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When is the best time to post on Instagram? It's a well-discussed question among social media marketers, and you already know the short answer — no magic hour or day works for all businesses. There are several factors and circumstances to consider to find out the ideal time. But don't worry. By the end of this article, you'll be fully equipped with all the information you need.
We'll cover what times and days work on an overall level based on an analysis of over 18,800 Instagram posts. Additionally, we have put up a 6-step guide on how to figure out the optimal time to post on Instagram, considering your unique circumstances.
Table of content:
- When is the best time and day to post on Instagram?
- The best time to post on Instagram depends on several unique factors
- Here are the best times and days to post on Instagram according to extensive research:
- How do you know when to post on Instagram? 6 steps that help you find out!
- When are the worst times and days to post on Instagram?
When is the best time and day to post on Instagram?
If you want a short and quick answer — our data analysis experts have found that the general best time to post on Instagram is 11 AM on Tuesdays. According to our analysis of over 18,800 posts*, this is the time with the highest engagement.
However, it is essential to note that the best time and day to post on Instagram depends on your unique circumstances and goals. For example, if you're after the highest reach possible, post at 11 AM on Tuesdays or Wednesdays. If you, on the other hand, want the highest number of comments, Mondays or Tuesdays at 11 AM are the best times for publishing content on Instagram.
*Our data includes different social media post types and placements from brands in various industries and locations. The recording of time frames is done worldwide, which means that you can publish content using the given times in any time zone and expect positive engagement results.
As you understand, there is no one-size-fits-all answer. Several aspects play an important role when you want to find the optimal time for your business to post content. You must consider your audience, your social media strategy, what type of content you create, where you are located, how you analyze and collect insights, and more.
So, instead of rely on general answers, you must figure out when to post on Instagram based on your unique circumstances. On that note, let us look a little deeper into some factors that play a role:
The best time to post on Instagram depends on several unique factors
Even though the answers for when to post on Instagram vary, there is one thing that most social media experts agree on:
General data that suggest the best time to post on Instagram do not apply to all businesses and industries.
Therefore, general data should not be taken as definitive or conclusive answers. Instead, consider your unique circumstances and experiment with what works best. Here are a few areas that you must keep in mind when you're planning for when to post on Instagram:
- What your target audience want to see
- The industry you're in
- Time zones
- Seasons and events
- How you collect and analyze data
Additionally, Instagram's algorithm is about optimizing each user's experience of the platform. To understand how this works, we can break things down a little. Here are three key aspects that Instagram considers when choosing what content to prioritize:
Relevance: Does the content match the interests and preferences of your target audience? Creating and sharing content relevant to your target audience is important since it will help you attract and retain their attention and loyalty on Instagram.
Relationship: How do users interact with your and similar accounts? Instagram considers interactions such as liking, commenting, saving, sharing, and viewing. Therefore, users who interact with your account or similar accounts will be more likely to see your posts on their feeds.
Recency: Is the content fresh, relevant, and up-to-date? Instagram wants to show users the most relevant and up-to-date content possible. This means that newer posts tend to have a better chance of being seen and engaged with.
Here are the best times and days to post on Instagram according to extensive research
We always recommend that you analyze and tailor your posting schedule based on your unique circumstances. However, sometimes you may not have enough data or resources to make your own analysis. In cases like this, general data is a great starting point when you want to find the best times to post on Instagram.
Here, you'll find the best times to post on Instagram based on extensive research by our data analysis experts. They have analyzed over 18,800 Instagram posts and found that certain times and days may work better depending on your social media strategy goals.
The best times and days to post on Instagram for engagement
A high number of likes and comments indicate that your audience appreciates your content. In the long run, continuously high engagement numbers can help increase your credibility on the platform.
If you want to optimize your Instagram content strategy to get more engagement (total comments + reactions), the best times to post are the following:
Best times to post on Instagram for engagement:
- Tuesdays from 11 AM to 2 PM
- Wednesdays from 11 AM to 2 PM
- Thursdays from 10 AM to 12 PM
The best times and days to post Reels on Instagram
Reels are an essential part of Instagram content these days. In short, you kind of have to work with it if you want to succeed with your social media strategy.
