Create your very own Auto Publish News/Blog Site and Earn Passive Income in Just 4 Easy Steps
How do you know if your social media strategy is working? Is an average of 15 comments per post a success or just average? And when is the best time to publish your content?
There is no one-size-fits-all answer to this question. It all depends on factors like your industry, the platforms you use, the demographics of your audience, and more.
This is where social media benchmarks come in. These numbers provide a clear view of what's normal in your industry in terms of engagement and growth, and help you understand your results in comparison.
Read on to find out the latest social media benchmarks and statistics specific to the public sector that will give you an overview of your performance.
Psst: Once you've identified your benchmarks, read our guide to using social media for citizen engagement to learn how to put those insights into action.
The No. 1 social media tool for government
Engage citizens with the only tool that facilitates communication, service delivery and crisis management.
Book a demo
Below are recommendations for the best times to post on Facebook, Instagram and X (formerly Twitter) to achieve maximum engagement.
Note: The time of day has been localized in the 118 countries from which the sample data comes, so the charts are accurate across all time zones.
Best time to post on Facebook
According to our research, Thursday at 7 a.m. is the best time for government agencies and officials to post on Facebook.
Best time to post on Instagram
Early morning is the best time to post on Instagram in government, with posts published at 6am on Sundays and 8am on Wednesdays and Saturdays appearing to generate the highest engagement.
Best time to post on X (Twitter)
Thursday morning (7-9am) tweets tend to generate the highest engagement for government institutions on X.
Every government agency and official's ideal publishing schedule is unique, and you should test different publishing frequencies to find what works best for your audience. But these industry-specific statistics will help you find a data-based starting point.
Our research shows that government institutions post more frequently on X and Facebook than on other social platforms – on average over 10 times per week. LinkedIn is at the other end of the scale with just 5 uploads per week.
Below you'll find network-specific data that illustrates how posting frequency relates to overall engagement rates.
On Facebook, performance depends more on the content you post than how often you post. Institutions that post eight times a week have similar engagement rates to those that post on average only once a week.
At X, you don't need a full publishing schedule to keep your audience engaged. 1-2 posts per week is optimal for government institutions and officials.
Interestingly, the opposite is true on LinkedIn. Government profiles that post 10 times per week have the highest average engagement on their content.
Average engagement rates in government
Wondering if your engagement rates are high enough? Here are the industry averages for all major social networks as of September 2024:
- Instagram: 4.2%
- Facebook: 3.2%
- X (Twitter): 2.4%
- LinkedIn: 2%
Different social networks offer different content formats – but how do you decide which one should dominate your content mix?
This is what our research says:
On Facebook, album posts generate the most engagement – followed by posts with videos, links and single photos.
Instagram users interact most frequently with carousels, followed by regular photo posts and reels.
On LinkedIn, posts with photos and videos are more successful than posts with links.
Follower growth rate in the government sector
If your social media strategy is about growing your audience, you should set realistic goals. Here's how other government profiles are performing in Q3 2024:
- LinkedIn: 0.63%
- Instagram: 0.54%
- X (Twitter): 0.22%
- Facebook: 0.11%
Inform and engage on social media with Hootsuite. From a single dashboard, you can schedule and publish content to all networks, monitor relevant conversations, and measure public sentiment around programs and policies with real-time social listening and analytics. See it in action.
Find out why Hootsuite is the The No. 1 social media tool for government. Engage citizens, manage crises and reduce risks online.
Create your very own Auto Publish News/Blog Site and Earn Passive Income in Just 4 Easy Steps
