Best Time to Post On Instagram  

When is the best time to post on Instagram and does it differ based on the day of the week? What about the type of business you are promoting on Instagram? 

When posting on Instagram, many users’ common goal is to get the optimal amount of eyes on your posts in hopes of likes, comments, shares, or traffic to your website, etc. When it comes to the Instagram Algorithm, it is mostly unpredictable, but what we do know is that one of the priorities is recency. So discovering the specific time your audience is most active, would be beneficial to decide on the best time to post. 

Let’s dive in and discover the best time to post on Instagram. To help us gather this data we used our Instagram study 2023:

Best Time to Post On Instagram Based on The Day of the Week

The different days of the week matter when posting on Instagram. Although there are certain times that are universal to post on Instagram, it is essential to note that there are several different factors to consider. For example, your audience size, level of engagement, location, and as we discussed above, the algorithm. 

But overall research has found that the best days and times are: 

Everyone’s audiences are a little different, but this is a great starting point to try out!

Universal Best Time to Post on Instagram

The universal best time to post according to the extensive Instagram Study we conducted, in all time zones remains unchanged, 8 PM, regardless of the day.

Inside our Social Media Study, we bring together all the accounts investigated, without distinction by sector, to find general Instagram trends. In addition to using this data, it is always advisable to analyze your competitors or the accounts you follow in order to draw specific conclusions for your Instagram strategy.

Best Time to Post on Instagram on Mondays: 

The grind of work for most people begins early Monday morning so people get started with work soon after waking up and then usually have a break around lunchtime which is when users check their feed and is why we see 11 am-1 pm as the optimal time. 

Best Time to Post on Instagram on Tuesdays: 

Tuesday’s optimal time is almost all day from 10 am – 5 pm. More people are scrolling throughout the day. Tuesday is also the day that generates the most comments, so if you’re looking to boost engagement, test posting on Tuesday.

Best Time to Post on Instagram on Wednesdays: 

Wednesday is the same as Monday and is found that during the hours of lunch, more people are scrolling their feeds. 

Best Time to Post on Instagram on Thursdays: 

On Thursdays, there is a very small sweet spot to post from 11 am – 12 pm. 

Best Time to Post on Instagram on Fridays: 

Engagement has been seen to be overall higher all day but the optimal times to post have been found to be also 11 am – 1 pm. 

Best Time to Post on Instagram on Saturdays: 

The optimal time to post on Saturdays is 9 am – 11 am this is so that you can catch your audience early enough before they have their busy Saturday plans. 

The Worst Day to Post on Instagram: 

Sundays tend to be the worst day to post on Instagram simply because it is found that people are on their devices a lot less on this day. 

Best Time to Post Instagram Reels

Instagram reels have proved to be one of the best posting styles on Instagram in terms of engagement and overall performance. Posting during the best times can help with your performance as well. Let’s explore the best times to post Reels per day.

Best Time to Post Instagram Reels on Monday

The best time to post Instagram reels on Mondays is between 9 am- 12 pm.

Best Time to Post Instagram Reels on Tuesday

The best time to post Instagram reels on Tuesdays is 9 am- 5 pm. Tuesdays are the best day overall to. post reels because users are active all day.

Best Time to Post Instagram Reels on Wednesday

The best time to post Instagram reels on Wednesdays is 6 am and 9 pm. So right when users begin their day and later at night after their day.

Best Time to Post Instagram Reels on Thursday

The best time to post Instagram reels on Thursdays is 6 am and 4 pm. Right before the average work day and then at the tail end of the average work day is best to post your reels on Thursdays.

Best Time to Post Instagram Reels on Friday

The best time to post Instagram reels on Fridays is 11 am and 1 pm. This time makes sense because users could be scrolling on their lunch breaks at the end of the week.

Best Time to Post Instagram Reels on Saturday

The best time to post Instagram reels on 9 am, 4pm, and 5pm. People may be scrolling when they wake up later on the weekend and then before their night plans on the weekend.

Best Time to Post Instagram Reels on Sunday

The best time to post Instagram reels on Sunday is 8 am and 1 pm. In the morning and mid day is the best time to post your reels on Sundays.

