Succeeding In IG: The Best Times To Post On Instagram

Instagram has become an indispensable tool for both businesses and individuals, offering a dynamic platform to connect, engage, and grow their audience. For businesses, Instagram provides a visually-driven space to showcase products, share brand stories, and interact with customers in real-time. Features like Stories, Reels, and IGTV allow brands to create diverse content that can drive engagement and sales. Individuals, on the other hand, use Instagram to express creativity, build personal brands, and connect with like-minded communities. The platform’s algorithm, which favours visually appealing and engaging content, helps users gain visibility and grow their follower base organically.

Now, the timing of posts on Instagram significantly impacts the success of individuals and businesses in the platform. For one, posting at optimal times when the target audience is most active can lead to higher engagement rates. Hence, it is important to come up with a strategy on how and when to post on Instagram. By strategically timing their posts, businesses and individuals can maximise their reach and engagement, and ensure their content gets the attention it deserves. If you do not know how to start strategising your posting schedules, read on as this article delves deeper into the best times to post on Instagram for likes and increased engagement.

The Best Time Overall to Post on Instagram

In general, the best times to post on Instagram are when your audience is most active online. Typically, this includes early mornings when people are waking up and checking their phones, during lunch breaks, and in the evenings when they are relaxing after work. Posting early on weekdays can help you appear in users’ Instagram feeds as they start their day. However, if your target audience is professionals or B2B brands, posting around lunchtime or during work hours might be more effective to catch their attention while they are focused on work.

Actually, there is no hard and fast rule on when you should post on Instagram. That said, consolidated data from millions of posts provide recommendations that can improve your posting schedules and increase your engagements in the social media platform. According to these data, the best times to post on Instagram for likes are Monday and Thursday between 11 AM and 12 PM, Tuesday mornings, Wednesday at 11 AM, Friday afternoons around 4 PM, Saturday mornings, and Sunday evenings. These posting schedules are based on consolidated research from reliable names in the industry, such as Later, Hootsuite, Social Pilot, Sprout Social, Buffer, and Influencer Marketing Hub.

3 Common Factors That Influence the Best Time to Post on Instagram

As mentioned earlier, there is really no one-size-fits-all posting schedule that works successfully for every Instagram user. The results of your posts will largely vary based on different factors, the most common of which are your audience demographics, the time zones of your international audience, and the type of content you create. Here is a brief breakdown of these factors that affect the best posting schedule for Instagram:

Demographics: What is the age range of your target audience? Are they students, professionals, or stay-at-home parents? The demographics of your audience significantly influence the optimal times for Instagram posts. For instance, if your audience consists mainly of stay-at-home moms, you might see higher engagement in the afternoons when their children are napping. On the other hand, if your audience is mostly students, evenings or weekends might yield better engagement.

Time Zones: Some brands and influencers cater to an international audience, meaning the best posting times on Instagram may differ from those of their local followers. For example, if you are a brand based in Malaysia and your research shows that 4 PM is the best time to post locally, but 30% of your audience is in New York, you need to consider the 13-hour time difference. In this case, the best time to post for your New York audience would be around 6 AM Malaysian time. Therefore, it is important to account for time zone differences when scheduling posts for a global audience.

Content Type: The optimal times for posting Reels, Stories, and feed posts can vary. This might be due to the different nature and length of these content types. For instance, Instagram Stories are often the first thing users see on the app, making them ideal for engagement during commutes or work breaks. Their shorter duration also means users might interact with them multiple times throughout the day. You can use Instagram Stories Analytics to determine when your audience is most active. In contrast, feed posts, particularly carousel posts and Reels, demand more time and attention from viewers. Therefore, the best times to post these might be when your audience has more free time, such as in the early morning or evening.

5 Tips to Find the Best Time to Post on Instagram

Examine Your Audience

To determine the best posting schedule for Instagram, begin by analysing your audience, focusing on factors, such as age, gender, location, interests, time zone, and behaviours. The goal here is to develop a buyer persona for your target demographic. For this purpose, you can utilise social media listening tools to collect data on when your posts receive the most comments and likes. Examples of these social media listening tools are Sprout Social, Brandwatch Consumer Intelligence, Iconosquare, and YouScan.

Make Comparisons with Overall Best Times

Another essential tip to find the best times to post on Instagram is to compare your audience’s activity times with the best overall times for posting on the app. If they align, you are in a good spot. If not, then you should find a compromise. For instance, Sprout Social suggests that the best time to post on Instagram for likes on Wednesdays is between 9 AM and 4 PM. Suppose your Instagram Analytics and social monitoring tools show that your audience, mainly corporate employees, is most active from noon to 2 PM during their lunch breaks. Instead of posting at 10 AM, you can post at 1 PM to achieve higher views and engagement.

Learn About Your Competitors’ Social Media Strategy

Besides tracking your audience’s activity times, it is also beneficial to observe your competitors, particularly those with high engagement rates on Instagram, as they likely share a similar audience. Take note of the times and days these competitors post. Luckily, Instagram allows you to set up notifications for posts from accounts you follow. Utilise this feature to track when your competitors post and what content they share. You can then mimic their posting schedule to see if it yields positive results for you too.

Experiment with Various Posting Times

Experimentation is necessary in finding the best days and the best hours to post on Instagram. So, do not hesitate to conduct an internal experiment to determine the optimal posting times on the app. Try posting at various times over a few weeks and test different content formats at different times to ensure it is the timing, not the content type, that affects engagement. Afterward, use Instagram Analytics to identify which of your posts have the highest engagement rates. Once you spot a pattern, follow it consistently to see if it continues to work well for your audience.

Monitor Engagement

Lastly, in strategising your posting schedule for Instagram, be sure to track metrics, such as comments, likes, shares, and saves for your posts at various times. Identify which posts receive the most engagement and when. If your audience spans different time zones, use analytics to find the best posting times for each region. For instance, you might find that 1 PM garners the most engagement overall, but your international audience is most active at 6 AM US time, as it is their evening. Use this data to adjust your posting schedule accordingly to suit each time zone and audience segment.

Conclusion

The timing of posts on Instagram undoubtedly plays a crucial role in determining their engagement and overall success. Posting when your target audience is most active can significantly boost visibility, likes, comments, and shares. Moreover, by leveraging tools like Instagram Insights, users can gain valuable data on their followers’ activity patterns and optimise their posting schedule accordingly. This strategic approach ensures that their content reaches the maximum number of viewers, thereby enhancing the likelihood of interaction and fostering a stronger connection with the audience. Ultimately, understanding and utilising the best posting schedule for Instagram can be a game-changer for both individuals and businesses aiming to maximise their impact on the social media platform.

 

References:
https://www.shopify.com/ph/blog/time-post-instagram
https://influencermarketinghub.com/best-time-to-post-on-instagram/
https://sproutsocial.com/insights/best-times-to-post-on-instagram/