Since Reels play such a central role in content creation, our data analysts looked into if there's a particular best time to post them for optimal engagement. We found out the best times to post Reels on Instagram are very similar to the above, i.e.:
Best times to post on Instagram Reels for engagement:
- Wednesdays from 11AM to 2PM
- Tuesdays from 11AM to 1PM
- Thursdays at 10AM
When to post on Instagram to get the highest reach
Naturally, you won't get much engagement if no one sees your content. Posting at the optimal times for high reach is, therefore, a great way to boost your engagement levels. According to our data, the peaks in reaching audiences are almost the same as mentioned in the examples above.
You may reach a higher number of people if you post at the following times:
Best times to post on Instagram to reach users:
- Wednesdays from 11 AM to 2 PM
- Tuesday from 11 AM to 1 PM
The best times and days to post on Instagram based on the number of comments
Instagram is a platform centered around community and interaction, and it value content that creates engagement and starts conversations. Therefore, you want to know when to post on Instagram to increase the number of comments. Posting when your content tends to get many comments can, for example, build and strengthen relationships with followers and encourage conversations.
Additionally, by comprehending the specific times and days that generate the most comments, you gain valuable insights into your audience's behavior and preferences. When coupled with a good social media monitoring strategy, this data empowers social media managers to refine their content strategy and deliver content that truly resonates with their audience.
Best times to post on Instagram for comments:
- Tuesday from 11 AM to 1 PM
- Monday at 11 AM
- Wednesdays from 11 AM to 2 PM
The best times to post on Instagram — day by day
As you're already familiar with, recency can affect your performance on Instagram. Generally speaking, posting more often helps boost engagement, which is why setting up an optimized daily or weekly schedule for posting content can be beneficial.
Our research suggests that the best times to post on Instagram each day are the following:
| Best times to post... | for Engagement ❤️ | for Comments 💬 |
| Monday | 11 AM | 11 AM |
| Tuesday | 11 AM | 11 AM |
| Wednesday | 11 AM | 11 AM |
| Thursday | 10 AM | 10 AM |
| Friday | 6 AM | 1 PM |
| Saturday | 1 PM | 8 PM |
| Sunday | 11 AM | 8 PM |
But remember — your content should always be relevant and add value to your audience. If you're posting just for the sake of it, there's a risk your audience will lose interest. Social media listening and sentiment analysis can help you understand how well your content resonates with your audience.
How do you know when to post on Instagram? 6 steps that help you find out!
As mentioned above, general data can be great to build upon, but the suggestions only work for some. So, how do you know when you should post on Instagram?
The ideal time depends on several factors as well as your unique circumstances. So, in short, the best way to find out is by simply experimenting and analyzing the results. Here are 6 tips on how to do this efficiently:
1. Start with posting content on Instagram at the general best times
If you don't have enough data to do your own analysis, you can start posting your content on Instagram at the general best times provided above. They're based on extensive research and an in-depth analysis of over 18,800 posts.
It's a great foundation to build on when figuring out the optimal schedule for posting content. After a while, you can analyze the results and see if there are any patterns or trends that emerge. If you see that some times and days work better for your content, you can adjust your posting times accordingly.
2. Understand your audience and their usage of Instagram
If you have a business or creator account, you can get valuable insights into your audience's activity directly in the Instagram app. For example, you can explore where they're located, their age range, and when they tend to be the most active on the app.
You can use this data to tailor your posting schedule. For instance, if most of your audience is located in another country or region, try posting according to their time zone instead of yours.
Another way to gain valuable insights is with the help of a social media monitoring tool. These tools often provide additional information, such as which language your audience speaks, which users engage the most with your content, and what they talk about in your social media channels across platforms.
BrandBastion Lite platform provides insights about your audience and their conversation topics.