Best Time of Day to Post Instagram Stories

The best time to post your Instagram stories every day is between 11 am and 2 pm. This is when many people take a break in their workday and scroll during their lunch.

Why Does Posting at the Best Time on Instagram Matter?

With the everchanging Instagram algorithm, it is important to post when your audience is most active so that your post is seen by the most eyes. What we know bout the Instagram algorithm is that it prioritizes recency, your interests, and who you most interact with.

Since recency is one of the aspects, prioritized by Instagram, posting at the best time is very important. By posting when your audience is active it helps show up first or at least at the beginning of your follower’s feed helps you receive better engagement.

Tips For Choosing the Best Time To Post

There are a few key tips to follow when discovering the best time to post for you or your business. Here they are:

Analyze Demographics

Analyzing the demographics of your audience or knowing who you are posting for is key to your engagement. Seeing when they are scrolling the most has to do with who they are, where they are from, etc.

With Metricool you can analyze all of this information and so much more. You can view:

• Growth: number of followers and users you follow. As with Facebook, you have the followers balance with the new followers you’ve gained.
• Demographics: the gender and age of your followers, as well as what country and city they’re from.
• Account: the number of impressions, average reach/day, profile visits, web clicks, and posts.
• Posts: your content’s performance in terms of engagement, interactions, average reach/post, impressions, and posts. Within the posts section, you can also see your organic interactions with likes, comments, saves, and post numbers.

Analyze Post Performance

By viewing which posts did well and which posts did not, you can accurately tweak your social strategy to continue to show your audience the content they want to see.

Metricool offers in-depth analytics on each post. As you can see in the example below, you can see a list of posts with all the analytics you will need to determine how your post performed.

See What Your Competitors Are Doing

Be on the lookout for what time your competitors are posting. For example, if your competitor posted at midnight and their post performed badly in terms of engagement and likes, but the post that they posted at 9 am performed great, this type of information could be useful for you!

If you want to dive deeper into your competitor’s analytics, Metricool offers a competitor analysis. In the section Analytics, you will obtain the main metrics of your competitors gathered in a table at the end. If you click the icon represented by a bar chart, you will obtain more detailed information about growth, interactions, and posts.

Scheduling Instagram Posts Using Metricool

To not have to worry about all of this, the very simple solution is to join Metricool! By creating an account, you can skip all of these steps and schedule posts at the optimal time and day based on your specific followers. 

The planner shows you your hot hours on Instagram. The hours when most of your audience is connected. This way you will improve the possibilities of increasing the reach of your publications and interactions. The best hours are displayed through a darker color in the planner and a percentage of the active followers there are at the time you want to schedule.

Best Time to Post On Instagram Based On Industry

When you are operating a business Instagram account for yourself or your client, it is important to understand which times are the best based on your industry. Let’s go over the common industries and when is the best time to post:

Consumer Goods

For the consumer goods industry, it is said that the best time to post is Thursdays at 2 p.m., and the best days to post fall on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Healthcare

For the healthcare industry, it is said that the best time to post is Thursdays at 1 p.m., and the best days to post fall on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays.

Hospitality

For the hospitality industry, it is said that the best time to post is Tuesday at 10 am, and the best days to post fall on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

Media

For the media industry, it is said that the best time to post is Monday at 11 a.m., and the best days to post fall on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays.

Restaurants

For the restaurant industry, it is said that the best time to post is Monday at 2 p.m., and the best days to post fall on Thursdays, Saturdays, and Sundays.

Travel

For the travel industry, it is said that the best time to post is Tuesday at 10 a.m., and the best days to post fall on Thursdays, Saturdays, and Sundays.

Education

For the education industry, it is said that the best time to post is Tuesday at 11 a.m., and the best days to post fall on Saturdays and Sundays.

Nonprofit

For the nonprofit industry, it is said that the best time to post is Wednesday at 11 a.m., and the best days to post fall on Saturdays and Sundays.

At this point, we hope you have a good understanding of not only the importance of posting at the most optimal times, but we also hope you now know the best time for you! If you want to make it easier, we highly suggest using the Metricool Best Time Feature. To Sign up for your Metricool Account, click the button below:

sophie , 06 February 2024