The Instagram craze has exponentially escalated in the past few years. And this has eventually benefited numerous small and large businesses all over the world. But wouldn’t you agree that lately, the competition has increased substantially?
It is because of this; one needs to strategize everything when using Instagram for business purposes. One of the prime factors that have a major impact on the viewership on Instagram is the time that one chooses to post.
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But if it were that simple to determine the best time for an Instagram post, wouldn’t everyone just stick to that? There are numerous factors that play an important role while deciding the best time for posting on Instagram.
Factors to be Considered While Determining the Best Time to Post on Instagram
Instagram keeps changing its algorithms to make the posts visible. The likelihood of a business post being included in the regular queue has become slimmer now. Whether it’s introducing a new product or sharing an app idea, you need to be well-versed with Instagram algorithms for better engagement and visibility.
The good news is that it is still possible to strategize your posts to gain the maximum advantage of visibility.
However, it is important to remember that in order to gain maximum advantage, one needs to determine the best time and day for posting multiple photos, reels, videos, stories, going live. Moreover, it is important to understand your industry, geographical location, and audience demographics also play an important role in determining the best time for posting on Instagram.
We have used the most recent available data to help you decide the best time to post on Instagram in 2023. 2024. Let us walk you through.
The Research About the Best Time to Post on Instagram
In the past, it was easy to get better visibility and engagement by following specific posting patterns. The algorithms of Instagram were not so complex earlier, and hence your followers could easily see what you post.
Things have changed in respect to the posting time Instagram, and hence one needs to do a little extra homework to see the desired results. From using customized chatbots to engaging audiences using polls and quizzes, there are numerous options to play around with.
Numerous tools are available in the marketplace that can help to increase the number of followers. Evidently, making money through Instagram can be pretty easy if you understand how the system works.
Here is what the recent research indicates:
Best Time – Based on the Days of the Week
The timings shown in the chart above are represented in CDT.
Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays – The best time for posting during these days is from 11 am to 12 pm. Since most of the followers would have a lunch break during these hours, it is easy to comprehend that this is the time when they would want to catch up on the latest events. You can expect to get better visibility and engagement during these time frames.
Tuesdays – The above graph clearly shows that the best timeframe on Tuesdays has a little wider window. 11 am to 2 pm is considered the best time for long-form content such as IG videos or live streams.
Thursdays – 11 am is the best time for posting on Instagram Wednesdays. Since the exposure window is limited, you can use this day to post stories, polls, quizzes, etc.
Saturdays and Sundays – These days are less likely to get you the required engagement and exposure.
Best Time – Based on Industry
As per research conducted by SproutSocial, if you are trying to build your audience for your business, using the time-metrics based on industry would be more beneficial.
Healthcare Sector
The above graph clearly indicates that Mondays and Tuesdays are best for the Healthcare sector for posting on Instagram. Saturday is considered to be the least fruitful day for the healthcare sector.
Choosing the timings from 8 am to 9 am on Sundays would give you the maximum exposure. While on Tuesdays, you can choose from two-time slots; 8 am to 12 pm and 5 pm to 8 pm.
Media Sector
For the media sectors, Sunday is considered the worst day for Instagram posting. Whereas posting on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays get the maximum engagement.
On Tuesdays, 1 pm to 5 pm is considered best for Instagram posting. You can post stories, quizzes, polls, etc., for Wednesdays, at 11 am since the time slot is smaller. While on Thursdays, you can expect better engagement between 8 am, and 9 am.
Education Sector
The education sectors should keep Thursdays and Fridays for Instagram posting. On Friday, the maximum engagement is observed between 4 am, and 5 am. Whereas, on Thursdays posting at 2 am has been proven beneficial. Posting on Sunday would hardly prove fruitful as per the above graph.
Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs)
NGOs get the maximum user engagement during Wednesdays between 10 am to 6 pm. Sunday should be avoided for Instagram posting by NGOs.
Restaurants
Monday is the best day to post on insta of a restaurant. You can choose from the timeframe of 9 am to 1 pm. Saturday is not considered best for Instagram posts.
IT Sector
The IT sector should refrain from posting on Sundays since it has the least visibility for its domain. Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays are the best days for IT sector Instagram posts.
On Mondays, user engagement is maximum between 10 am, and 11 am. Also, choosing the timeframe between 2 pm and 5 pm can help with more traffic. Some 8 pm Instagram posts also get better engagement on Mondays.
For Tuesdays, posting between 10 am and 1 pm is beneficial. Postings have gained better audience engagement on Thursdays at 12:00 pm and on Fridays at 11 am.
Tours and Travel Industry
When considering Instagram posting effectiveness, Saturdays and Sundays reap the least benefit to the tours and travel sector. The best days for this sector are observed to be on Thursdays and Mondays.
Posting between 11 am and 3 pm on Mondays has proved advantageous in user engagement and reducing customer churn. Whereas on Thursdays, 7 am postings have received better engagement from Instagrammers.
