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 hitting the mark? Are 100 likes a big deal or just average? And what's the optimal time to share your content?
Unfortunately, there is no one-size-fits-all answer. It all depends on factors like your industry, the platforms you are active on, and the makeup of your audience.
That's where social media benchmarks come in. These numbers provide a snapshot of what's typical in your industry in terms of engagement and growth, and help you see if your efforts are succeeding.
Read on for new benchmarks for 2024 in the education sector This will help you put your results into perspective.
Psst: Once you've captured your benchmarks, check out our guide to using social media for education marketing to learn how to put those insights into action.
The #1 social media tool for education
Meet students where they are with the tool that simplifies engagement, recruitment, planning, measurement and acquisition.
Book a demo
Below are recommendations for the best times to post on Instagram, Facebook, X (formerly Twitter) and LinkedIn for 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, Monday and Thursday evenings (8-10 p.m.) are the best times for educational institutions to post on Facebook.
Best time to post on Instagram
For educational institutions, the best times to post on Instagram are late morning and early afternoon (11am-1pm) on Saturday.
Best time to post on X (Twitter)
Tuesday and Thursday evenings (6-10pm) tend to generate the highest engagement for educational institutions on X.
Best time to post on LinkedIn
According to our research, 9:00 a.m. on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday are the best times for educational institutions to post on LinkedIn.
Every institution's ideal publishing schedule is unique, and you should test different publishing frequencies to find what works best for your audience. These industry-specific statistics will help you find a data-based starting point.
Our research shows that educational institutions post more frequently on X and Facebook than on other social platforms – an average of 9 times per week. LinkedIn is at the other end of the scale with 6 weekly uploads.
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 six times a week have similar engagement rates to those that post an average of 13 times a week.
On Instagram, you're most likely to engage your audience if you keep your posting schedule consistent and regular. 5-7 posts per week seems to be the optimal range!
On LinkedIn, institutions that post 9 times per week have the highest average engagement on their posts…
… while on X (formerly Twitter) 1-4 posts per week are enough to keep engagement rates high.
Average engagement rates in education
Wondering if your engagement rates are high enough? Here are the industry averages for all major social networks as of September 2024:
- Instagram: 4.7%
- Facebook: 3.6%
- X (Twitter): 3.3%
- LinkedIn: 1.8%
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 links, videos and single photos.
Instagram users especially enjoy carousel posts, which generate more than twice as much engagement as Reels in the education space.
On LinkedIn, posts with photos and videos are more successful than posts with links.
Follower growth rate in the education sector
If your social media strategy is about growing your audience, you should set realistic goals. Here's how other educational institutions are doing in Q3 2024:
- LinkedIn: 1.58%
- X (Twitter): 0.14%
- Instagram: 0.00%
- Facebook: 0.06%
Hootsuite is the most trusted social media management tool for education. Schedule content, leverage powerful social listening tools, and engage students, parents, and alumni with a universal social inbox—all with ROI-proving analytics to take growth to the next level. Try it today.
Attract, recruit and retain students with Hootsuite, the The #1 social media tool for education.
Create your very own Auto Publish News/Blog Site and Earn Passive Income in Just 4 Easy Steps
