You need to develop intriguing material that your audience wants to see to grow your Instagram following. However, most of them will never view your content if you don’t post it at the right moment. So, how do you choose the best time to post for your target audience? Testing the timing of your posts to discover which post time creates the greatest audience engagement is the best strategy to find an appropriate posting time.
Interactive content is the heart of a massive Instagram following. Your audience yearns for it. But if you don’t publish it at the right time, your audience won’t even know your content exists. Back in the old days, businesses assumed and experimented with different times to post on Instagram. Things have changed with Instagram’s ever-changing algorithm. You can’t post randomly on Instagram and expect people to see your content. Overflowing users’ feeds and algorithms will always be a barrier.
So how do you identify the best time to post on Instagram?
In this guide, you’ll get the answers to all your best time to post on Instagram questions, including universal time to post, the best day of the week, the best time of the day, and the best industry-specific time to post on Instagram. Additionally, we’ll help you figure out your peak times to post on Instagram, helping you engage the audience when they’re most active.
By putting our tips into action, you’ll get the most out of Instagram tools and be posting like a pro.
Let’s get started then.
Worldwide Instagram Engagement
Last year, the global pandemic, conveyed to us that we live in an interconnected digital world. Gaining audience trust and increasing the substantiality of your social platforms should align with your social media strategy to meet your business goals.
It means that along with being specific with your social tactics, you have to keep global life in mind.
The graph below by Sprout Social gives you a fair idea of the best global time and day to post on Instagram. Remember, It’s a CDT (Central Daylight Time), which means you won’t post at midnight for each timezone separately—12 AM CDT works well with Instagram posts published for a worldwide audience.
When is the best time to post on Instagram?
According to Sprout Social, the best time to post on Instagram is:
| Best Days | Best Time |
|---|---|
| Tuesday | 11 AM – 2 PM CDT |
| Weekdays | 11 AM to 2 PM CDT |
These are the ideal period for the highest engagement.
However, the best day of the week to post on Instagram can change the engagement you receive simultaneously.
Why?
Take a look at the slight changes in your daily routine and mood—the ones impacting your online behavior. A minute of boredom may result in a quick Instagram scroll. The same goes for your audience.
No matter how much we deny it, our hands automatically reach for smartphones to catch up on social media updates first thing in the morning. Then, a lunch break leads to a social media scroll. Finally, one last before-bed peek is saved for the ongoings of our friends, influencers, and favorite brands.
No wonder the highest engagement is in parallel with the way audiences live their lives.
Now let’s check out the Sprout Social insights about the best time of each day to post on Instagram.
The Best Time to Post on Instagram Each Day
Considering your followers are on a lunch break and are more likely to scroll through Instagram out of habit or catch up on updates from friends, influencers, and brands. This is also the best time to post for your target audience on Instagram when people are free to share engaging content.
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| Best Days | Best Time |
|---|---|
| Monday | 11 AM – 12 PM CDT |
| Wednesday | 11 AM – 12 PM CDT |
| Friday | 11 AM – 12 PM CDT |
Of course, lunch break is a peak time to share content. But a long time frame brings a broader opportunity to share long-form content like going live or publishing Instagram TV videos.
| Best Days | Best Time |
|---|---|
| Tuesday | 11 AM – 12 PM CDT |
For brief Thursday lunch breaks, publish Instagram stories coupled with engagement enhancers like questions, quizzes, and polls to obtain fast responses. This will make users come back later to check out the results.
| Best Days | Best Time |
|---|---|
| Thursday | 11 AM CDT |
Note! For maximum Instagram engagement, posting at the same hours each day may not work. Better to combine both the day of the week and your industry-specific time for optimum results (more on that later)
Pro Tip: If you want a vague idea of the best time to post on Instagram, try between 7 AM – 10:30 AM CDT from Monday to Friday. You will receive constant engagement as your content will be ready to steal views, likes, and shares during high engagement hours around 11 AM CDT.
The Worst Time to Post on Instagram Each Day
All businesses have unique audiences belonging to different cities and time zones. So considering the worst time to post on Instagram is essential to save your content from falling on deaf ears.
While figuring out the worst Instagram posting times is unique to each business, certain times are directly associated with decreased Instagram engagement.
As per Later’s 35M global Instagram posts studies, the worst times to post on Instagram each day are:
| Worst Days | Worst Time |
|---|---|
| Monday | 2 PM |
| Tuesday | 1 PM |
| Wednesday | 10 AM |
| Thursday | 11 PM |
| Friday | 9 AM |
| Saturday | 8 PM |
| Sunday | 4 PM |
So what does it tell us? Posting later in the evening doesn’t generate maximum results.
