Working out the best time to post on Instagram is one of the biggest deals I have encountered on the platform.
Whether you’re an enterprise trying to establish a footprint on the platform or a high school kid attempting to get the most likes and comments.
Instagram’s algorithm continues to experiment with the content it displays to its users. Did you know that in some niches, you will need to on weekends or evenings of the weekdays in order to get maximum exposure and visibility?
Don’t fret if you’re not sure where to start when it comes to Instagram posting time. I have put together a comprehensive guide to Instagram posting timings in this article, including the optimal time to post by weekday and sector.
See Also: 8 Best Instagram Stories Tricks to Engage your Followers
Best Time to Post on Instagram Best on Weekdays
- Monday – 7:00 AM, 9:00 AM, 9:00 PM CST
- Tuesday – 3:00 AM, 5:00 AM, 8:00 AM CST
- Wednesday – 8:00 AM, 9:00 AM, 10:00 PM CST
- Thursday – 10:00 AM, 11:00 PM, 6:00 PM CST
- Friday – 6:00 AM, 12:00 PM, 2:00 PM CST
- Saturday – 10:00 AM, 6:00 PM, 7:00 PM CST
- Sunday – 9:00 AM, 7:00 AM, 3:00 PM CST
Despite that these are the most common posting times on average on Instagram, you need to identify your own specialized ideal times depending on your specific audience if you want to gain maximum engagement.
On Instagram, timing has always been vital, but now it’s even more so with the latest Instagram algorithm.
Since Instagram now prioritizes “new” content in people’s feeds, posting when most of your audience is online and navigating the platform is your best bet for putting your post in front of them.
You can actually manipulate the system to enhance your reach and gain more engagement and connections by doing so.
See Also: The Best 5 Free Instagram Analytics Tips
Best Time to Post on Instagram for Specific Niche
If you want to gain maximum engagement, posting content on a working or branded account may require two or more separate times.
1. Healthcare
- Best days: Tuesday to 1 PM
- Best time: 8 am to 1 PM
- Worst days: Saturdays and Sundays
2. Education sector
- Best days: Thursdays, Friday, and Saturday
- Best time: 9 AM to 8 PM
- Worst days: Sunday and Monday
3. Technology industry
- Best days: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday
- Best time: 7 AM to 10 AM
- Worst day: Sunday
4. Media & Entertainment
- Best days: Wednesday, Thursdays, and Friday
- Best time: 12 pm to 3 pm
- Worst days: Saturday and Sunday
5. Finance sector
- Best days: Wednesday, and Friday
- Best time: 7 AM to 11 AM
- Worst days: Saturday, Sunday, and Monday
6. Retail sector
- Best days: Tuesdays, Wednesday, and Friday
- Best time: 11 am to 12 pm
- Worst days: Sunday
6. Travel and Tourism
- Best days: Friday
- Best time: 10am to 1pm
- Worst days: Tuesdays, and Wednesday
7. Food and Beverage
- Best days: Friday, and Saturday
- Best time: 12 pm
- Worst days: Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday
8. Non-Retail E-commerce
- Best days: Monday to Friday
- Best time: Saturdays
- Worst days: 4 PM to 9 PM
See Also: Can You Use Instagram To Grow Your Business?
Things to Consider When Finding the Best to Post On Instagram
1. Get to know your target audience
Identifying your audience is the most important factor in determining the optimum time to post on Instagram. The best method to learn more about your audience is to use Instagram Insights, a native Instagram tool.
When you have an Instagram creator or business account, you have the option of accessing insights. This section contains a wealth of data about your audience. It will give you all the information you need about your target audience, including their region, age, race, gender, and more.
When you sign up for an Instagram creator account, you’ll gain access to the Instagram creator studio dashboard, which gives you vital audience analytics, including precise information about when your followers are online. You will also have access to data on growth and discoveries.
2. Schedule posts for maximum engagement
Posting at the right moment serves more than just increasing interaction. Your post will also appear higher in users’ feeds thanks to the Instagram algorithm.
Your post may be published on the Instagram Explore page as well. This will increase visibility, which will lead to increased engagement. Find out when your followers are online by looking at their top time zones.
Things are pretty simple if your brand only targets a one-time zone. Evaluate what time your viewer is on Instagram and post accordingly. But what if you have a worldwide audience? If that’s the case, find out what time zone your core audience is in.
Just be aware that if your audience is global, you could find yourself posting at inconvenient times in your own time zone.
3. Post outside of working hours
The greatest times to post on Instagram are when people are not at work, such as lunchtime and late at night.
If you manually post, you’ll have to remember to do so when you have free time. Instead, schedule your posts throughout your working hours so that you don’t miss out on posting at the appropriate time.
4. Interact with accounts that are similar to yours and have a large audience
If one of your friends appears to be doing exceptionally well on Instagram, inquire as to when they upload and what content they post at certain times.
Alternatively, contact other users that are similar to yours and inquire about their uploading schedules.
