According to the latest social media data, Instagram is a powerhouse of engagement. You’re already aware of it and want to make the most of it. But, if you don’t publish your material at the opportune moment, your followers won’t see it or engage with it.
But when should you post on Instagram to make sure that your audience sees it?
You won’t need to consider this for very long, so don’t worry. The best time to post on Instagram varies depending on the day of the week. Keep reading to find out how to decide the best time for your brand account to reach the right audience at the right time.
Best Times To Post On Instagram Overall
Numerous platforms have studied the ideal time to post on Instagram, and it’s generally agreed that there are various factors to consider. The size of your audience, engagement level, geographic location, and the algorithm can affect whether or not people see your material.
But when Later analyzed about 35M posts, they discovered that, generally, the best time to post on Instagram throughout the week are:
- Monday: 5 AM
- Tuesday: 6 AM
- Wednesday: 6 AM
- Thursday: 5 AM
- Friday: 6 AM
- Saturday: 6 AM
- Sunday: 6 AM
We also found that Saturday or Sunday are the best days to post on Instagram, with Sunday morning posts (6 AM) getting the most average interaction.
For a more precise overview of these best times to post globally, check this time chart by Kicksta:
Best Times To Post On Instagram For Engagement
The best posting times are when your audience is most likely to be online. This typically refers to the first few hours after people wake up and grab their phones. It also includes lunchtimes and the hours after work when people browse through their phones.
When you post before 8 a.m., you get a chance to show up in people’s Instagram feeds as soon as they launch the app. A post published earlier in the day allows accounts to take advantage of lower competition (posts are shared the most frequently between 9 AM and 1 PM on average each day) and user traffic during their first scroll of the day, even if it occurs several hours after the post is published.
But, if your goal is to reach B2B firms or professionals with IG business profiles, you might have greater success posting throughout the working day, at lunchtime, or on weekends.
Since many people aren’t at work on the weekends, posting around those times is an excellent strategy. Sunday, in particular, is a good day to post because Saturdays are usually booked with events. Many people take Sundays off, and if they check their phones early to mid-morning on Sunday, they’re likely to find posts posted around 6 a.m.
Regardless of when your audience uses the app most frequently personally, being one of the first to publish each day gives your content the most chance of being noticed by them.
Instagram (and how we use and engage with the material on the platform) has shifted significantly in the last year, so now is a good time to rethink your posting strategy.
Best Times To Post On Instagram Based On Your Industry
Instagram remains a tool for discovering new brands, goods, or services. And new or expanded eCommerce capabilities influence how users interact with the app. 44% of app users shop for things every week. So, if Instagram is where their target market hangs out, brands shouldn’t ignore it.
That said, we rounded up data on the best time to post on Instagram based on your brand’s industry so you can get more granular.
Media & Entertainment
On weekdays, engagement for accounts related to the media or the journalism sector was constant from early morning to late afternoon. In addition to viewing and responding to Instagram Stories, this may reflect how long users stay logged in.
- Best days to post: Mondays through Thursdays
- Best times to post: Tuesdays at 10 AM and 11 AM
- Worst days to post: Saturdays
Retail
More people than ever today use Instagram as a buying platform. Here are the best and worst Instagram posting hours to engage with an audience interested in shopping.
- Best days to post: Wednesday
- Best times to post: Wednesdays at 3 PM and 11 AM to 12 NN on Fridays
- Worst days to post: Sunday
Travel & Tourism
For this niche, the most engagement is between 11 AM and 1 PM on days closer to the weekend.
- Best days to post: Wednesdays and Fridays
- Best times to post: Wednesdays at noon
- Worst days to post: Sundays
Tech
Tech organizations, particularly SaaS, software, and B2B companies, have seen an increase in social media activity on Facebook and Twitter in the past year. Brands may use social media to engage with existing customers, build a community around their products, and provide valuable customer service.