Why?
Instagram algorithms do consider timeliness, but not as much as the good ole days. Instagram recently confirmed that engagement in the first 30 minutes of posting does not affect a post’s ranking in the Home Feed.
So you can take a break from the pressure of timing your posts in the moment of need. Instead, take part in the “early to rise & early to post” strategy.
By posting in the early hours of the day, you are tapping into less competition (globally, most posts are published between 9 AM-1 PM) while leveraging the traffic from the first scrollers of the day—even if this occurs a few hours after you share the post.
As a bonus, your content gets the best opportunity to be viewed by your targeted audience, despite when they are most active during the day.
Best Industry-Specific Time to Post on Instagram
As we discussed earlier, the best posting time differs by Instagram account; however, specific industries have their own audience with ideal times to post on Instagram. To get more granular, you should modify your Instagram posting times according to your industry.
According to Sprout Social, here are the best times to post on Instagram for industries like technology, food & beverages, entertainment, education, nonprofits, healthcare, and many more.
1. Best Times to Post on Instagram for Technology Businesses
It’s tough to predict posting time on Instagram for the technology industry, considering each company varies. Still, here are some ideal times for technology posts to drive engagement:
| Best Days | Best Time |
|---|---|
| Monday | 10 AM – 11 AM, 2 PM – 5 PM, 8 PM |
| Friday | 10 AM – 1 PM |
Note! Sunday is the worst day for the tech industry as people avoid screens or don’t like to check social platforms during weekends.
2. Best Times to Post on Instagram for Food & Beverage Industries
It doesn’t take rocket science to determine when people are more likely to interact with mouth-water food and beverage images. It’s either during lunchtime or in the mid of the day to keep napping at bay.
Hence engagement rates for food and beverage industries spike during the noontime of the day.
- Best Days- Monday, Best Time– 9 AM-Noon, When people check their phones.
The worst time to post on Instagram for Food & Beverages is outside mealtime or on smartphone time
3. Best Times to Post on Instagram for Retail Companies
Successful Instagram posting is highly vital for the retail industry as shopping outlets often influence people to purchase.
Here are the best times to post on Instagram to acquire attention from your audience:
| Best Days | Best Time |
|---|---|
| Wednesday | 3 PM |
| Friday | 11 AM – 12 PM |
Sundays are the worst days for retail businesses as people are already on their way to making on-foot purchases in stores. They also do it for refreshment purposes. Late nights and early mornings are also the low-engagement time as these are sleep hours or non-active social media time.
4. Best Times to Post on Instagram for Educational Institutions
After passing the day in studies, students and faculty enter social media later in the day. Thus, the best time to post on Instagram for educational organisations are:
| Best Days | Best Time |
|---|---|
| Thursday | 2 PM |
| Friday | 4 AM – 5 AM |
Sunday is about taking part in physical activities for students and faculty, which means a lack of online activities. So it’s the worst day to post on Instagram for educational institutions.
5. Best Times to Post on Instagram for Media & Entertainment Companies
Instagram posts are no less than an outlet for media and entertainment enthusiasts. So it’s more crucial than ever to figure out the best time to post on Instagram and stand out from the competitors.
| Best Days | Best Time |
|---|---|
| Tuesday | 1 PM – 5 PM |
| Wednesday | 11 AM |
| Thursday | 8 AM – 9 AM |
Saturdays and Sundays are low-engagement as people like to spend these days in real-life activities; thus, they remain inactive on social media.
6. Best Times to Post on Instagram for Healthcare Organisations
Healthcare people may not be big fans of social media networks, but your audience generally visits Instagram more often than others. Even if the audience waits outside your clinic, social media is their best passing the time. So it’s worth using Instagram to promote your healthcare practices and find the ideal time to post.
| Best Days | Best Time |
|---|---|
| Tuesday | 8 AM-Noon, 5 PM – 8 PM |
| Sunday | 8 AM – 9 AM |
Saturdays are the worst days for the healthcare industry to post on Instagram.
7. Best Times to Post on Instagram for Nonprofit Organisations
Instagram is a remarkable social media strategy by agencies for nonprofits. You can encourage people to participate in your nonprofit activities with your emotional content. Here’s the best time to post your nonprofit content on Instagram:
| Best Days | Best Time |
|---|---|
| Wednesday | 10 AM – 6 PM |
As usual, Saturday and Sunday are the worst time to drive engagement on Instagram.
