I read a recent article about research into the best times of day to post on various social media sites.

The web-based project management platform, CoSchedule, analysed its own data and that gathered from other studies. The industries covered included examples from B2B (Business to Business), B2C (Business to Consumer), Healthcare, Higher Education, Media, and Software.

It was interesting to note that different social media sites reported higher traffic at different times and this seemed to be directly linked to the type of audience.

So here is a brief guide to the best times to post on different platforms to get the best response:

• Instagram. This platform is exclusively used on mobile devices. Lunch and close of the usual business day sees the most posts, 1pm and 5pm. B2B organisations aiming for the highest click-through rates tend to go for 12 to 1pm and 5 to 6pm. The best day for Instagram posting appears to be Friday.

• Facebook. Facebook is accessed across mobile devices and desktop and laptop computers. 9am seems the most popular time as people arrive at work or log on for the first time in a day, with another increase in click-through between 11am and 12pm. B2B, B2C, higher education and software also see a spike between 3 and 4pm. Users post most often from Thursday to Sunday.

• Twitter. This is another platform popular across all devices, at work as well as home. Popular tomes are 8 to 10am and 6 to 8pm, coinciding with commutes to and from work and arrival at work and home. Prime time for retweets and click-through appear to be midday or 5 to 6pm. The best days for B2C companies to tweet are weekends while B2Bs do best on weekdays. Logical really as people are thinking about their business interest when they are at work, personal ones at home.

• Linked In. This platform gets a lot of professional use, primarily on weekdays during working hours. 10am to 12pm is an especially popular time and the best day for Linked In posting seems to be Wednesday.