- Best days to post: Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays
- Best times to post: Wednesdays at 8:00 AM and Fridays at 10 AM
- Worst days to post: Sundays
Education
A social media strategy for education needs to achieve several functions, from showcasing student life to communicating school updates. To meet these demands and efficiently target various audiences at the appropriate moment, keep in mind that some schools maintain many social profiles (per college, athletics, etc.).
- Best days to post: Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays
- Best times to post: Tuesdays at 10 AM
- Worst days to post: Sundays
Healthcare
Responding to worldwide audiences has been a daunting issue for healthcare services and organizations in recent years. Although social media isn’t a high priority for the healthcare industry, posting on Instagram about relevant content is important because of the large number of users on the platform.
- Best days to post: Weekdays, 9 AM to 3 PM
- Best times to post: Tuesday at 8 AM
- Worst days to post: Saturdays and Sundays
Tips For Finding Your Best Time To Post On Instagram
When deciding when to publish on Instagram, you can use the data as a starting point, but it should just be that—a starting point. Remember, these “best times” are averaged out across a vast number of posts. So, we offer some advice in this section on how to decide when it’s best to publish on your account and how to improve and increase engagement.
Follow Your Specific Audience
As marketers, it’s essential to know our audiences. A good way is to think of them as buyer personas. These personas represent your target audience as human beings with specific occupations, lifestyles, hobbies, relationships, educational levels, interests, and a lot more. These are aspects every audience has and is essential to know about to identify the best times to post on Instagram. For parents, the evening may not be the best time to post because they’re busy with the kids- things like that.
Some questions you can ask to learn more about your specific audience are:
- Why do they log on to Instagram?
- How much time do they spend on the platform?
- Who do they usually follow?
- What are the times of their day when they just scroll through feeds vs. engaging with posts?
- How many times would they check their Instagram in a day?
The answers to these questions will help decide what type of content is best to publish for them and when.
Day Of The Week
Based on all the data collected by multiple brands, it is always safe to post on weekdays. The least preferred days to post anything on Instagram are weekends. Most of your audience is usually out and about because they are preoccupied with their personal lives. However, if you’re up for it, you can post until around 2:00 PM.
Breaks In The Day
For higher chances of getting engagement, post at these breaks in a day:
- People frequently check their Instagram feed before and after working hours (6 am–9 am, 5 pm–6 pm). This is especially true for those who commute to work in the morning.
- Lunchtime (12–2 pm): Since people frequently check their Instagram accounts during downtime, posting at this time is also a solid bet.
Time Zones
For high engagement, post in your audience’s time zone. In an ideal world, you would reach the majority of time zones without getting carried away. But try to send no more than four of the same message in a single day to reach as many states or countries as possible.
Where do your clients live and work? If you want to target the United States and Canada, you should use the Eastern (ET) time zone because it has the most people due to cities like New York and Toronto. However, if your target audience is London, you should publish within the GMT zone.
[See related post: The Secret Of Timing In Social Media Marketing]
Consistency Of Posting
To fully benefit from all this insight into your target audience, it’s crucial to be systematic with your posting. Your audience will enjoy and engage with your content once they become accustomed to seeing your brand appear on their feed. Maintaining a good Instagram presence helps you develop credibility, trust, and deeper connections with your audience.
The Instagram algorithm sees when you have an authentic connection with your audience, which ultimately benefits your business.
Instagram Success Needs Innovation
When social marketers have data on the best time to post on Instagram, they can plan content more successfully. However, new ways to innovate interactions are constantly emerging as platforms change to match how brands and consumers use social media. With the help of new content formats and trends, you might reach your audience in new ways or even discover new segments and personas you hadn’t considered before.
[Recommended reading: How Social Media Engagement Can Boost Your Brand?]
[Image credits – Main Photo by Oleksandr Pidvalnyi; other images, videos, infographics or screen prints are from their respective websites and/or social platforms or articles]
Kaye Leah writes engaging content as a copy editor, module editor, communications professor and freelance SEO content writer.