8. Best Times to Post on Instagram for Professionals
People offering professional services generally post educational content accompanied by links to blogs, videos, ebooks, and other marketing assets. Professional posts boost Instagram followers’ interest first and then direct them to other content. Very unlike the Lawyer website professionals also have accounts in Insta for lead generation.
Here’s the best time to post on Instagram for professional services:
| Best Days | Best Time |
|---|---|
| Tuesday | 9 AM to 10 PM |
| Wednesday | 9 AM to 10 PM |
| Friday | 9 AM to 10 PM |
People don’t like to consume educational content during weekends, so Saturdays and Sundays are the worst days to post on Instagram.
9. Best Times to Post on Instagram for Travel & Tourism Agencies
Only a few have the desire, budget, and means to travel. It doesn’t mean that they don’t like to engage with travel content. In fact, those who can’t go out would like to read about new places from the comfort of their home.
I have personally noticed people getting bored in companies often turn to read about new places to freshen up. Even vibrant pictures of different places also cheer them up.
Here’s the best time to post on Instagram for the travel and tourism industries:
| Best Days | Best Time |
|---|---|
| Monday | 11 AM – 3 PM |
| Thursday | 11 AM – 3 PM |
Saturday and Sunday are the worst time to post on Instagram for travel and tourism agencies.
The Best Time to Post on Instagram by Location
Another aspect of posting at the best time on Instagram is location. Different areas have different audience behaviors affected by time zone variants.
For example, Sydney is 1 hour ahead of Queensland—but businesses located in Sydney will still have Instagram followers from both regions.
Later analysed the best local times to post on Instagram as per different time zones:
| Country | Best Time |
|---|---|
| Australia | 11 PM – 2 AM |
| The western US and Canada | 12 AM – 6 AM |
| Central US and Canada | 6 AM – 8 AM |
| Central US and Canada | 6 AM – 8 AM |
| Central US and Canada | 6 AM – 8 AM |
| Eastern US and Canada | 4 AM – 9 AM |
| South America | 4 AM |
| United Kingdom | 4 AM – 6 AM |
| Western Europe | 6 PM – 8 PM |
| Africa | 6 AM |
| South Asia and the Middle East | 3 AM |
| East Asia and Southeast Asia | 11 PM – 4 AM |
While these local times combined with industry-specific times are the best way to kick off your engagement, you still need to personalise your post time as per your unique audience. It’s a surefire way to hack the Instagram algorithm, increase your likes, boost your followers, and obtain higher engagement.
How to Find Your Brand’s Ideal Time to Post on Instagram?
Among the limitless advantages of using Instagram for business is to gain insights into the peak time of your audience. Many Instagram tools out there reveal higher and lower engagement times of your audience to help you align your post timings.
Posting at the time of your unique audience enhances your reach and engagement, which leads to more Instagram followers.
Here are three tips to tap into your unique post time:
#1: Instagram’s In-built Analytics
Instagram gives you access to native insights via its analytics showing the location of your audience and their most active time.
You can connect these data points to determine the best time and day to post on Instagram for your brand.
For example, if a large number of your audience lives in Australia—you should schedule your posts on Thursday at 9 AM ACT.
However, you need to create an Instagram business account and set up an Instagram business profile to access these insights.
#2: Track Your Best Times to Post Manually
If you want to track the number yourself, you can create a spreadsheet to record different times on different days.
Pick up different times during the week for posting. Monitor the likes and comments received on these posts on a particular date and time.
Next week, alter the posting time for each day. For instance, if you posted at 4 PM on Tuesday last week, post at 5 PM in the current week.
It may take a month or two to get accurate information. However, once you get the data, you can use it to optimise your post time.
#3: Tools to Uncover the Best Time to Post on Instagram
If you want to get out of the guessing game and want quick access to accurate data, a good social media analytics tool or Instagram analytics tool can do all the hard work for you!
For instance, Hootsuite Analytics offers metrics on specific time periods to obtain historical data like past engagement, reach, and click-through rate. This data helps you unearth the best time to post on Instagram based on your audience’s preferences.
Once you have a clear picture of your brand’s best times and days to post on Instagram, it’s time to optimise your Instagram content strategy.
How to Harness Your Best Time to Post on Instagram?
Once you discover your brand’s time to post, you can alter your Instagram strategy to get the most out of your Instagram insights.
