Instagram has been one of the most powerful and strongest social media services over the past so many years. It has been able to achieve a great degree of traction among the younger generation. However, of late the algorithm has changed consistently on the service making it rather difficult to make your business posts being shown to the users. Preference is given to the posts by the user’s friends and family. That is why we thought of checking out the best time to post on Instagram.
Best Time to Post on Instagram by Day of the Week
The Instagram accounts tend to have a different visibility based on the audience, time of the day or days of the week and the cities. So, if you are looking to find out the best time to post o Instagram, it is extremely important to pay enough attention to a host of factors.
Finding the best time to post on Instagram is very difficult and dependent on each of the individual Instagram accounts, there are certain times that have proved to be much effective. Later, the all in one social media management tool undertook a study into the 12 million Instagram accounts to find the best time to post on Instagram. You would also need to check out the best options to post videos on Instagram
Based on those studies, the best times to post on Instagram have been found to be one of the following lines.
- Monday: 6 am, 10 am, and 10 pm EST
- Tuesday: 2 am, 4 am, and 9 am EST
- Wednesday: 7 am, 8 am and 11 pm EST
- Thursday: 9 am, 12 pm, and 7 pm EST
- Friday: 5 am, 1 pm, and 3 pm EST
- Saturday: 11 am, 7 pm, and 8 pm EST
- Sunday: 7am, 8am, and 4pm EST
The best time to post on Instagram according to the different tools
Apart from Later, there are several service providers who have been involved in social media management and each of them have conducted tests and reviews into which is the best time to post on Instagram. Let us explore the views from each of them and understand which is the best time to post on Instagram.
Later
As we already indicated, Later in its tests have concluded that there are several best times to post on Instagram based on the days of the week. Even then, the tool has come up with the best options for posting as per the following times and dates –
- Best time of day to post on Instagram : 3 am-6 am
- Best day to post on Instagram: Sunday
- Best day and time to post on Instagram: Sunday 6 am
- The worst day to post on Instagram: Wednesday and Thursday
You would have noticed that these times are quite early in the morning. This has a great insight behind it. The best strategy to post on Instagram would be to post when the audience is most active. This is generally between 9 am to 1 pm. But, these are the times when the competition is at its highest.
The trick is to post on Instagram prior to that time. That would provide you with a better option to get a better engagement. The Instagram algorithm is likely to favour your post and thus you may get a good ranking.
Later provides you with the option for the following best times –
| Day | Best time | Second best time |
| Monday | 5:00 AM | 1am, 3-6am, 7pm |
| Tuesday | 6:00 AM | 3am, 5-6am, 10pm |
| Wednesday | 6:00 AM | 3-6 am |
| Thursday | 5:00 AM | 2 am, 4-6 am |
| Friday | 6:00 AM | 2-6 am |
| Saturday | 6:00 AM | 1am, 3am, 6am, 11pm |
| Sunday | 6:00 AM | 2am, 6-7am, 10pm |
SproutSocial
SproutSocial claims to have studied over 20000 user accounts to arrive at the best time to post on Instagram. The tool takes into the concept of posting when the engagement is high. This would make the findings or the tips a little different and opposite to those put forward by Later.
The best time to post on Instagram as per SproutSocial would ideally be
- Best time of day to post on Instagram: 11 am to 12 pm
- Best day to post on Instagram: Tuesday
- Best day and time to post on Instagram: Tuesday 11 am-2 pm
- The worst day to post on Instagram: Sunday
The day by day break down of the engagement and the best time to post as per SproutSocial are
| Day | Best time | Second best time |
| Monday | 11 am – 12 pm | 10am; 1-3pm |
| Tuesday | 11 am – 12 pm | 10am; 3-4pm |
| Wednesday | 11 am – 12 pm | 10am; 1-4pm |
| Thursday | 11 am | 10am; 12-3pm |
| Friday | 11 am – 12 pm | 9-11am; 1-2pm |
| Saturday | 10am – 1pm | 8-10am; 1-4pm |
| Sunday | 9 am – 4 pm | 8am; 4 – 6pm |
ExpertVoice
ExpertVoice is yet another tool that handles the social media management for the organizations and businesses. They have the data that is close enough to Later. But, they do not provide you with any source for their inferences.
