin for Your Account
It’s easy to find your own best times for Pinterest with Tailwind.
That’s because Tailwind not only schedules your pins for you – it also has something called Smart Schedule. This is a clever feature that works out the best times to post based on your account.
Even if you have a new account, it can calculate slots based on other Pinners in your niche. You simply tell it how many times a day you want to pin, and it’ll work out a schedule.
If you choose 5, you won’t get exactly 5 times every day of the week. It might be more on a Saturday if that’s a busier day for your niche, but fewer on a Monday when no one’s around.
And the great thing is, you can periodically refresh your Smart Schedule and get up to date information. Just click, and Tailwind will update your time slots. I recommend doing this every 3-6 months for best results.
To use the Smart Schedule, go into the ‘your schedule’ area on Tailwind and then to the ‘general queue’.
Click ‘recreate schedule’ and select how many times a day you want to post in the General Queue.
With their new Smart Guide, you’ll get an average number of timeslots. It will warn you if you are going a bit too high on the number of Pins a day too.
Select to shift previously scheduled pins to newly-created timeslots and then hit the big green button.
You can manually add extra slots if you want to. The times with the dotted lines around are suggested timeslots, based on your account.
When you start adding Pins, they’ll go out at these new optimized times!
Check it out! Try Tailwind for Pinterest Free Forever Plan now!
Disclosure: If you purchase after using my link, I may earn a referral fee at no cost to you.
Solving When to Pin to Pinterest
There are lots of different factors to consider when pinning to Pinterest. Which is probably why there’s no definitive “best time to Pin” that suits everyone.
But there are some good ways to get information about your own account and audience!
And you can always let Tailwind do the heavy lifting for you.
Try it out and see!
• • • Click here to try Tailwind for Pinterest FREE FOREVER Plan • • •
Like to check it all out visually? Then look at QuickSprout‘s handy infographic below!
Then tell us, when do you see the most traffic from Pinterest?
Pop your best time to post on Pinterest in the comments below!
alyson jane long says
Thank you Louise, you were at #1 in the Serps right under the AI. This is useful. Historically 11pm in the US (approx) has been my best time.
Louise Myers says
So glad to hear that! Thanks for sharing your experience.
lyytr says
“They found two peak times – 8pm-11pm and 2am-4am.”
– What time zone are we talking about?
Louise Myers says
“80% of the US population is in the Central and Eastern time zones.
You’re best working your Pinning schedule for these zones.”
Let me clarify though – this would be if your audience is U.S. based. If your audience is mostly elsewhere, say you’re after EU traffic – then use these times in their time zones.
Cathy Armato says
What a great post, thank you! I’m so glad I found it, what an eye opener about which Pins are actually driving traffic to my blog.
Louise Myers says
Happy to hear it helped 🙂
Khalid says
Hello madam .great post about social media timetable. But I have little confusion is “the time of post on social media is based on Pacific/gmt/utc or Indian ? I am stay in India so which timetable I must follow ??
Louise Myers says
Use the time zone where the majority of your audience resides.
michael says
no thats not the issue – how the hell will he convert the timings without knowing the timezone!!?!?!?!?
Louise Myers says
He simply needs to look at the chart and use the times recommended AS IF they were in the time zone where the majority of his audience resides. There is absolutely no conversion necessary.
David says
Hey Louise
That’s really an informative article. I was looking to find out something on when should we post on various social media. Your article made me understand a lot of that in a simple way. I am sure It will surely gonna help me what I learned here. Keep up with this form of posts. Best wishes
Louise Myers says
Great to hear!
Wendy says
We’re just building our Pinterest brand up, so this is handy. Will test out the Saturday hours & see if they have an effect on our stats!
Louise Myers says
Pinterest is very powerful! I hope these tips help you make the most of it. Best of luck!
Anne Violette says
Surprising! Good thing I am a night owl. Is this Eastern Time? EMT?
Thanks for the info. Your pictures are great Louise!
Louise Myers says
Hi Anne!
Generally you’d go with the time zone where the majority of your audience resides. For global businesses with an English-speaking audience, that would usually be Eastern time!