Finance Sector
Mondays and Tuesdays are the best days for finance sector Instagram posting. On Friday, posting between 12 pm and 3 pm and Tuesday between 1 am, and 3 am has gained the highest engagement. Instagram Posting from the Finance sector on Saturday has been least beneficial.
Hospitality Sector
The best engagement for the hospitality sector is observed on Fridays between 8 am and 12 pm. Even Wednesday’s noon and Thursday posts have gained better engagement between 3 and 4 pm. Sunday posting hardly gives any results.
The Best Time to Post on Instagram by Location
Your geographical location also has a great impact on your Instagram posts. It is important to weigh in this aspect before finalizing the best times to post photos on Instagram.
The audience response in different locations is varied, and hence your posts have varied engagement. Here is a quick insight to help you in narrowing the best time for your Instagram posts:
- In the western US and Canada, the best time to post is between 12 am and 6 am
- In the central US and Canada, the posts between 6 am 8 am get the best engagement
- Eastern US and Canada posts between 4 am, and 9 am are considered beneficial in getting better visibility and engagement
- Posting on Instagram at 4 am in South America is considered fruitful
- UK Instagram posts between 4 am, and 6 am have shown better user engagement
- In western Europe, Instagram posts between 6 pm and 8 pm have been advantageous, whereas in eastern Europe, posting between 5 am and 7 pm reaps better outcomes
- Instagram posts at 6 am in Africa have shown promising results
- 3 am Instagram posts in the Middle East, and South Asia have been considered beneficial
- In Australia, posting on Instagram between 11 pm and 2 am has been very useful
- East Asia and Southeast Asia have better engagement from Instagram posts between 11 pm and 4 am.
Steps to Help You Determine the Best Time for You to Post on Instagram
While the above statistics are very informative, it might get difficult for many to determine the best time for their industry. Use the following tips to help you determine the best time for you to post on Instagram to get maximum visibility and engagement.
Instagram’s Built-in Analytics
Instagram’s Built-in Analytics is a powerful tool that can help you determine the best time for posting. It helps you analyze the data based on actual performance. With this tool, you can easily find out the demographics of your audience and their most active timeframes.
With such insights, you can easily determine what time would be the best to post on Instagram. Your content strategy can easily get the required knowledge and boost with the assistance of Instagram’s built-in analytics tool.
You have to set up an Instagram business profile or use the Instagram creator profile to access this tool.
Track the Data
Why waste time if you are already good at crunching the numbers yourself. If you are good with a spreadsheet, all you need to do is keep a record of the engagement received for different posts on each day of the week. Another method is using a time tracker to track the number of hours spent by your team in creating the post. A time tracker with screenshots will prove to be super beneficial in this context.
You can analyze the engagement based on your posts’ specific time and day. Noting down the number of comments received on it with time-stamps can help you get clear insight on choosing the best time.
You can choose a specific time throughout the week to get you started. And keep a record of responses for each day. Let’s say you started with 1 pm on Monday for the first week. The following week switch the time to 2 pm and so on.
You might need a few weeks to gather all the data and then do proper analysis to help you determine the best time to post on Instagram.
Once you get a clear idea using the figures in your spreadsheet, shortlist the timings and days that helped you gain maximum engagement. These are the specific times that would work best for you.
Tips to Make the Most of the Data
With the powerful analysis in your hand, you can do wonders for your business if you have the right guidance. All you would need is a well-defined marketing plan. Here is what we suggest you keep in mind:
Prime Time Posts Must be Prioritized
You can clearly determine the time and day that works best for your Instagram posts from the data you have gathered. In order to use it to your advantage, schedule your posts at these prime times so that you get maximum engagement each week.
Another thing that would work to your advantage is the compounding effect of Instagram engagement. When any of your posts receive an exceptionally high number of likes, comments, or saves, you increase the likelihood of getting a spot on Instagram’s Explore page. It means that now your user engagement would automatically increase by getting highlighted.
Use Each Day to Your Advantage
The informative data that you gathered or studied from Instagram’s insights would give you an idea about the best and worst times.
Even when you have lower engagement on particular days, you can schedule your less important posts for such days. It helps you to mark your presence. You can choose to keep the important posts for the days that get your highest engagement.
Using Reel, Stories, and Videos
Instagram offers a plethora of options to help you reach wider masses. Reels, stories, and videos are equally useful in getting visibility and engagement.
Besides the regular feed posts, you can use the same tools to create a better impact from your reels, stories, and private video sharing. Also, it is possible to tweak around the entire grid and create art.
Publishing these reels and videos at peak time would give you similar results as feed posts. Why not use it to your advantage since you already have the data handy?
Concluding Thoughts
Using a definitive and clear strategy is the right way to reach your desired goals. This article focused on the various details you could use to decide the best time for posting on Instagram.
You now have the knowledge to maximize the effectiveness of your Instagram posts. Use this informative guide to determine the best time to post on Instagram in 2024 and grow your audience as well as the user engagement.