The best engagement in this context can include
- Best time of day to post on Instagram : 9 am to 5 pm
- Best day to post on Instagram : Wednesday
- Best day and time to post on Instagram : Wednesday 5 am, 11 am, 3 pm
- The worst day to post on Instagram : Monday
The day-by-day breakdown as per ExpertVoice would be
| Day | Best time to post on Instagram |
| Monday | 11 am – 5 pm |
| Tuesday | 5am; 9am; 6pm |
| Wednesday | 5am; 11am; 3pm |
| Thursday | 5am; 11am; 3-4pm |
| Friday | 5am; 9am; 4pm |
| Saturday | 11 am |
| Sunday | 10 am – 2 pm |
Best Time to Post on Instagram based on Industry
The best time to post on Instagram varies on several factors. One of them is the industry that you are in. There are several ideal times depending on the accounts and the specific industries. It would be a good idea to alter your postings based on the exact industry you are from.
Let us check out the industry-specific best times to post on Instagram one by one.
Retail Industry
Instagram posting should be one of the primary prerequisites for the retail industry at large. It has been observed that people tend to use Instagram as a means of deciding on the right product or service to go with.
The best time to post on Instagram for the retail industry can be
- Best time to post on Instagram: Wednesday 3 pm & Friday midday between 11 am – 12 pm
- Extremely Best Day: Wednesday
- Worst Day to post on Instagram : Sunday as it is a weekend
- Lowest Engagement: Late Night & Early Mornings
Technology and allied areas
If you are in technology and allied areas, it may be a little difficult to arrive at the best time to gauge and reach out to a perfect peak time to post on Instagram. Since there are multiple facets and realms that form part of the technology areas, it may not be that easy to come up with the best time frame.
However, the following times to post on Instagram can be much of a good option.
- Perfect Best Time: Wednesday morning at 6 am or 9 am
- Best time to post on Instagram: Wednesday from 10-11 am, Friday morning from 7-10 am and Saturday morning from 7-11 am.
- Worst Day to post on Instagram : Sunday as it is a weekend.
Media & Entertainment
Instagram has been a clear leader when it comes to the media and entertainment industry. It may be vital to find the best time to post on Instagram as it has been considered to b one of the most coveted areas.
The best time to post on Instagram for the Media and entertainment industry would be
- Best time to post on Instagram: Friday morning at 9 am
- Best Engagement possible : Wednesday, Thursday and Friday during working hours (8-5 pm)
- Lowest Engagement possible : Saturday and Sunday
Non-Profit organisations and NGOs
If you are a non-profit organization, Instagram can be a great way to promote yourself. The best time to post on Instagram for the NGOs and non-profit organizations can be quite confusing, but you can perhaps make a beginning with the following tips.
- Best time to post on Instagram: Wednesday at 2 pm
- Highest Engagement: Wednesday between 1-4 pm
- Worst Days for Engagement: Saturday & Sundays
Education
Educational institutions make use of Instagram to build their presence online. This is achieved by obtaining the potential candidates and current happenings.
Students and faculty can generally be active later in that day. The best time to post on Instagram for the education niche can be as follows.