3. Use insights about your target audience when scheduling content
Your target audience may share some routines, behavior, and habits in their everyday life. If you get an overview of their days, you can draw valuable insights that help optimize when to post your content on Instagram.
Let us imagine you are targeting parents of kids in the toddler age. They may have a gap in their social media activity from noon until evening, when they are busy picking up their kids from daycare, making dinner, and putting them to bed.
That means they'll likely be on social media again around 8–9 PM when their kids are tucked in, and they have some time to focus on themselves. Or, around 8–9 AM, after they drop their kids off, and may have some scrolling time before work or other duties. An insight like this could be helpful if your strategy is to post when your audience is the most active on Instagram.
4. An analytical approach helps you get insights into what your target audience engages with
As mentioned above, posting at the right time is important, but Instagram does not only consider when you post but also what you post. An analytical approach can help you understand which content your audience appreciates, likes, shares, and comments on the most. This knowledge makes creating more high-performing content that aligns with their interests and preferences easier.
There are several great ways to gain insights about what your audience appreciates. For example, you can use social media analytics to compare the performance of your content. You can also use social media listening and sentiment analysis, which helps understand why your audience prefers certain content.
Understand which posts resonate or not with your audience using the BrandBastion Lite platform.
5. Optimize when you post reels, stories, posts, and other content types on Instagram
Different content types may perform better at certain times or days. You can optimize your publishing strategy by analyzing the performance of reels, stories, posts, carousels, etc., separately.
Suppose you figured out the best time to publish carousels with informative content. To maximize the opportunities for likes, comments, and reach, you can also boost the content by posting it as a Story. However, you don't have to do it at the exact same moment if you know people tend to interact more with your Stories at other times of the day. Instead, you can schedule them at separate times during the day.
Again, experimenting and then analyzing is the key to determining when to post what in relation to your business and audience.
6. Connect your social media goals with analytical insights about a target audience
To reach your goals, try to find patterns in when and how people tend to engage with your content. Start to ask yourself what you are trying to achieve. For example, are you looking for more likes, comments, saves, shares, or website traffic?
Then, connect your target audience's behavior with your social media goals. Are there certain times when your content tends to get more likes and shares? Are there certain days you tend to get more website traffic from your social media efforts?
Suppose you can pinpoint some trends in your target audience's behavior. In that case, you can optimize for when to, for example, post informative content, inspirational content, and content with a call to action.
When are the worst times and days to post on Instagram?
If some times and days are better for posting, are there also times and days you should avoid? Well, some hours during each day, reach, commenting, and other interactions are particularly low. However, avoiding these times doesn't necessarily mean your content will perform. The focus should always be on creating valuable and engaging content.
But, one could say it's better not to post at these times, if possible, because of the low engagement. Based on our research, the worst times for each day to post on Instagram are the following:
| Worst times to post... | for Engagement 👎 | for Comments ❌ |
| Monday | 7 AM | 5 AM |
| Tuesday | 5 AM | 10 pM |
| Wednesday | 5 AM | 4 AM |
| Thursday | 6 AM | 5 AM |
| Friday | 7 AM | 2 AM |
| Saturday | 10 AM | 10 AM |
| Sunday | 5 AM | 9 AM |
As previously mentioned, general and quantitative data do not provide accurate answers for all businesses. What some suggest is the worst time to post on Instagram could be the ideal time for you.
One of the most efficient ways to understand the ideal posting schedule is to use tools that collect, sort, and analyze data on engagement and sentiment. Read more about how the BrandBastion's platform can assist you with sentiment analysis and scheduling content.
Conclusion
There's no universal answer to when to post on Instagram, as it depends on your unique circumstances and content. The most important thing is to know your audience well and create engaging and inspiring content that your followers want to interact with. With this as a foundation, you can optimize your posting schedule according to what works best for your business.
So, in conclusion, finding the best time to post on Instagram for your business is not a one-time task. Instead, it's an ongoing process that requires experimentation, a deep understanding of your audience and their opinions, and an analytical approach.