It’s no surprise that the best time to post on Instagram is a hotly debated topic. Some say that posting at 8 am will get you more likes and followers, while others argue for 4 pm when people are scrolling through their feed looking for something new. The truth is, there isn’t one perfect time to post because it all depends on your audience and what works best for your brand.
If you’re looking to grow your following then try experimenting with different times throughout the day and keeping track of how many likes each photo gets, so you can see which posts work better than others. That way, you’ll know when it’s most effective to post in order to reach as many people as possible!
Throughout this pandemic (2020 and onwards) Social media has become more important than it ever was, as it is a way for people to maintain instantaneous connections, find new trends or hobbies & stay up to date on current events. You need a simple answer, it depends on where your followers live.
Everyone who follows you on Instagram lives in different places. They might live in a different city or even country. They could wake up a lot earlier than you do, or go to bed earlier. So it can be hard to find the best time for posting on Instagram.
When is the best time to post on Instagram?
The best inclusive time to post on Instagram is around 9 am and 11 am EST. The possible best time for one to post is (all in EST).
- Monday: 6am, 10am, and 10pm
- Tuesday: 2am, 4am, and 9am
- Wednesday: 7am, 8am, and 11pm
- Thursday: 9am, 12pm, and 7pm
- Friday: 5am, 1pm, and 3pm
- Saturday: 11am, 7pm, and 8pm
- Sunday: 7am, 8am, and 4pm
It has to be kept in mind that these are the best times to post average when calculated from a large audience. For the most engagement, it’s best to find your personalized best times taking your audience into consideration.
How to calculate your best time to post?
- Find your top Time Zones & When your followers are online – researching your audience using Instagram’s native analytics tool or Instagram Insights helps.
- Instagram Insights provides you with everything you’d need: can see where your followers are located, gender, age, and most importantly when they’re most active on Instagram. To access Insights, you’ll have to set up an Instagram business profile or an Instagram creator profile.
- Experimental Posting and noting down the Progress – This can be done if you want to get in on the action and crunch the numbers yourself. Create a spreadsheet to track the engagement you receive, by alternating the posts at different times on different days. Posting on your most active time zones will always give better than results.
- Finding the ideal time for your posts also include IGTV and reels. Instagram has tweaked their algorithm, so that old posts don’t constantly get bumped in feeds, to give priority to new content.
- One should always resort to posting more during Off-Work Hours Instead of during the Day – Instead of posting while you’re at work, schedule Instagram posts during the workday, so that you wouldn’t need to worry about it during your free time. (11am-1pm lunchtime and 7-9pm evening could be considered ideal)
- Save your Best ones for the Weekend – Though the differences are slim, but average Instagram engagement does shift i.e. depends on the day.
Planning and scheduling your posts in advance for the best time to post on Instagram will help you get better engagement, helps drive traffic and gain followers or customers. If you liked this article (or if it helped at all), please leave us a comment below or share it with friends, so they can read about how to gain traffic for Instagram posts.