Here are a few actionable tips:
Tip #1: Schedule Your Posts for Optimal Times
Scheduling your posts in advance keeps you worry-free from waiting for the time and day to come and jump on Instagram for posting. Your posting schedule works wonders when you are fast asleep, allowing your posts to generate engagement and reach.
Buffer, Hootsuite, and Sprout Social are some of the best tools to schedule your posts, map out your social media calendar, and get analytics.
Tip #2: Prioritise Your Posts
Your best time to post on Instagram is the indicator of when to post important content and what to keep for low-engagement days.
For example, you may want to show up on lower engagement days like weekends. You can post something casual while saving the critical content for peak engagement days.
Tip #3: Put Reels and IGTV Videos in Line
Your best time to post on Instagram isn’t limited to feed posts. It applies to Reels and IGTV videos as well. You can leverage these visuals to spike your engagement and reach. Although Instagram Stories have a 24-hour lifespan, you can still use your best days to go live.
Top 9 Effective Tips to Grow Your Instagram Audience
Over the past few years, we have witnessed tremendous growth of social media platforms all over the internet. More and more customers of all age groups have started to interact with business organizations over these platforms. Instagram for business has become a significant marketing platform for brands in 2023. To improve your business awareness and achieve greater reach you must make sure to work on your social media marketing strategies accordingly.
If this is your first time promoting your business on social media platforms or if you are looking for ways to improve your Instagram marketing tactics then you are in the right place. In this article, we will walk you through some of the most prominent and effective social media marketing tactics that help you boost your organic business growth and revenue to the next level.
#1 Know your purpose
When you are using social media marketing channels, you must make sure to set your goals beforehand so that you don’t lose track throughout your marketing journey. Setting goals helps you increase your brand awareness, build a community, and determine the right time to launch and sell your products and services online. You must make sure to determine the goal and ways to achieve the same.
#2 Optimise your profile
Your Instagram profile plays a major role in increasing and decreasing your followers on Instagram. Therefore you must make sure to do everything possible to leave a positive impression in the minds of your potential customers. You get about 150 characters, one link, and a few action buttons to attract your audience. You must make sure to switch your profile to the business profile to get access to many breakthrough features.
#3 Use a recognisable profile picture
Your profile picture plays a vital role in helping your customer recognise your profile instantly. You must keep a profile picture that resonates with your business such as a company logo, logo mark, mascot, and more. This way people will be able to recognise your profile in no time and avoid engaging with many misleading and fraudulent profiles on the internet.
#4 Find your visual aesthetic
Aesthetic and appealing visuals always help you catch the attention of a larger audience instantly. Instagram is all about visuals and attractive content. It is also important to note what worked for others might not work for your business. Therefore you should create your own visual identity to stand out from the online competition.
#5 Post consistently
Many brands tend to lose their followers or audience over the internet due to a lack of content. Posting regularly not only helps you attract followers but also expands your reach to all kinds of users on the internet. Therefore quality content can do wonders for your small business.
#6 Use appropriate hashtags
With the help of Instagram hashtags, you can categorize your content over the internet. Instagram allows users to follow hashtags and discover content over the internet. You must make sure to use simple hashtags so that it is simple to find and use by users on the internet. Complex hashtags can make it difficult for users to remember and use them on the internet.
#7 Engage with your audience and followers
Instagram is one of the best ways to interact with your followers and convert users into loyal customers. Responding to their queries and concerns instantly can help you impress them and leave positive impressions in their minds. You must make sure to respond, interact, and entertain your audience in the comment section, direct message section, and others to keep them engaged with your profile.
#8 Experiment with different types of content
Instagram offers various breakthrough features and algorithms that you can take advantage of. By simply experimenting with different types of content, you can improve your audience reach and build a strong foundation on the internet.
#9 Analyse your results
Instagram also offers features where you can check your social media reach per post. Staying updated with your post reach and results will help you understand the areas that need more attention and improvements. You can also compare your past metrics with the present metrics to determine your business growth.
Instagram is a powerful social media tool that helps you connect with millions of people from all over the world on the internet. With the right marketing tool, you can grow your business effectively and efficiently.
Boost Instagram Engagement on Your Schedule
Instagram content strategy and the best posting time go hand in hand. Scheduling posts for the right time and maintaining your content calendar supports your overall strategy. Each business has its own highs and lows of engagement throughout the day, week, and month. It means your Instagram strategy must flow according to the time. Use the above data to plan your Instagram content and watch your followers soar.
Don’t forget to tell us what worked for you.
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