- Best time to post on Instagram: Friday mornings at 10 am
- Most Consistent Engagement: Wednesday to Saturday between 10 am – 8 pm
- Highest Engagement possible : Wednesday & Friday mid morning and Saturday nights between 6 pm – 8 pm
- Worst Days for Engagement: Sunday
Healthcare
Instagram and other social media services may not necessarily be a priority for the healthcare services. However, even when to the lower level, the following best times to post on Instagram for the healthcare industry can be as follows
- Best time to post on Instagram: Tuesday at 8 am
- Most Consistent Engagement possible : Weekdays from 9 am to 3 pm
- Worst Days for Engagement: Saturday & Sundays
Best Time To Post Instagram Reels
Instagram Reels have been quite popular and have been growing quite consistently over the years. The short video format that the Instagram reels offer you can be one of the unique ways to express yourself and has caught the attention of the users. However, creating Instagram reels is not that easy.
You go through a lot of effort and time in creating an Instagram reel. If you fail to post it at the right time, you would end up not getting much traction. It is always a good idea to post your Instagram reel at the right moment so that it will be well received.
The best time to post Instagram reels would ideally be on the following lines –
- Sunday – 7 am, 8 am and 4 pm
- Monday – 6 am, 10 am and 10 pm
- Tuesday – 2 am, 4 am and 9 pm
- Wednesday – 7 am, 8 am, and 11 pm
- Thursday – 9 am, 12 pm and 7 pm
- Friday – 5 am, 1 pm and 3 pm
- Saturday – 11 am, 7 pm and 8 pm
Do note that even when you post the reels at the best time, it needs to have a great content to ensure engagement.
The Factors that determine your best time to post on Instagram
There are multiple factors that would decide the right time to post on Instagram. We will check out a few of the prime options that you need to pay a special attention to when posting on Instagram.
Timeline
The timeline is the time at which your followers are likely to be online. It can also mean the possibility of having your targeted audience being online if you are a business account. the built-in insights on Instagram should help you find when a majority of the target audience is observed to be active. This info can be utilized for posting the content at the right time.
Days of the week
You would find the option for the right day of the week for posting on Instagram through the Instagram Insights tool. The tool lets you find the activity of your followers and target audience during different times and days of the week.
There are people who may be active at certain times of the week. There are several days of the week or the times of the week when they are not active. This can also be in tune with the content that you are posting. As we have outlined in the above discussion, different types of industries will have different times for an effective engagement. If you have a motivational post, you can post it on Monday instead of on a Sunday to avoid staying unattended.
Time zones
Different time zones can have a few of the best times for that would prove to be effective in gaining a better engagement. If you have a wider and global audience, it would be advisable not to pay much attention to the discussion on the best time to post on Instagram. In case you are looking to target a particular location, it is advisable to check out the right time to post on Instagram for the location. A good idea to decide on the right time that your audience is likely to be most active.
Frequency of posting
The frequency of posting can also determine the right option to help you in terms of choosing the right time to post on Instagram. Posting regularly on the profile would assure that your content remains fresh always. You can post a mix of different topics and produce on the content that has a good deal of quality.
Use different times to post the content in different sectors
If you are not already confused, we will confuse you further. The right time to post on Instagram would largely be based on the industry and sectors and there are times that you need to pay enough attention to this concept as well.
The best times to post on Instagram based on the sectors can include
- Best Times to Post on Instagram for the Technology sector: Wednesday at 10 AM
- Best Times to Post on Instagram for the B2C sector: Saturday at 11 AM and 1 PM
- Best Times to Post on Instagram for the Educational sector : Monday at 8 PM
- Best Times to Post on Instagram for the Healthcare sector : Tuesday at 1 PM
- Best Times to Post on Instagram for Non-Profit Organizations: Tuesday at 3 PM and 9 PM, Wednesday at 3 PM and 4 PM, Thursday at 2 PM & 3 PM, and Friday at 10 AM & 2 PM.
The Closing Thoughts on the Best Time to Post on Instagram
So The best time to post on Instagram is ….. well, it depends on a wide range of factors and reasons. You can go with the goals, pain points and several parameters before finalizing the right time to post on Instagram. While all the information shared here can be helpful in letting you plan a strategy on when is the best time to post on Instagram, it is ultimately your own choice and decision. You need to work on multiple options and then finalize the one strategy that would work best for you.