It’s not a one-size-fits-all issue on Instagram, however, this can give you a fair idea of when the optimum time to post on Instagram is for you.
5. Make use of the appropriate hashtags
Hashtags can help you reach a lot of people on Instagram, particularly now that users can tag hashtags that they’re interested in.
Include hashtags in your posts, this will place you across to your target audience in conjunction with your branded hashtag.
6. Make your content more optimized
Posting at the best moment will not provide you with all of the desired results. You must improve the content that you present to your audience.
Post-high-resolution photographs and videos that will compel people to pause and look at your content. Make indulgent captions and invite people to post evaluations and remarks in the comments section.
To reach the most amount of individuals, choose the appropriate hashtags for your niche. As a result, combining the best-optimized content with the ideal time to post will boost your Instagram profile to new heights.
7. Post more stories
Your post will appear if other user watches their Stories stream for long enough. In several circumstances, there is less competition in Stories than there is in the usual stream. So use more Stories to expand your brand awareness and get your content out to your target audience more frequently.
See Also: 7 Best Tools For Better Instagram Bio Link
Benefits of Posting on Instagram at the Right Time
Here are some advantages to finding out the perfect time to post on Instagram.
1. Increased followers’ interest
When you appear in front of your audience every day at a particular time, without fail, you increase your followers’ interest. They guess what new intriguing content you’ll publish every day, and if you don’t show up, they’ll DM you and question you about it.
This is the measure of interest you’ll be able to generate, which will help you keep your target audience’s attention.
If you offer a service on Instagram and start engaging with your followers at a specific time, they will begin to trust you and your content more, and when they need service in your sector, you might be their top choice.
2. Relationship
When you started posting every day, you’ll notice that new interactions will begin to show up in your comment sections and DMs.
They may express gratitude or ask inquiries, but make sure that everyone who interacts with you has a positive experience and wants to run a business with you or engage with your brand.
Such a result is due to the ability of regular posting and timing of your posts. Interact with them whenever they react to your post or leave a comment on your blog. It is worth noting that customers appreciate it when you express gratitude for reaching out.
3. Recency
The term recency refers to the customer’s involvement with your content in connection to the passage of time. In the Instagram algorithm, there is a term known as T.O.P, which stands for Time on Post. The longer your subscribers or viewers spend on your post, the higher the T.O.P and, as a result, the wider the reach.
This is only achievable if you post at the best moment for your target audience. As a result, increasing recency will help you in terms of both social and business growth.
If you don’t observe a difference in interaction, consider switching to different times and discover what works best. This form of testing provides you with immediate findings.
See Also: How To Switch Your Instagram Personal Account To An Instagram Business Account: A Step-By-Step Guide
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Is there a specific time for posting on Instagram?
No.
Since each brand targets a particular audience with unique social media behavior patterns, each brand may have a somewhat distinct sweet spot for publishing on Instagram.
However, there are several best methods you can adopt that consistently produce excellent outcomes.
Although the Instagram algorithm promotes recency, publishing when your followers are online is essential. Once it comes to improving your content for success, recency is one of the fastest and easiest benefits.
2. Is it good to post late at night on Instagram?
It’s thought that publishing on Instagram late at night won’t get you the desired outcomes. Some people may be active, but only a small percentage of your audience will be.
The optimum time to post on Instagram, according to most studies, is between mid-morning and early afternoon.
This, however, is just a general guideline. If your audience isn’t the same as a regular follower, standard posting hours aren’t applicable to your account. Time zones are also crucial. If your audience is from another country, posting late at night can be the best option.
3. Is there a restriction to how many Instagram posts I can make?
No.
Instagram doesn’t have a limit on how many posts you can create. You can create as much content as you think your audience will enjoy. Instagram does, however, have account activity limits. It imposes a daily limit of 200 followers and unfollows.
You are limited to 1000 likes per day. Instagram also doesn’t like it when you make more than 180-200 comments each day, and they’re especially irritated if you keep making the same comment.
4. What is the best way to schedule my Instagram posts?
- Create a User Account
- Pick a Strategy
- Linked Instagram Accounts
- Your Account Should Be Verified
- Create and post your Instagram posts
- Create a posting schedule
See Also: How To Get More Instagram Followers: 9 Essential Tips
Conclusion
Finding the perfect time to post for your brand is only the first step toward an effective Instagram strategy. You’ll need to generate leads to get the best out of Instagram.
Implementing scheduling software to target all of the optimal times to post on Instagram can help you experience a big increase in your Instagram interaction.
While the priority of the order in which posts are displayed has altered, posting your content during peak periods can help it gain the early engagement it requires to rank effectively within the algorithm.
Monitoring your Instagram interaction and evaluating your Instagram statistics on a regular basis will assist you in determining the perfect times to publish on Instagram as well as doing your own A/B tests using these publishing schedule options.
To get more tips on how to grow your Instagram account and followers, I recommend you check out this post on How To Get More Instagram Followers: 9 Essential Tips.