YouTube is easily the most popular video platform online today – whether for video enthusiasts, hobbyists, small businesses and mega brands, which is why it is crucial to know when to publish your video on YouTube.

For companies looking to expand their marketing to video, YouTube obviously represents a fertile ground for content, and a massive potential audience.

Even so, achieving success on YouTube is more than simply filling up your company’s channel with videos. As with other social media, the goal is engagement, and to reach your consumers, you must know not just what to include in your videos (read about how to format your YouTube video here), but when is the best time to post time to post your YouTube video.

There are a few basic facts about YouTube you should keep in mind when finding the time to publish your YouTube videos:

YouTube Video Reach Statistics

• Most YouTube users are in the US, though major countries like Brazil, Russia, China, India, and the UK are major markets as well.
• YouTube today reaches more American 18- to 34- year-olds than TV networks do.
• YouTube’s indexing algorithm isn’t instantaneous. If you want a video posted at a specific time, and you want it easily searchable, you need to post a few hours early.

Unlike other social media that has more dead periods for marketers, however, YouTube tends to have a much broader window for videos to reach a wide audience. These are some of the best times in general to post videos to YouTube:

The best time and day to publish YouTube videos:

• The days that show the highest level of engagement are Friday through Saturday, as well as Wednesday.
• The best time to post, in general, is at 5pm, though you can still get success until 9pm before you see serious diminishing returns.
• Sundays are the optimal days to post a video on YouTube, either earlier in the morning (between 8am and 11am) or later in the evening (after 5pm).
• In some cases, posting early in the morning during weekdays (approximately 8am Eastern) lets you reach both east coasters on their way to work and west coasters enjoying their lunch break.

YouTube remains one of the most popular ways to advertise with video, and it can be ideal for your brand and your social media content strategy.

However, it’s important to take a measured and proactive approach to posting your videos to make sure you’re taking advantage of high volume of eyeballs, and better engagement from your consumers.